By Brian D. McLaren
Review by Tracy Simmons
This is not your ordinary “be a better Christian” book. Where most of the missives we’ve been treated to in the past couple of decades were long on new kinds of legalism (read the bible more, pray more, lust less, greed less, etc...) but short on ideas about how we might become the kind of person who is naturally oriented that way (hey! I actually like reading the Word, etc...) this read is very different.
Right off the bat McLaren lets you know that he started the book as a narrative about actual events that had happened to him. Along the way, however, that presented logical problems and confidentiality issues so he took a different approach. Instead of the narrative he has crafted a “fictional” account that presents characters that are amalgams (go look it up) of people he has known, family and even himself. In so doing he has cleverly avoided getting bogged in the details that sometimes bore other people in our personal stories (remember Steve Martin and John Candy in the “Chatty Kathy” scene of Planes, Trains and Automobiles?).
What we end up with is a very good tale that has the freedom to explore very complex and hugely important spiritual themes for today’s spiritual thinker. For the long time (even traditional) Christian, in particular, this book is most valuable. Many of us may find ourselves looking around at the changes in our churches, we may hear some of the questions being asked and we might even have friends who used to be “just like us” but have recently been less interested in the same spiritual things we are. Sometimes they say things that are just downright CRAZY!!! This book may help you.
The main characters are two men. One is a pastor, mysteriously named Brian, who is in real personal crisis. Matters of faith have become mountains of struggle, and his place in ministry is in question. Much of this revolves around his sense of what success means in ministry and his sense that he has failed to realize that success.
The second character is named Neo. I know. It was almost enough to keep me from reading the book. In fairness, I think the book came out before the “Matrix” phenomenon hit, but it took me a few pages to quit having a disconnect every time I saw it on the page. At any rate, Neo is a great character and emerges as someone any of us would love to be friends with. He is a professor and soccer coach at the college where Brian’s daughter attends. After the two men strike up a friendship based on their mutual affinity for the daughter the relationship serves as the catalyst for some great spiritual thoughts. I don’t want to give away anymore of the story, since it is really a good read. I wouldn’t do that with the latest Stephen King, so I’ll spare you here.
I will say though, that as a pastor who at one time swore he would never serve as a pastor again this book resonated with me. I identified with Brian and I think that anyone who has a sense that they have put forth a lot of religious effort through the church with very little return will identify also. Don’t get me wrong... this isn’t an anti-church story. It’s a pro-relationships story. The primary relationship being the one we are supposed to be nurturing with God.
Others who may identify with this book are those who know people like me and really don’t understand what we’re talking about when we get rolling on spiritual matters and the church and all of that stuff. It will also help you to see some of the elements of what is going on in the hearts and minds of a lot of people today. That could help to engage in what we call the “conversation” of the emerging church. Read it... now.
