The Great Spiritual Migration by Brian D. McLaren

The Great Spiritual Migration

by Brian D. McLaren

The Christian story, from Genesis until now, is fundamentally about people on the move—outgrowing old, broken religious systems and embracing new, more redemptive ways of life.
 
It’s time to move again.
 
Brian McLaren, a leading voice in contemporary religion, argues that— notwithstanding the dire headlines about the demise of faith and drop in church attendance—Christian faith is not dying. Rather, it is embarking on a once-in-an-era spiritual shift. For millions, the journey has already begun. 
 
Drawing from his work as global activist, pastor, and public theologian, McLaren challenges readers to stop worrying, waiting, and indulging in nostalgia, and instead, to embrace the powerful new understandings that are reshaping the church. In The Great Spiritual Migration, he explores three profound shifts that define the change:
 
 Spiritually, growing numbers of Christians are moving away from defining themselves by lists of beliefs and toward a way of life defined by love
 Theologically, believers are increasingly rejecting the image of God as a violent Supreme Being and embracing the image of God as the renewing Spirit at work in our world for the common good
 Missionally, the faithful are identifying less with organized religion and more with organizing religion—spiritual activists dedicated to healing the planet, building peace, overcoming poverty and injustice, and collaborating with other faiths to ensure a better future for all of us
 
With his trademark brilliance and compassion, McLaren invites readers to seize the moment and set out on the most significant spiritual pilgrimage of our time: to help Christianity become more Christian.

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on

3 of 5 stars

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Is Incomplete and Unproven. I was looking forward to this book. I really, really was. I wanted McLaren to show us how, what, where, and why Christianity was on a migration towards being a better Christian. Instead I got a story of how McLaren himself has moved from being a very conservative Christian to a very liberal one. Instead of describing how Christianity can transcend our political issues of the day, McLaren insists that we fight for one side of the political issues of the day. Instead of instilling hope, he seeks to instill fear - in the words of The American President, he doesn't appear interested in solving anything so much as making Christians afraid of some *other* global catastrophe and saying that those who have a "lesser understanding" of the Bible are to blame for it. Rather than being transformative, as he believes himself to be, he exposes himself as just another elitist trying to tell everyone else that he knows what is best for them. Truly a shame.

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  • Started reading
  • 28 May, 2018: Finished reading
  • 28 May, 2018: Reviewed