A new kind of Christian (by Brian McLaren)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s about twelve years since I first read Brian McLaren’s semi-fictional book ‘A new kind of Christian’. I recalled liking it very much at the time, finding a lot that was inspiring and thought-provoking. It seemed like a good idea to re-read, so I’ve been reading around a chapter at a time over the past couple of weeks. 

I was interested to note that this was published in 1999, so it’s now twenty-five years old. Not that it seems dated, particularly, but I found myself wondering if anything has changed in the quarter century since McLaren first propounded these ideas, which were considered quite revolutionary, possibly shocking by many.

The style, as explained in the introduction, is that of a fictional encounter between two people - a divine encounter, perhaps. Dan, a tired pastor in an American evangelical church is wondering whether he should change careers and become a high school teacher. He asks a few questions of his daughter’s science teacher and soccer coach, a Jamaican American known as Neo. 

They first meet at a concert, and decide to have coffee together some time to explore Dan’s options. Dan has needed someone to talk to, and Neo is a good listener. But he’s not so good at answering questions. Instead, he poses more, and talks about some of his experiences and theories. Neo attends an Episcopalian church (similar to a British Anglican one) and has a deep faith, one that goes much deeper than anything denominational. And Neo’s questions are pointed, thought-provoking and sometimes mind-blowing. 

Each chapter takes Neo and Dan on a slightly different outing as backdrop for their discussions. It’s not a novel, and the story as such doesn’t really go anywhere. But as the introduction states, we shouldn’t judge it as a novel. There’s no real depth of characterisation, and the bulk of it is conversation as Neo challenges Dan to enlarge his perspectives. 

I hadn’t remembered much of the actual content, though I recalled that it was about moving the church into the 21st century. Neo talks a lot about postmodernism, and about reaching out to postmodern people. He explains why the bulk of the church (at least the Protestant church) was still working under modernist principles, and makes it clear, too, that this isn’t wrong. Just limiting. 

The enlightenment and the technological revolution, Neo explains, helped people to analyse, to make lists, to organise their thoughts. People categorised churches as high or low, liberal or evangelical, and so on and people in democratic western countries were free to attend one that matched their own preferences. But that was becoming less appropriate for most young people at the end of the 20th century; even more so, twenty-five years later. 

There are many examples in the book of a modernist line, which Neo marks on napkins or in the dirt. And they’re not wrong, he stresses, just incomplete. There’s another level, that which he believes Christians must start to observe if they are to live in the post-modern world rather than become increasingly isolated onlookers. He talks about the need for inclusion of all races, all styles of worship, all ages. He proposes that the ‘new’ kind of church will focus on reaching out to the community rather than trying to meet the needs only of those within the church. He says that there’s a need for radical rethinking, not just a few changes in style of music or liturgy. 

There are some sections which might be considered heretical by staunch evangelicals. Neo challenges Dan to think about what salvation really means. He says that evolution is something used by God. He believes that there is some value in other religions too: that Jesus is undoubtedly the way, the truth and the life, but that people may find him in non-conventional ways. And that’s part of the point of the book: to make people stop, and think, and figure out what is truly Biblical, what it means to follow Jesus, and how we can demonstrate the love of God to all. 

When I first read the book there was quite a bit of discussion online (and in real life) about the role of the local church, and whether it was of vital importance to attend a service every week or not. I’m not sure the issues were ever resolved, but there were certainly indications that people were becoming more aware of the Kingdom of God being now, rather than just in the future, and of the importance of being part of the universal church, rather than just a member of a single congregation. 

I don’t know that I agreed with every word of the book, but that’s okay. I’m more interested in wondering how many churches have started to take on these principles. The pandemic in 2020 actually forced everyone to stop, and churches adopted some new techniques such as live-streaming, to allow more people to participate without having to attend. Other churches pondered new ways of relating, and whether to make more dramatic changes in their style to attract those outside. 

The last chapter of the book contains some supposed email correspondence with a youth pastor who was asking a lot of questions about her future, and what a new kind of church would look like, in Neo’s understanding. I think that would be more useful for church leaders, although it really opens up more possibilities rather than answering any questions. I found that less useful than the rest of the book, but am already planning to re-read its sequel during the rest of the month. 

Personally I quite like the conversational pseudo-fictional style of the book. Apparently the style is sometimes known as ‘creative non-fiction’. It made it feel lighter and more readable than a non-fiction version might have done, rather than preaching. It won’t appeal to everyone, but with that caveat, I would recommend it highly.

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