Church on the Other Side (by Brian McLaren)

(Amazon UK link)

Browsing our shelves, looking for an interesting Christian book to read during February, I spotted Brian McLaren’s ‘Church on the Other Side’. I didn’t remember anything about it, although apparently I read it during December 2014, just over nine years ago. 

The book was first published in 1998, most recently revised in 2006. The general thesis is that the church, in its multi-format multi-denominational and often petty-minded insularism of the late 20th century, had to make radical changes if it was to survive into the 21st century.  This goes alongside the move beyond the modernistic attitudes and scientific ‘certainties’ of so-called baby boomers into the post-modern outlook of the millennials.

Post-modernism is defined (as far as is possible, anyway), explained (from the author’s perspective), and its pros and cons demonstrated clearly. It has arisen globally - or, at least, in the educated, comfortable west - partly due to a spiritual poverty, partly due to science becoming less certain. I doubt if most folk understand quantum mechanics, for instance. I’m not sure that even physicists really understand it. 

There are inherent dangers in postmodern thought, of course: inclusivism is good, but individuals are important too. There is much to learn about other belief systems, but if Jesus is real, and demonstrates the path to God, there must be some boundaries to relativism. Most worryingly, perhaps, if we claim that all types of worship are valid, what of the authoritarian styles that humiliate those who differ, or who believe children should be beaten? 

This book asks questions rather than giving clear answers, and each chapter has a page at the end with suggested discussion questions, sometimes to be asked of those in the community who are not believers, or who follow a different path. McLaren encourages listening rather than arguing, acknowledging other people’s viewpoints rather than criticising, and starting from a place where we agree. 

He also proposes that the church, if it is to survive, must move beyond petty doctrinal or practical differences which have split congregations in the past. He talks about major and minor issues: we need to be clear about the important ones, and open to differences of opinion about the less significant ones. He believes that the church needs not just a few changes,  but a radical re-think, allowing for a variety of styles, different ways of communicating, involving modern technology, and practical outreach in the community.

Much of what he says is common sense, and I can see at least hints of the kind of church he prophesies in one or two that I know of in the UK. However, we’re 24 years into the new century now, and in most cases, individual congregations continue doing what they have always done, sometimes with dwindling numbers, but with resistance to any kind of change - and perhaps no real reason to consider anything other than what they have always known. 

‘Church on the other side’ is really a book to be read by younger people, by church leaders and youth pastors and others who are feeling concerned at the lack of vision in their community, or by the problems of smaller and smaller congregations. It needs people who are open to discussion, not to criticise anything about the current situation, but to see possibilities for the future. 

I’m glad I re-read it, it was thought-provoking and very interesting. 

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