Brian McLaren’s book, “Everything must Change”, is a challenging read. He lays out a case for continued innovation and creativity in every aspect of our lives. He contends that everything is related, every part of life is connected to all the other parts.
That’s a lot different than how most of us think. We put on our “work clothes” and go to work. We put on our “church clothes” and go to church. We put on our “play clothes” and go to play. For many of us our lives are subdivided and kept in neat little pigeon holes. It seems as though many of us try to keep one area from influencing any of the other areas. The old spiritual sings, “This earth is not my home, I’m only passing through!” WRONG!!
Jesus said, “Seek FIRST, the Kingdom of God…and everything else will fall into place.” (My Georgia paraphrase!) He also prayed, “Thy Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven!” Seeking the Kingdom here on earth begins to change the way many of us are living!
I think Jesus was giving us good insight! “On Earth as it is in Heaven” is a clue for what needs to change! McLaren is right, it is ALL connected. My church clothes are my work clothes are my play clothes…and everything must change!
I agree with McLaren in his general approach. I wish he would suggest how the church universal and the church local could implement his vision. A number of churches and communities are caught up in the “prosperity system” and would find his “equity system” solutions too radical. How do you tell a local church to collect what they would spend in “a mission trip” [travel, ins., lodging, food, tourism] and send the amount to the CBF missionary with a project in Africa, Arkansas, Mexico, (now in Cuba by the Florida CBF), etc., etc.
This is a theme that has been present in the background in most of Mclaren’s books. I do not, however, think that most churches realize what a huge challenge this is, especially for worship. I have had church members tell me that they feel disconnected when they go to worship, because worship is not who they are. They have to become a different person when they go to worship if they are going to get anything out of it. The church I serve has very liturgical and very traditional worship that is not reaching these people. But, and this is important, they are not looking for “contemporary” worship. I believe we have become much too concerned with labels such as “traditional” and “contemporary” and too little concerned with offering worship that offers worshipers an opportunity to encounter God. In order to do that, we need to use all the tools we have been given, and probably come up with some new tools as well. We need to cater to people with different learning styles, those who have grown up in the church, and those who are attending their first worship service. But, the last thing most ministers and church members want to hear is “Everything Must Change.”