I mouthed - out loud - several “amens” as I made my way through chapter nineteen of Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change. I deeply resonate with the peace and non-violent Gospel distinctives that are articulated and celebrated in this chapter. I found myself cheering exuberantly as I read, in spite of the nagging personal discomfort that I mentioned in an earlier post regarding the socio-etymological connotations and potential negative symbolism created by McLaren’s attempt to re-frame detrimental imperial/counter-imperial narratives while simultaneously retaining imperial/counter-imperial terms like “insurgency”. Chapter nineteen is titled: “Joining the Peace Insurgency.” It is an incredible chapter laden with Gospel truth. The use of imperial/counter-imperial terms like “insurgency” in the re-framing of narratives doesn’t seem necessary. I agree with the chapter content, but I am mystified by McLaren’s need to use such a word in his re-framing effort. Given the times in which we live, a word like “insurgency” surely can’t be as helpful to the Gospel’s peace cause as McLaren seems to indicate in his choice of title.
The chapter title aside, I can’t help but think that a deep re-framing effort would be accompanied by it’s own fresh and contextual expressions. I can’t imagine Jesus ever associating his alternative way of living and being with phrases and symbols inherent to the political zealotry (counter-imperial) expressed by a very large segment of his own people in his day. “Slamming armed garrisons with love,” for example, simply confuses me, and I’m betting it would have confused Jesus’ audience too. This is probably why Jesus instead chose metaphors and similes that were contextually derived from those areas of life that were not so easily associated with imperial and counter-imperial narrative. Jesus’ word pictures were largely agricultural and/or social. “God’s realm on earth,” Jesus said. “Is like a mustard weed.”
At any rate, McLaren is really saying something profound in this chapter. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of peace and non-violence. There is no way around this truth, though many have tried to make one. It is also true, as McLaren articulates very well, that Jesus’ way of living and being in this world is a very real alternative to the detrimental imperial and counter-imperial narratives that so rule our everyday existences. Not much has changed since the 1st Century. The world still operates in the same basic fashion. We are still plagued by the same narratives Jesus of Nazareth worked so hard to re-frame. So, what McLaren is suggesting in this chapter is very, very relevant, if not revolutionary. The problem is we - followers of Jesus of Nazareth - actually play a larger part in this “realm of God” than we have been led to believe. We actually have to join the Spirit in this re-creation process and live it in our everyday lives and journeys. It’s not as easy as it sounds.
The following are a couple of very, very deep quotes from this chapter:
“If Jesus’ first feeding miracle and it’s twelve-basket surplus suggest a reconstitution of the twelve tribes being led through the wilderness with a new kind of manna, then this second feeding miracle suggests a new kind of conquest - not with swords and spears, but with bread and fish; not to destroy, but to serve and heal. Jesus seizes the old narrative, shakes it, turns it inside out, and offers a new story that re-frames a future radically different from the past” (158).
“… his cross is an even more dramatic narrative reversal. As we have seen, Rome uses crosses to expose and pronounce a death sentence on rebels; Jesus uses the cross to expose Roman violence and religious complicity with it, while pronouncing a sentence of forgiveness on his crucifiers. His cross doesn’t represent a “shock and awe” display of power as Roman crucifixions were intended to do, but rather represents a “reverence and awe” display of God’s willingness to accept rejection and mistreatment, and then respond with forgiveness, reconciliation, and resurrection” (158).
Spend some time with McLaren’s thoughts in this chapter. They are profound. Disciples of this Jesus are responsible for their own basic comprehension of the Gospel narrative reflected in the above quotes; we are also called to live this understanding in the market place. Rather than pointing fingers at those who contradict the Gospel, perhaps those of us who claim to understand it perfectly should pray that we could live it. We need not point, but pray.
Work Cited:
Mclaren, Brian. Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. Waco, TX: Thomas Nelson, 2007.
