Categories: uncategorized
Date: 09 December 2008 09:57:59
Glasgow has been the setting for a couple of talks by Brian McLaren over the last couple of days. Seeing as this was probably the nearest I was going to get to Greenbelt this winter, Surfing Madness (v.b.f. aswell as shipmate) decided to invite me up. Have to say it was a hectic, but wonderful 24 hours.
Arrived mid afternoon and was shipped off to the people who can only be described as "The Guardian Angels" for a wonderful meal.
Then it was off to Queens Park Baptist for McLaren (part 1). Service talk was basically him telling a bit of his own story. Then they had a q&a session, which was interesting. Whilst nothing he was saying was particularly new, or shocking in itself and it wasn't that cutting edge, (having heard a bunch of people saying similar stuff quite alot), there was something different about hearing it being said openly in a mainstream, evangelical setting. One of the key things he was saying was that the church needs to take ownership of what it's done / is doing wrong, which oppresses / has opressed other people. As part of that he apologised on behalf of the church, to the gay people present, for what they had experienced. Now, I have to say this whole "apologising on behalf of the church" thing, is something I have issues with...whether it relates to racism, slavery, homophobia / heterosexism, mysoginy or whatever. As with this case, it is usually people who are far removed from the perpetrators by time, space or ideology who are doing the apologising and so any such apology has a hollowness to it as far as I am concerned. What did impress me though, and was different was that prior to making the apology he simply said, "to the gay people here I want to say...". The power contained in those words is something I don't think I can truly convey, but I'll try to explain how they hit me.
1) "Gay" was being used as a generic everyday term which clearly included lesbians aswell. This is in direct contrast to the normal way that gay people are addressed in evangelcial churches, if they are addressed at all. Normally the evangelical church uses "homosexuals", in a way which is loaded with a whole load of negative things.
2) The way it was phrased acknowledged it as a given fact there would be gay people in the audience, just like they'd be straight people, black people, white people, married people or whatever else you'd expect. The "othering" was removed and following on from that the idea there is a contradiction between being "gay" and "evangelical" was removed.
Therefore, for me as a queer woman the power of what McLaren said on Sunday evening was not in the apology, but rather in the way he addressed those of us in the audience who were gay initially. It was the first time I have ever been in a mainstream evangelical event and been made to feel that it was totally normal for me to be there, fully, as everything I am.
Then on Monday I met Jack the Lass for an early morning coffee, before rushing off to ICC to get some stuff copied from their library and then hearing McLaren (part two). Again nothing amazing or particularly new in what was being said, particularly if you are familiar with the theology of the left. Did like how, towards the end of the day, he got us thinking about the way outsiders think about Christianity.
On the way home I read through the essay we had been handed, which the principal of ICC had handed out. It was an essay basically critiquing McLaren, et al and explaining why there was a view McLaren and the emergent lot are basically dangerous liberal heritics. I didn't object to being given the essay because I knew the principal was operating in a highly political atmosphere, and was basically acknowledging the opposing view existed - giving us the choice to think about it all, as grown ups.
My own position is that I would rather be a liberal heretic trying, but often failing, to follow a biblical Jesus in the real world than the conservative alternative.
**Edited update** limn, who was kind enough to hat tip me has done a post which has some excellent links in - mainly to other bloggers who heard McLaren speak in Scotland but also to Brian Ingram's warning to his congregation in Glasgow- which was why ICC getting the right political balance was vital and so why I welcomed the essay being given out**