Brian McLaren @ Greenbelt 2008 (Talk 1)

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 21 May 2012 10:57:08

The first talk I am revisiting is Brian McLaren's talk Postmodern and Post Colonial from Greenbelt 2008. This is the post I made at the time I heard the talk which doesn't mention the talk explicitly but is referred to through a brief reference. I first heard this talk in the weeks immediately after working my way through McLaren's New Kind of Christian trilogy which I had also blogged about when I finished reading them and earlier through the process of going through the books. I had in June revisited McLaren's earlier book Generous Orthodoxy and this post explains what I had gotten from that rereading. At the time of my original hearing I was still based in Kent, about to move up to Durham and was still part of an evangelical Baptist church and at the end part of a few years dealing with what I think can best be described as "post-evangelical angst". As such at the original time of hearing I was going through a major Brian McLaren phase because he was the dominant voice expressing alot of the frustrations I had with institutional Christianity at that point - then I listened almost as a fan without properly critically engaging I think.

As I re-listened this morning I realise I am in a very different place. I do have aspects of faith I am wrestling with but they have less to do with frustrations about institutional church and more to do with issues of the nature of God. I have also, through my time in Durham, become more able to critically engage with this type of thing - getting past, to some extent, the reputation of the speaker and more into the content of what is being said.

So on we go - to sum up for those who might be reading this who haven't an hour spare to listen - within this talk McLaren is seeking to explore Global North discussions on post modernism with Global South discussions on post colonialism. Through the use of both he is seeking to argue that the gospel needs to be looked at from a less ethnocentric way and that both the institutional church and individual Christians need to look more critically at tradition particularly but also at scripture, experience and our use of reason. Within this he comes to the conclusion that if we seek to do this we will be able to see the world from a more global perspective and so be more able to engage with issues of justice and peace as well as concepts linked to salvation.

The talk was one I found ironic, sad, hopeful and challenging in equal measure. I am going to take each of these reactions it raised in me and explain how/ why it made think/ feel what it did.

I thought it was an ironic talk on a three levels. Firstly, he began by talking about his own engagement with post-modern theory and how it had over the years impacted his spiritual thinking and journey. Within this part of his talk he talked of the way that no one ideology or way of thinking was allowed to be standing on the chair of superiority and dominance anymore. Yet, and this is the ironic bit, McLaren's work and career is built on this very idea of somebody having superiority and dominance within the public square because of their academic and professional background. Greenbelt and others book him as a speaker because he is viewed as having a "privileged knowledge" to share, which we should spend money on. We buy his books - as I was in the naughties - because he gives us a framework to use to enable us to look down on the forms of theology which we felt trapped in by. Thus, the stepping down from one stool to critique your self does take place but then it is replaced by another stool.

The second ironic part of the talk for me was the way that he talked about the need for those of us in the Global North to engage more with voices from the Global South. Whilst over the years events like Greenbelt have sought on one level to engage with those voices the dominant talks still predominantly come from North American or UK males. Because of the careers and reputations people like McLaren have built up they get booked as the main speakers because they are the people who get the revenue in. Perhaps one way around this would be for the North American speakers to partner up with voices from the global south and put together talks and presentations which give voice to both on one platform. Now don't get me wrong I put up my hand and plead guilty here. I as much as anybody else like to know what I'm paying for and am more likely to go for known North American and UK male voices - my choice of 10 talks illustrates this exact problem on my part.

The third reason I found it ironic is also my first reason for feeling sad. If one looks at some of the issues that have arisen in the UK church over recent years with divisions between black majority churches and fresh expression type approaches. The black majority churches take an approach which may be seen as distinctive in terms of the Pentecostal influence but the divisions often arise because their "traditional" approaches and attitudes towards things like gender and sexuality - which are partly linked to colonial missionary work - are sometimes dismissed by post-evangelicals particularly who are seeking to move away from these things. Therefore, in the Global North there are some who in their recognition of the problems of colonialism and neo-colonialism in all its forms are now contributing to divisions and a critique of other voices.

The talk was also sad because it made me realise the complexities of what the real life situation is. We are part of an institution which still costs lives in different ways. Being a pre-emptive peacemaker or doing things differently are not only a challenge they seem like an idealistic dream. I think the sadness I felt was in part influenced by my own experiences and reflections on being part of the Occupy movement as well as my own recent reflections on church and faith. Idealism / dreaming of something different is great, but sometimes I get sad thinking we end up giving false hope through it.

That said it was a hopeful talk because idealism and hearing people talk about an alternative way of being is hopeful. Within it he talked of Tutu and that reminded me that for all the complexities and disappointments along the way change is possible. The dream, or a version of it, can become reality.

Finally the challenge - the whole thing was challenging for me I think but I was left with a couple of specific challenges:

1. Needing to reflect on the voices I listen to and how I choose those voices.

2. The challenge which follows on of trying to hear new voices, which don't come from the usual privileged sources.

3. The need to be acknowledge my own part - as a local preacher - in the way the story is put forward. Thus, reflecting on the values which are at the root of my preaching. I guess this relates to the need to revisit exegesis when I do it to look at the passages through the Methodist Quadrilateral being ready to critique as much as embrace.

4. Looking at how I live my life and looking at where I can be - in unity with others - part of the solution rather than a continuing part of the problem.