During a talk at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, McLaren outlines what the world needs most from Christians today

November 21, 2024

The Rev. Dr. Brian McLaren, the author of more than 20 books, is part of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church’s McClendon Scholar Program. (Photo by Wendy Davis/Wild Artist Photography)

Speaking for the third time this year as part of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church’s McClendon Scholar in Residence Program, the Rev. Dr. Brian McLaren shared his thinking on what the world needs most from Christians today.

“My goal is I will give you nothing to feel guilty about,” the author, speaker and activist told people in the sanctuary of the historic PC(USA) church in Washington, D.C., and an online crowd of several hundred people. “The second goal is I will add no pressure to your life. Do I get an amen on that?”

“My goal is to create a safe space to think freely, which is harder than it looks,” he said. A mentor of McLaren’s once said that learning is not the consequence of teaching — it’s the consequence of thinking. “I hope in this space your thinking will get some spark, some carbonation, some caffeine, and come alive — and from that some creativity could arise,” he said. “That would be a wonderful thing.”

McLaren used “world” in the title of his talk in two senses. The first is the Earth, the care of which “is the most urgent issue of our time,” he said. The second sense is human civilization, and McLaren said he’s become “obsessed” with a quote by Father Thomas Berry, which McLaren offered in three simplified statements:

• The glory of the human is the desolation of the Earth.
• The desolation of the Earth is becoming the destiny of the human
• In light of the first two statements, human activities must be judged by the extent to which they foster our ability to get back to right relationship with our home.

Who will help us? “Christians in America are aware all of our religious institutions are on the decline, but we’re still the richest, most powerful religion in the world,” McLaren said. “So many of my dear friends say it’s a sinking ship. They’re giving up. I understand, but my rabbi friends say, ‘Don’t you dare give up. We need you there. Others will use religion to do harm.’ My friends of color say that giving up ‘is an act of privilege for you. You feel protected in other settings. Our religion helped us survive some of the worst atrocities. You’re not setting a good example when you give up so easily.’”

Taking a cue from Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si,” McLaren wondered aloud what the Earth would ask us to do, landing on several ideas.

• Prepare people for this life in the coming critical decades. “If we don’t make significant progress on climate issues” in the next few years, “every problem will be worse in the foreseeable future,” McLaren said. We must “elicit a vision of enhancing the Earth” and its relationship with those who live on it. “Theologically, that means we shift our focus from the afterlife to this life, and that’s hard for Christians,” many of whom have spent most of their history on the former. “I think the Earth would say, ‘Can you Christians get refocused on getting people to live wisely and well in this decade and the coming decades?’” he said. If “denominational headquarters” don’t give people permission to treat the climate crisis as an emergency, congregations must lead the way. The Earth might ask Christians “to break out of our silos and become part of multi-level movements.” We can’t solve deep-rooted problems as a single congregation or even as a denomination. With widespread problems, “we don’t have great ways of finding people doing the work elsewhere.”
• Also, the Earth would ask older Christians to “embrace a preferential option for the young,” McLaren said, putting a different spin on the expression “God’s preferential option for the poor.” The shift will require investing power and money in young people, he noted.

“If you wanted to be born at a time to have an easy life, that was a few decades ago,” McLaren said. “A meaningful life? You’re alive at just the right time. For the Earth and the human civilization upon it, I hope I have faithfully spoken for what they might say to us.”

Read Presbyterian News Service reports on McLaren’s previous talks here and here.

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Today’s Focus: Activist Brian McLaren speaks at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Susan Abraham, Associate, Board Meeting Support & GA Coordination, Executive Director’s Office, Presbyterian Mission Agency  
Ahmad Abri, Lead Web Developer, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 

Let us pray

Heavenly Father, thank you for providing the inspiration to move forward in faith. We embrace the opportunities and blessings that surround us. Amen.