Tinkering with me, that is:
… by postponing the essence of salvation to the afterlife, and by assuming God plans to destroy the earth, the conventional view leads us to assume that the world will get worse and worse, and that this deterioration is in fact God’s will or plan. This assumption would tend to create a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Not only that, but in some versions of the conventional view, the worse the world gets, the better we should feel since salvation - meaning post-mortem salvation after the world is destroyed - is approaching. In too many cases, the conventional view can lead people to celebrate humanity’s “progress” in self-destruction rather than seeking to turn it around. To put it bluntly, in terms of humanity and this earth, the conventional view too easily creates - unintentionally, of course - a kind of religious death wish.
From McLaren’s upcoming book Everything Must Change(84)
This might shed a little light on my last post, or at least some of what has gotten me thinking like this. While I do see the need in recognizing that there is an end time, I do like the fact that McLaren questions the the practice (whether intentional or not) of “postponing the essence of salvation to the afterlife”… as opposed to living a lifestyle marked by the power of your salvation.
What do you think?
Filed under: church, life, ministry, reflection
“To put it bluntly, in terms of humanity and this earth, the conventional view too easily creates - unintentionally, of course - a kind of religious death wish.”
That line’s REALLY going to rattle people’s cages, and I’m sure that there could be a gentler way to say it, but that is SO TRUE.
And I honestly don’t know why more people don’t realize how out of whack this is with the Biblical narrative… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, because I only realized it myself over the last few years.
Thanks for sharing, Matt! Looking forward to reading this when it comes out.
Dis I ever show you The Pocket Guide to the Apocolypse? It is a pretty good read, and it is touches on some of this stuff… It is published by relevant… I think you might like it.
I think that the reason that I am selling cars instead of working at a church is because I continue to post stuff from McLaren and Rob Bell…
My mom always said I was hard-headed.
yeah dude, you need to learn! Step back in line so that you can get a church job again…
[...] Tue 17 Jul 2007 Oh Brian… Posted by Snoop under reflection , worship , ministry , church , life A follow-up that ties in to Brian McLaren’s quote from the other day… [...]