More from Everything Must Change, or The Dysfunction We Find Ourselves In
As I mentioned earlier, the more I read of Everything Must Change, the more it ties into the world that I find myself in. As I continue to soak and pray about what a church that is truly aimed at healing the city of Baltimore might look like, I read about framing stories, and the danger (and hope) that they hold. McLaren explains that a framing story is the story that we are told that dictates the course of our future… Our framing story can be one that sets us up for success, or one that dooms us to failure.
As I look at the city of Baltimore, I see a framing story that is profoundly negative… one that starts back when Kurt Schmoke tried to woo tv shows by advertising how awful the crime was. A framing story that saw the slogan “the city that reads” changed to the “city that breeds” because of all the unwed mothers, and eventually “the city that bleeds” for all the bloodshed on the streets. The Sun did a story that I saw over on the Baltimore Crime blog that I think sadly depicts the result of such a sad framing story.
Criminologists who study Baltimore say apathy, alienation and cynicism have taken root. People have seen the criminal justice system fail to arrest and lock up criminals, allowing gangs to proliferate. They have seen politicians announce crime-fighting plans with great fanfare, only to have results fall short of the rhetoric.
At the same time, many of the positive forces of cohesion from the past have disappeared. Libraries have closed. Neighborhood associations have weakened. The number of recreation centers in the city has dropped from 145 in 1980 to 43 today. … The violence considered routine in the city’s most desperate neighborhoods is spreading to places once assumed to be safe.
Residents of Charles Village are assaulted and mugged on the street. A Roland Park woman is raped and robbed in her home. Near Patterson Park, a young man is beaten into a coma while walking home from Canton. … After such well-publicized incidents of crime this summer… even people committed to the city are talking about getting out. They’re disillusioned… after five police commissioners in eight years and no clear direction from the city when it comes to fighting crime.
“I think the entire city is under siege,” [Warren] Brown said.
Stealing from Everything Must Change, McLaren uses a quote from Einstein “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
The truth is, the current crop of mayoral candidates are all people who have been involved in Baltimore politics for years. They are the ones who have been on the council, or in some form of the city administration for years. The level of consciousness that they bring, is the same one that has seen us lose 217 lives this year.
The change will not come from the political systems currently in place, but needs to come from a totally different source.
When Christ walked the earth two thousand years ago, he completely changed the framing story of the day. He turned the status quo culture on its’ ear by saying such revolutionary things as “the last shall be first” and “love your neighbor as yourself”.
I look at our current state of affairs and see a need for the same framing story that Christ brought back in the day. One that calls our leaders to care more about the good of the people than about their political future. A framing story that calls us to care for the needs of those in desperate situations, and restore families in this city.
It would appear that city has lost faith in the government to restore order and civility to the city…
It seems to me that it is time for the church to step in, and begin the process of restoration…
Filed under: Baltimore, Brian McLaren, The Garden Community, church, church planting, leadership, ministry, worship
“When Christ walked the earth two thousand years ago, he completely changed the framing story of the day. He turned the status quo culture on its’ ear by saying such revolutionary things as “the last shall be first” and “love your neighbor as yourself”.”
Imagine if we actually did this… lived at every moment as though we actually believed that it would be better to put ourselves last, and others first… blows my mind.
I like the new theme, by the way. I’ve been contemplating switching to a 3 column one myself, too many widgets to fit in only one sidebar… I like it, it looks good!
Not only does the new theme look good, you look good as well.
What would change in our lives if we lived that way?
I’m really enjoying this book by Mclaren. Thanks for posting your comments.
What if all of us Christians recognized that the things Jesus said like “the last shall be first” and “love your neighbor as yourself” were not unique? Brian does a great job of showing us that the “change” in Jesus approach is not so much about the ends but about the means (justice v. war, non-violence v. violence, etc)
Jesus’ great truths are profound and they are absolutely true, but he wasn’t the first to say them or the last. What if we followed Jesus in a way that respected the fact that others have found that truth as well and that the good part of the good news is not that these things are true becasue Jesus said them, but that Jesus said them becasue they are true?
I think the result would be a new level of humility and sincerety that would throw the doors open wide to this good news. Wars might end. Divisive politics might end. The kingdom of God might become a reality even if it might not use the same terminology in all places. The over arching “meta-narrative” might begin to shift even if the specific narratives (the symbols, language, and myths) might manifest that truth in different ways.