Rumor has it that Brian Mclaren, one of the leaders of the emerging church movement, has been invited to address the assembled bishops at Lambeth. This should not be a surprise as McLaren is wholly committed to repackaging all the vague, undefined, and frankly antinomian aspects of mainline protestantism and infusing them into evangelicalism under the guise of a sort of “hip” mysticism fused with bad hygiene.
Here’s Mclaren’s take on the behavior Leviticus 18:22 describes as an abomination and St. Paul calls shameless…but of course Brian McLaren knows better.
Frankly, many of us don’t know what we should think about homosexuality. We’ve heard all sides but no position has yet won our confidence so that we can say “it seems good to the Holy Spirit and us.” That alienates us from both the liberals and conservatives who seem to know exactly what we should think. Even if we are convinced that all homosexual behavior is always sinful, we still want to treat gay and lesbian people with more dignity, gentleness, and respect than our colleagues do. If we think that there may actually be a legitimate context for some homosexual relationships, we know that the biblical arguments are nuanced and multilayered, and the pastoral ramifications are staggeringly complex. We aren’t sure if or where lines are to be drawn, nor do we know how to enforce with fairness whatever lines are drawn.
Perhaps we need a five-year moratorium on making pronouncements. In the meantime, we’ll practice prayerful Christian dialogue, listening respectfully, disagreeing agreeably. When decisions need to be made, they’ll be admittedly provisional. We’ll keep our ears attuned to scholars in biblical studies, theology, ethics, psychology, genetics, sociology, and related fields. Then in five years, if we have clarity, we’ll speak; if not, we’ll set another five years for ongoing reflection. After all, many important issues in church history took centuries to figure out. Maybe this moratorium would help us resist the “winds of doctrine” blowing furiously from the left and right, so we can patiently wait for the wind of the Spirit to set our course.
McLaren is absolutely correct about the dignity, gentleness and respect that we must necessarily exhibit toward those living in sinful relationships, but otherwise his words could very easily be mistaken for those of a muddled theologically incoherent Episcopal priest. Then again, I suppose he could qualify as a Camp Allen bishop.
Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly orthodox emergent church leaders. Mark Driscoll, for one, is fantastic. Here is Driscoll’s response to McClaren:
...on January 23rd McLaren wrote an article for Leadership that is posted on this blog. In it he argues that because the religious right is mean to gays we should not make any decision on the gay issue for 5-10 years.
As the pastor of a church of nearly 5000 in one of America’s least churched cities filled with young horny people this really bummed me out. Just this week a young man who claims to be a Christian and knows his Bible pretty well asked if he could have anal sex with lots of young men because he liked the orgasms. Had I known McLaren was issuing a Brokeback injunction I would have scheduled an appointment with him somewhere between 2011-2016.
Lastly, for the next 5-10 years you are hereby required to white out 1 Peter 3:15 which says “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” from your Bible until further notice from McLaren because the religious right forget the gentleness and respect part and the religious left forgot the answer the question part. Subsequently, a task force will be commissioned to have a conversation about all of this at a labyrinth to be named later. Once consensus is reached a finger painting will be commissioned on the Emergent web site as the official doctrinal position.
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We ought not be naive with regard to Brian McLaren’s invitation to Lambeth (if the rumor is true). He will be there to tell the assembled bishops just how hazy, foggy, undefined, and ultimately, unresolvable the question of homosexual behavior really is and why nothing ought to be done until at least 2016.
Here, finally, is my favorite analysis of the emerging church.
UPDATE: McClaren confirms. He’s a “great admirer” of the ABC and says he can’t wait to speak to the bishops about, “evangelism/disciple-making”. Oh, and he seems also to be a fan of a blog called “Anglimergent” from the Diocese of Olympia
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With all the great minds that Anglicanism still possesses . . . and ++Rowan (perhaps) invites McLaren. *sigh*