Chapter 25–Re-Consecrate Everything
“There is no ‘away,’” this chapter begins. We don’t “throw away” our garbage and expect it to be gone any more than we “send away” our friends and family or “look away” from what disturbs us. In our trash culture, we have come to behave as though if we don’t like a thing, we can simply cast it aside, but in reality, everything is simply transformed into something else.
“We carry our history with us,” wrote James Baldwin. And so, even if we would like to throw off our Christianity, it will not go anywhere. Christianity, too, “must be recycled.”
McLaren suggests several ideas for recycling Christianity. First, we must identify those aspects of our faith that are “unholy, unsustainable, and harmful.” Second, since we can’t just throw out these negative or outdated elements, we must replace them with “less harmful alternatives.” Elements in need of replacement might include doctrines, notions of heaven and hell, the ritual of baptism as “cleansing,” ideas about demons and the devil, views of the Trinity, and even the word God itself.
McLaren suggests that a practical approach by a church leadership team might take small steps toward change by examining public prayers, services, hymns, and more. He reminds us that wherever there is change, there is conflict, and it is important to listen closely to others who struggle with change.
In imagining a world without religion—which can be a necessary approach to facing its recycling—we should also imagine a world with no secular society, that is a world of only religion. Both are essential for a balanced life, and the secular world is also in need of recycling.
In short, the act of recycling our religion and our secular world must begin in our own households and our own churches, and small steps will ultimately accomplish great goals.
Chapter 26—Renounce and Announce
McLaren opens this chapter with the story of a high school friend, a Christian with whom he had prayed, led Bible studies and worked summer camps, who one day said, “I’m gay.” The young McLaren did not know how to respond to his friend’s “coming out.” It was only later that he had his own “coming out” when he publicly announced that he no longer would stigmatize LGBTQ individuals but would welcome them into the Christian community.
There is a price to pay for anyone to “come out,” to announce to the world that they are no longer (if they ever were) the person they have been seen and believed to be, and they would like to be understood differently. Yet such announcing of a change of identity, of heart, or of understanding the world and people in it is crucial not only for us but for those who hear us.
He cites another example of a friend, Amanda, who was born and raised in a Charismatic Christian family. After she married John Ray, both began to open to new, progressive ideas, and she moved away from the strict practices of her childhood. At an important crossroad in her life, she “announced” to her father that she no longer fit the restrictive religion of her family. Her father at first rejected her but soon realized that if he wanted a relationship with her and any future children, he needed to accept the newly identifying daughter.
Such announcements, McLaren says, need to include a “renouncement”—that is an acknowledgement of what is being replaced. For example, in order to be antiracist, one must acknowledge and renounce personal and collective harmful treatment of others. To announce that one is a new kind of Christian, a person must identify aspects of the church that no longer fit.
As with any change, there will be those who argue and resist and potential exclude, but doing so will “help others in the long run, even if it upsets them in the short run.”
Grace Episcopal Church 