“Who am I to judge…?” Part III: Doubting McLaren, Doubting God?

(continued from Part II)

The problem with a line like, “Who am I to judge…?” is that it springs up like a relativistic cobra from the dense underbrush of legitimate theological debate.  It is intended to do one thing; stop you dead in your tracks.  It makes you consciously pause, wondering whether the snake bite about to gitcha on the leg is worth the all the trouble of contorting into a human pretzel, planting your mouth on the wound to take a good suck on the venom.

(Sorry… That metaphor got away from me like a pig all greased up for the county fair…)

A rhetorical question like, “Who am I to judge…?” is just chock full with individualistic, subjective, open-ended interpretation.  If you carry it out to it’s logical conclusion it is actually a pretty heavy-duty challenge to the person on the receiving end.

“Whose truth is the right truth?”

When the “Who am I to judge…?” line got dropped on me one thought quickly went through my mind.

If I doubt Brian McLaren, a man whom a lot of people feel is directly inspired by God, am I actually doubting God Himself?

Of course the Rev. Jim Jones managed to get a lot of decent folks to drink some thoroughly gnarly Kool Aid in the jungles of Guyana, so history is pretty clear on this point.  If your instincts suggest you are about to to drink a toxic brew you may want to have a lab rat handy to take the first swig.

History is full of well-intentioned folks who, under the name of Jesus, got other well-intentioned people to do some pretty weird and (occasionally) heinous things.  No, I’m not saying McLaren is the head of a cult, though if he continues on this path he may well be some day. The way some folks defend him even when he gets self-consciously weird, well you just start to wonder what all the hub-bub is about.  You’d think this guy was the second coming of Jesus the way some folks jump to his defense.

So please pardon my hubris, but I think I am allowed to question Brian McLaren on grounds of Biblically-informed discernment without instantly falling into the category of being  “judgmental.”  I prefer to drink my Kool Aid straight up and without the theological cyanide chaser, thank you very much.

When you boil it all down all this wrestling with McLaren’s approach to Ramadan is about one thing.

At the end of the day I just want to be more like Jesus.

That is precisely why I am not only empowered to ask hard questions of spiritual leaders like McLaren, I am required to ask hard questions. I am all the more required to ask hard questions when a spiritual leader’s actions jettison hundreds of years of orthodox theology in what seem to be self-consciously attention-grabbing stunts.

I am sure, in spite of everything else I say here, that Brian McLaren and I are on the same page in that one goal.  I really believe McLaren just wants to be more like Jesus. I take that claim at face value.  I don’t think he’s the Anti-Christ, or a self-conscious charlatan, or even aware of the fact that he is increasingly taking questionable side-trips away from the “narrow gate” Jesus spoke about.  (Matthew 7:13-15)

The rub comes when we disagree over just how “necessary” strange choices like observing Ramadan are in our quest of loving our enemies.  Is the solution to the rub point squelching dialog by dropping the “Who am I to judge…” punctuation mark?

Or is the answer that we must make time to reason together as believers, holding one another accountable to a higher standard of Christ-like behavior and consistency of walk?

I say I am a Christian.  McLaren prefers to call himself a “Christ Follower” but who cares.  You say “tomato,” I say “Heinz Ketchup.”  Big deal.  (I’ll go on a rant about that whole “Christian,” “Christ Follower” thing another day, but for now it’s totally irrelevant.)

I want to become as much like Christ as I can, more so every day.  To do so means I must be ready – as must McLaren – to confront my preconceived notions of what faith looks like with a clear mind, with a fresh eye, and, to some degree, with a blank slate.

That does not mean, however, that we can just toss out historical context or orthodox theology so we can recreate it all ad-hoc to suit the sensibilities of our contemporary culture. There is a reason why the Bible has stood the test of time.  It just works.  Well, that and it’s the Word of God given to us for teaching, growth, and rebuke, but let’s not quibble.  There is also a reason why guys who wrote with a lot of “thees,” “thous,” and “verilys” and laid the groundwork for the Protestant Reformation a few hundred years ago still stand up well for modern consideration.  They wrote their messages consistent with the complete Biblical context where works followed salvation and it all happened as an act of gratitude for the gift of eternal life in Christ.

(Uh oh.  I’m starting to sound like a preachy apologist.  I better lighten things up.)

The bottom line is McLaren isn’t God.  I am not going to let myself get all wrapped up in the example of his life if that example isn’t heading in a holy, Christ-focused, salvation-first, works-second direction.  Observing Ramadan doesn’t quite measure up to that standard, so I know it’s time to look elsewhere for my spiritual mentors.

(How’s that for lightening up?)

To effectively become more like Christ, transformed by the renewing of my mind through the power of the Holy Spirit, I have to be ready to do heavy labor on a daily basis.  Life is an ever changing landscape filled with ever-challenging realities and unless I know the Bible inside and out – not as some pop-culture preacher defines it, but as historically orthodox doctrine defines it – I won’t be equipped to meet those challenges with grace and assurance.

To become more like Jesus  means I also must have a decent answer to the, “Who am I to judge…” question.  If I am called to “discern” between those who would lead me down the true path and those who would lead me down Alice’s theological rabbit hole I had better have some good training under my belt.

And let’s not forget one other tidbit…

I know how easy it is to con people into buying crappy products.  The guy who is writing this extended missive has been around the advertising business since 1993.  Nobody knows how to put a nice, white lab coat on the shoulders of a rotting corpse of a product better than I.  (Ick.)

The Bible makes it clear that I am not only allowed to, but am in fact called to, tap into the power of the Holy Spirit to help me discern truth from lie.  Yes, I am required to steadfastly do the work of a peacemaker in one passage of scripture while in the next I am also told that I may be persecuted for staying true to my faith in Jesus (Matthew 5).  Knowing how to navigate that minefield on a daily basis requires hard work.  It requires a willingness to step away from a new wellspring of theology (aka: McLaren) if it smells like the well is tainted with dubious or weak reasoning or doctrine.

I just bent over McLaren’s well and took a deep sniff.

Smells like someone dumped a truck load of cow ka-ka down that shaft.

NEXT – “Who am I to judge…?” – Part IV

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