One of the things that Brian McLaren writes in his book A New Kind of Christian is that salvation isn’t an event, it is more of a process. I like the way he expresses it. He writes,

…maybe salvation isn’t something we “get” and then consider the option of joining God in his grand mission. Salvation is what we experience and spread in the process of joining God in his grand mission. Of course this is not a works/earning/self-justification thing — it’s all about God’s grace from start to finish. But the focus moves me to God, from my plan for myself to God’s plan for the whole world (not just [the] “wonderful plan for my life”).

This focus continues in odd ways throughout the book. Sometime reading it you think he is rather liberal and wishy-washy. But I don’t think he is. Rather his focus is on living in a relationship with God.

Another thought provoking theme is that the church should not be based on a consumer model. (In that model we make it attractive so that people will join and be part of the club.) Rather the purpose of being “in church” (in a community of believers) is to allow us to be part of God’s mission to the whole world. God loves the world, not just me. And we wants me to be like him – loving the whole world.

I rated this book an 8/10. Perhaps I should have said 10/10 – it has caused me to think a lot! But since I’m still thinking – the grade is still out. I’m trying to apply this hard thoughts to my own life.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 8th, 2007 at 10:24 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.