He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: 'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.'
"Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, 'God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.'"
Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."– Luke 18:9-14 (MSG)
Brian McLaren, in the last third of his sobering, insightful, and compelling book, Do I Stay Christian, offered guidance for Jesus followers who want to stay Christian in a world where a larger, louder voice reflecting the reasons so many people are leaving dominates. How do we stay Christian in the world in which we find ourselves, staying faithful and perhaps even helping others find a hopeful alternative? His chapter titles hint at the recommendations he makes:
How Do I Stay Christian?
Include and Transcend: Respect the Human Process. In one of his earlier books, Faith After Doubt, McLaren outlined a way to frame how we develop as human beings in our thought processes regarding faith and life. Read through the chart McLaren crafted, one column at a time. Which one(s) most resonate with you? Have you shifted over the years? Why? Perhaps when we recognize our own development, we will also recognize that everyone else on the planet is developing, too. Perhaps that will soften our hearts toward one another.
Start with the Heart: Love is the End and Means. The shortest way to summarize this chapter and McLaren’s point is to simply say that we won’t argue our way toward harmony. Love is the only motive and the only means that brings us to a loving end.
Re-Wild: Creation is God’s First Word; “Read” It. God’s first Word is creation itself, revealing so much about the nature of God. Spend some time in creation – of which you are a part! – and observe. Not to study or categorize or identify, but to simply be in the first Word of God so that it can speak to you. It will.
Find the Flow: The Spirit is Moving; Move w/ It. The Spirit of God is always moving toward all that God intends for all that God has made. The intention is that it be well and whole and fully alive as it should. How are you moving with the flow of God in your individual life for your personal wellbeing? How are you moving with the flow of God for the wellbeing of the planet? All its inhabitants?
Re-Consecrate Everything: Redeem v. Refuse. I do not think those who lived before us had an evil plan to interpret scripture in ways that would one day be used to turn the Bible into a club. People see things as they are. People see things as THEY are. All that has shaped our eyes causes us to interpret things the way we do, according to the way we see things, according to the way we are. Instead of throwing everything out, why not redeem them so that their value can go forward? It like holy recycling. Let’s rethink and recast the beautiful traditions of baptism, communion, confession and more to reflect the loving purposes of God.
Renounce and Announce: ID Mistakes & the Gospel. Like the above, there are passages that have been used to enslave, abuse, shame, and kill people. We need to shine a light on those passages, talk through the interpretations, and recast them through the lens of Jesus. All people ARE equals regardless of skin tones. Women ARE equal with men. LGBTQIA+ are fearfully and wonderfully made and are equal with straight people. Divorced people are not second-class citizens.
Stay Loyal to Reality: Know & Avert Your Bias. Below are several paragraphs – each one a prayer – crafted by McLaren to help us acknowledge our biases and ask God’s help to avoid them. Take time to slowly work through each paragraph. Which ones stick more than others?
Stay Human: Increasingly Just, Kind, Humble. What kind of human do you want to continue to become? The picture of a mature person in the Bible – one who truly walks with God – is one who acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God (Micah 6:8). Jesus nailed it, which is partly why we are still talking about him! This is the Way that leads to life with God, life for all people, life for the planet. How are you developing such maturity in your life?
The parable Jesus told was a slap in the face to the religious leaders who may have been listening.There were plenty of people who thought the religious leaders were full of “it”.The dynamics may have been different, but McLaren’s book would have resonated with plenty of people in Jesus’ day, too.The model Jesus presents in this parable is the least likely candidate, yet the one who knew it and addressed God in deep humility.May it be so for all of us.
A Prayer to Minimize the Risk of Bias and the Sin of Certainty (Brian McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?)
Source of all truth, help me to hunger for truth, even if it upsets, modifies, or overturns what I already
think is true. Guide me into all the truth I can bear, and stretch me to bear more, so that I may always choose the whole truth—even with disruption—over half-truths with self-deception. Grant me passion to follow wisdom wherever it leads. [Confirmation Bias]
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, help me not be seduced by simple lies or repelled by complex truths. Instead, teach me to seek out understanding as if it were hidden treasure, digging deep beneath surface appearances to discover what is real in the depths. [Complexity Bias]
Inspirer of holy boldness and humble bravery, give me the humility to learn from my community along with the courage to differ graciously from my community, seeking truth even when my companions are unwilling to see it or accept it. Help me remain humbly loyal to the truth even when I am misjudged and rejected by my community for doing so. [Community Bias]
Revealer of insight, do not let me be satisfied to see only what is visible from my limited perspective. Grant me insatiable curiosity to understand what my neighbors can see from their different vantage points. Help me draw near to them, to walk with them, to see through their eyes, hear through their ears, and feel through their experiences, so my horizons will be broadened through empathy. [Contact Bias]
Spirit of wisdom, protect me from being misled by those whose words are full of flattery, familiarity, and false promises, and keep me humble enough to learn from those whom I am tempted to dismiss as strange, difficult, or unfriendly. [Complementarity Bias]
Wellspring of all self-knowledge, give me humility so that I do not overestimate my competence. Save me from both excessive confidence and a lack of confidence; instead, please grant me proper confidence, to see myself, my abilities, and my limitations with a clear eye and sound mind. [Competence Bias]
Voice who beckons me toward growth, help me see what I am mature enough to see right now, and not only that: help me to know now how little I can know until I grow more mature. Grant me the curiosity and awe so that I may honor the bottomless, limitless wonder, beauty, and mystery of this world. [Consciousness Bias]
Spirit of truth who sets us free by the truth, do not let my desire for comfort blind me to truths that will inconvenience me. Grant me resolve to welcome the pain that often comes with wisdom. Help me choose empathy over apathy and courage over complacency, and to abhor the bliss that accompanies ignorance. [Comfort/Complacency Bias]
Holy source of both surprise and consistency, help me never to be held captive by rigid ideology on the one hand or addiction to novelty on the other. Do not let me be blinded by conformity or loyalty to any political party or economic arrangement. Whatever is changing around me, help me always to do justice persistently, love kindness cheerfully, and with unflagging sincerity, to walk in humility with you, my God. [Conservative/Liberal Bias]
Cosmic witness who cannot lie, keep me vigilant against con artists for whom lies and truth are spoken with equal confidence, and who tell me what I want to hear so that I will do what they desire. Protect me from surrendering to others my responsibility to think for myself. [Confidence Bias]
Holy light who illumines what is real, help me to see danger that is all the more threatening because it unfolds gradually and, likewise, help me to see possibility that is easily missed because it emerges slowly and subtly. Grant me, I pray, the long view. [Catastrophe Bias]
Beloved One who loves me, help me to hate money in comparison with you and help me see in the love of money the hidden root of all kinds of evil, so that I may see and cherish what has true value, freely giving what I cannot keep to gain what I cannot lose. [Cash Bias]
Companion who walks with me in light, help me guard my heart from stories and theories that cast me as an innocent victim or virtuous hero, while simultaneously casting someone else as villain or enemy. Instead, help me join your cosmic conspiracy of kindness, justice, joy, and peace for all, seeing myself and all my neighbors as equal beneficiaries of your boundless, merciful love. [Conspiracy Bias]