So I’m reading Brian McLaren’s book, a Generous Orthodoxy, in which he proposes a new way of being Christian for our post-modern era (some people more knowledgeable than I wonder if we’re really in a post-modern era). In a kind of cafeteria-style Christianity, he selectively lays claim to various Christians traditions. Actually, McLaren lays claim only to select elements of those traditions (not embracing the traditions in their entirety or even in large-part), and he often redefines those elements in the process. (Confusing? Yes. Let me recap: Claim a tradition, but really only embrace one aspect of that tradition, but then change the meaning of that aspect). What results, then, is a Christianity that may be hardly recognizable to an adherent of a tradition that McLaren claims.
For example, he claims that he is Charismatic, but the way in which he understands and defines the term is very different than the way that you or I might (he also claims to be Anabaptist, Anglican, Fundamentalist, etc. . . . but in each case he either carefully selects only one aspect of the tradition and/or he redefines the tradition itself).
Or again, McLaren claims to be both Fundamentalist and Calvinist, but he has little loyalty to the theology or principles of either tradition. McLaren calls himself a Fundamentalist, but he actually dismisses the five fundamentals that define Fundamentalism and redefines the fundamentals based on different principles (page 184). And so I ask, what is the point of calling yourself a Fundamentalist when you completely change the meaning of the word? He looks like no Fundamentalist you or I know.
He also calls himself a Calvinist, but from the nearly 500-year old Calvinist tradition McLaren only claims the "reforming principle of the tradition," (page 189) not any significant theology or set of beliefs. For McLaren, to be a Calvinist is to be a reforming Christian, but not much else. Thus McLaren can claim to be Calvinist without any reference to the theological insights or writings of John Calvin or his successors.
I run into this in the Lutheran Church, too. The church is filled with pastors and lay leaders for whom being Lutheran means little more than having a "reforming spirit." When I ask them how being Lutheran influences their ministry, a typical answer might be, "Luther was innovative and embraced the new technology and language of his day. That’s what we should do, too."
Although innovation in matters of church is admirable, being innovative or having a reforming principle in ministry doesn’t make one a Calvinist or a Lutheran (there are lots of reformers out there who can be admired – if it’s just a "reforming spirit" that you’re after, why not claim to be a follower of John Wesley, Pope John XXIII, Aimee Semple McPherson, Brian McLaren or Melancthon?). Maybe I’m just too modern and not sufficiently post-modern, but it seems to me that while we can be inspired by their example and we can be influenced by different Christian traditions, we can’t claim to be "Lutheran" or "Calvinist" or whatever without embracing some core set of beliefs in that tradition. And of course, the messy part is defining what those core set of beliefs are. Just ask different Lutherans or different Calvinists to define what it means to be part of that tradition and you’ll see the problem in coming up with a core set of beliefs . . . .
I know I’ve worked myself in a corner, and I don’t entirely believe everything I’ve just written. Actually, I see how it can be dangerous to clearly codify who’s in and who’s out of any tradition or community. But at the same time, isn’t it dangerous to claim a label that doesn’t reflect your identity in any clear way? (But at the same time, many of us Lutherans claim to be catholic, and that must annoy our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers, just as the Mormon claim to be Christian annoys many traditional Christians).
And this also gets me to thinking that perhaps I need to write a "Why I am Lutheran" post, because all I can really say authoritatively about Lutheranism is my experience with and love for it. So there we have it. My assignment is to write a "Why I am Lutheran" post in the next few days. This will be fun.
The Lutheran Zephyr 