The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian (Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series) (Book 2) [Paperback]

Brian D. McLaren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2008 | Series: Jossey-Bass Leadership Network Series (Book 30)

After many years as a successful pastor, Brian McLaren has found, as more and more Christians are finding, that none of the current strains of Christianity fully describes his own faith. In The Story We Find Ourselves In -- the much anticipated sequel to his award-winning book A New Kind of Christian-- McLaren captures a new spirit of a relevant Christianity, where traditional divisions and doctrinal differences give way to a focus on God and the story of God's love for this world. If you are searching for a deeper life with God-- one that moves beyond the rhetoric of denominational and theological categories-- this delightful and inspiring fictional tale will provide a picture of what it could mean to recapture a joyful spiritual life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McLaren's A New Kind of Christian set the evangelical community abuzz in 2001 by exploring weighty ideas about faith through the vehicle of fiction. In his gentler follow-up, which intentionally reads more like an extended conversation than a gripping novel, McLaren brings back as protagonists pastor Dan Poole and spiritual guru (and now certified naturalist and tour guide) "Neo" (Neil Oliver). "Sometimes, I think the Bible is more of a question book than answer book; it raises questions that bring people together for conversation about life's most important issues," muses Neo. Using the device of Neo conversing with spiritual seekers, including an Australian woman who is battling cancer, McLaren tackles age-old questions about Christianity, including, "Before the beginning, what was God doing?" The conversations discuss the relevance of other religions, the authenticity of miracles and the work of Christ on the cross. The backdrop of the Gal pagos Islands provides Neo the opportunity to discourse on creation, evolution and a Christian's responsibility to care for the planet. McLaren's characters' awe of Neo can be wearing at times, as when Dan reflects, "What Neo explained next was so fascinating that I could hardly sit still." McLaren tends to overuse parentheses-there are seven sets on a single page-and some portions of text feel inserted, rather than well-integrated. However, like the first volume, this book offers an excellent opportunity for Christians to rethink why they believe what they believe.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"…this is a book you’ll want to read at least twice." (UK Christian Bookshops, July 2005)

Written as a piece of fiction, this second in a series by McLaren explores the places where many interested in the newer forms of Christianity now find themselves—uncomfortable in the traditional and evangelical churches, and evaluating what the mission of the Christian community should be. Anyone interested in what is the next phase of Christianity in America should read this book. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 7, 2003) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (April 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470248416
• ISBN-13: 978-0470248416
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #692,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists. His groundbreaking books include A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, The Secret Message of Jesus, and Everything Must Change. Named by Time magazine as one of America's top twenty-five evangelicals, McLaren has appeared on Nightline and Larry King Live, and has been covered by The Washington Post and the New York Times.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bold Brushstrokes from a Humble Artist of Faith, March 28, 2003

By 

Ken Archer (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian (Hardcover)

It's interesting that the tone of some reviews of McLaren's work stands in bold relief compared to humility brought by McLaren to his works, and the humility that he insists upon from people who agree with him. There is alot in this book to engage as a reader, and thoughtful readers will refrain, as McLaren does, from wholesale endorsements or rejections of complex works such as this. In fact, the only basis for wholesale rejection is the rejection of storytelling, which McLaren clearly stands behind. So allow me to defend McLaren's craft of creative nonfiction below.

Many writers in the postmodern Christian "tradition" call for a turn from abstract theology to theology as story, from the apologetics of argument to the apologetics of storytelling. Few, chief among them McLaren in this book and John Eldredge in Sacred Romance, are actually telling stories. Stories are by there very nature disarming. Perhaps that's why Plato wrote in stories, to be able to say exactly what Socrates was saying, but without being persecuted for it. Stories also enable the storyteller to experiment with ideas without offering endless caveats and "quotation marks" to properly distance himself from his proposal. Finally, stories reflect our day-to-day interior worlds, our thought lives, and are thus much better able to engage us than abstract claims of the Kantian or Schleiermachian ilk.

The most intriguing episodes in The Story We Find Ourselves in are, to me, the creation account given by McLaren and the break that occurs with the medieval synthesis of Christianity with Greek philosophy. It is indeed difficult to think of the creation story without the extraBiblical dualism of material vs. spiritual.

Finally, I think an interesting result of this book, or of the 3rd in the series, would be for others to continue the story that McLaren has begun. I think many would love to work through their questions via the medium of Neo, Dan and the rest.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Story Continues, March 28, 2003

By 

Charles R. Wear (Moreno Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian (Hardcover)

I enjoyed meeting Pastor Dan Poole and his friend, Neo in the pages of A New Kind of Christian, and highly recommend it as a starting point for those interested in exploring the new cultural paradigm facing Christianity in the 21st century.

Brian McLaren's second book, in what is likely to be a multi-book series, spends less time talking about the modern-postmodern shift and spends more time unpacking the new theology that flows from it. Once again, a fictional setting is used to provide the stage. In the preface to The Story We Find Ourselves In McLaren writes: "The more I have written about postmodernity (and so on), the more I have wanted to get to the point where it no longer needed to be written about so much. I wanted to start writing about the Christian gospel itself, from a vantage point within the emerging culture, without always having to defend the vantage point." In this work, McLaren begins the process of describing the "new" ideas, theological frameworks and viewpoints that paint the backdrop for the unfolding drama we are living.

The Galapagos Islands provide the setting for a discussion of creation and evolution and the origins of the universe. Once again, Neo is the prime expositor of the "new" ideas. In this case, his conversations with Kerry Ellison, a biologist working on the islands to study and preserve wildlife, allow Neo to unpack ideas about a Christian's concern and care for the planet.

Other areas of discussion are the authenticity of miracles and Christ's work on the cross. Neo's leadership of a weekly gathering on the yacht, La Ventura, sounds like the kind of church that I would like to join. The unfolding relationship between Neo and Kerry mirrors Kerry's unfolding relationship with God.

I liked the storytelling in Story a little better than the first volume. In New Kind of Christian I sometimes felt that the essay overpowered the story. In Story I think McLaren's skills as an author have given us a book that is as interesting for its plot as it is for its information.

I have a big appetite for stories that tell of the beauty and mystery that moves people toward faith. And for that reason, I recommend The Story We Find Ourselves In. Be prepared to expand your ideas about the Story that God has written for each of our lives.

44 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I loved the first book, but was dissapointed with this one, May 27, 2005

By 

J. Thiessen "Jon" (Denver) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian (Hardcover)

I was surprised to be so dissapointed in this book. The previous book "A New Kind of Christian" was great! The previous book asked questions that need to be asked of the church, questions that often lead to shocking answers (and revelations), but the author left them as questions. This was very wise of Mr. McLaren; it leaves the reader to pursue God to find the Truth. Especially in the 'postmodern' world that Mr. McLaren posits, there will not be simple and 'cookie cutter' answers. One-size-fits-all church is a thing of the past, and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

Unfortunately, in this second book we find out that Mr. McLaren's answer to all of the dogma of the past is to create a new dogma for the future. I was especially dissapointed that he hinges his story on evolution- a theory rooted more as a faith than science. C.S. Lewis once said that to anchor any faith in the findings of science is a mistake. All science will be disproven, and your faith will go with it. When our faith and science agree- it should be no more than a curious fact to us, because our faith is based on Truth, and science (by the modern definition) is rooted in materialism.

I suppose what disturbed me most was that I was halfway through "the story we find ourselves in" before there was any mention of the enemy, and then only as a 'metaphor to put a personality on evil." The next mention of the enemy was similary vague, and it was in the very end of the book. I suppose if you remove the enemy from our story, what you're left with is.... evolution to explain evil and suffering.

From the movie "The Usual Suspects: The greatest lie the devil ever perpetrated on humanity was to convince the world that he doesn't exist."

I agree with Mr. McLaren that the conveyance of the Gospel is changing as society changes, but I disagree the we need to change it into some form of unitarian cosmo-love to communicate the love of Christ. There is an enemy, and removing references to him doesn't do anyone any favors except, of course, the enemy.

Jon