Over the last several months, Brian McLaren has become something of a mentor to me. Through his writing and preaching, his thoughts on God, Jesus, the gospel, heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven, the Christian life, and Christian spirituality in general have resonated with me in significant ways.
My respect and appreciation for him has increased much over the last few weeks, even in the face of mounting criticism. Because he is outspoken, bold, and a bit controversial in his writing and Christian practice, he has become the target of several Christians. They have raised him up as the defacto spokesperson and posterchild for the Emerging Church movement and whipping boy of the Modern Church. In fact, one such Modern characature of him is so outlandish and nauseating, I can bairly finish his book critiquing him and the EC movement.
Thankfully, Tony Jones, the new national coordinator of Emergent (an EC coordinating group) suggested he write a series of three posts telling his story. The story includes his experience as a follower of Jesus and minister of His gospel, and committment to Jesus and His Way. For those of you interested in this leader and truely understanding a bit of where he is coming from, I would encourage you to read the seriese of three posts listed below.
