Brian McLaren On Apologetics: Part 2

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Colossians 1:18 ESV

Picking up where we left off, let’s return to an appraisal of Brian McLaren’s apologetic method.  We looked at the foolishness that was found in his quote from: The Emerging Church: Past, Present, and a Kairos Moment.  Here again is the quote:

“We need to upgrade our answer to match the new questions in the future. Under 1 Peter 3:15, we must do so with gentleness and respect.”

We saw last time how this overarching rule is not in conflict with his cult’s goal and mission.  We also saw how it is absolutely incompatible with authentic biblical Christianity.  However, we didn’t really get into the biblical reason as to why it is incompatible.  We’ll do that now.

First, I want you to notice that although Brian McLaren has borrowed verbiage that is exclusive to Christians, the absence of Christ’s Lordship in his heart leads his conclusions astray from the biblical authors’ original intention.  This error of McLaren’s is a good example for Christians that are striving to develop a biblical world and life view to evaluate.  From this example, we see that Brian McLaren assumes human autonomy, leaving no room for his thoughts to be dominated by Christ as Lord.  In Christ’s place, he has enthroned humanistic philosophy and worldly desires.  Don’t be fooled by his occasional use of the Bible, he’s only using that verse because it says “gentleness and respect.” 

If you look at 1 Peter 3:15 and back up a few words, Peter writes “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.” [NASB]

McLaren has failed to demonstrate in any of his books, writings, speeches, or videos, that he has sanctified Christ as Lord in his heart/mind.  Kurios does not mean role model or pop-star.  It means Lord!  The word kurios is a powerful form of expressing honor, respect, and reverence.  It is a word with which servants salute their master.  Lord is the owner, a disposer of a thing, to whom a person or thing belongs.  It is a title given to God the Messiah Jesus!  McLaren knows not or speaks not, of a Jesus to whom this title may be ascribed. 

OK, I’m starting to sound like a Puritan again.  That always happens when I read Andrew Gray (which I’ve been doing).  My point is that the Apostle Peter makes it clear: sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart/mind.  Without this, gentleness and respect become shaped by political correctness, leading one to be deceived that it is acceptable to have a heart/mind that is not dominated by the Lordship of Christ as long as you’re gentle and respectful.

What does this mean?  Let us learn from the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 10:5

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” [ESV]

In the context, Paul is dealing with a situation that provided an opportunity to give an explanation of his behavior in person versus in his writing.  He says that in person he’s meek, gentle, and humble, but bold to them when he’s away.  In a defense of his ministry, he says that although we walk in the flesh, we do not wage war with the flesh.  He says that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.  What we destroy are arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.  Since Paul is using military terms and war imagery, he chose to say that there are captives, and those captives are pas noema, every thought. 

Noema can mean thought, mind, method, design, or plot.  Here, thought is a good translation.  A thought, according to Strong, is a mental perception, an evil purpose, that which thinks, the mind.  Every thought is taken captive, as a prisoner of war, to obey Christ.  This still does not do justice to the word aichmalotizo (to take or lead captive) because the verb is a participle in the present tense, meaning that it should be translated “continually being taken captive” as an ongoing action.  Still with me?

When we look to Scripture for what to believe and how to live, we are confronted with these types of commands that refer to our submission of our whole self to God, including our minds.  To enjoy the blessings that follow obedience, we must submit all of life unto the Lordship of Christ.  This includes what we do with our free time, what we eat, where we go, how we think, etc.  All of life and all of you are to be continually taken prisoner as a captive, under the Lordship of Christ.  When Peter said “sanctify Christ AS LORD in your heart/mind” he intended that the “AS LORD” be read with emphasis.  That is why in the Greek, he removed the word kurios from its normal word-order and stuck it at the beginning of the sentence.  So, next time you read it, put strong emphasis on AS LORD!

It grieves me when someone like Brian McLaren attempts to live life, and life to the full, with the deception that he can understand himself, understand God, understand the world around him, or understand anything for that matter, unwilling to submit unto the Lordship of Christ in his heart/mind.  But when I see that he is influencing others and adding lost souls to his cult, I grieve for the lost souls (the greater good) and use him as the stool pigeon to demonstrate his grievous errors in hope that God will be pleased to reveal Himself to the “innocent” bystanders, grant them repentance and lead them to a saving knowledge of the truth. 

The Lordship of Christ as taught in the Bible is essential to apologetics.  You will be made into a fool if you attempt to do apologetics without sanctifying Christ as LORD in your heart/mind first.  If you are putting a higher priority on your knowledge of church history, the pagan philosophers, your eloquent speech, or anything else, then you are not doing biblical apologetics, and you’re on dangerous ground.  Scripture alone is the word of God, the origin of theology.  If you intend on defending the faith at the frontlines of battle, He must be preeminent in everything (Col. 1:18)!    

Here’s a sneak preview of what we’ll be discussing next.

“Rather than a disdain for the world, we should attempt to understand them with gentleness and respect, and pay attention to what’s going on.” – Brian McLaren – Ibid.

We’ll see what Scripture has to say about that!