Book Review: A Generous Orthodoxy by Brian Mclaren

Interesting, philosophical, and generous to a broad spectrum of church movements. I do feel some of it could have been said in fewer words, but none the less I enjoyed particularly the dive into Methodist and Anabaptist history. The other movements were also interesting. What I got out of the book most is the need for us to participate in what God is doing and learn in friendship from all Christians. I also appreciated the correct explanation of the verse that says Jesus has not come to bring peace but a sword. The correct explanation being that if you do good, people may turn on you as they did and do Christ. It is not a license to violence. Our duty is to love people of other faiths and to most definitely love our brothers in Christ. This doesn't mean putting all ideas in a blender and diluting it into some weird tasting smoothie. We can hold our own Christian tradition with love and respect to all. We can invite those outside the faith to meet with Jesus. If rejected, we move on. We don't call down fire from heaven. We also must repent not just insist others do. As new streams and old streams of our faith emerge and cross paths, we can learn from each other and grow in love.