A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation - and Activation

Honestly? I am basically a lover of McLaren books. I find them challenging and well writen. This one however is more of a very predictable bible study than a challenging book about a Christian issue deserving careful consideration. The questions on the end of each chapter were also rather predictable. I suppose the book is just to be used for devotional reading in conservative Christian families settings. Not primarily for theological reflection.

Jesus often commented "Follow me". Never did he say "worship me". (Not that worship is a bad thing). Often times one of the best ways not to follow a "teacher" is to "worship them". While Brian will advocate for worship, in this book it's about following. We follow by walking the path. These are thought provoking writings presented in an easy read format with discussion questions to be pondered. Great for use with study groups. Spend time with the chapters, act as prescribed, and your "following" will improve!

Bought this for my husband. We both love reading anything written by Brian McLaren! Ten years ago, McLaren's first book, A New Kind of Christian, started us on a new journey of discovery that continues to this day! Thanks for letting us know he had a new book out! :-)

McLaren writes with insight and inspiration. He enables us to meditate via his insightful questions at the end of each meditative chapter. Greatly appreciated how he suggested Biblical passages to meditate on prior to reading.

Rather, useless; especially when combined with poor instruction. The content seems to come across as half truth and half fabrication. In some respects, it is a wish list of what the author would like to see transpire in both the spiritual world of the church and daily interactions of human society. Moral knowledge as elucidate by the Christ is not well developed. Thus, it becomes difficult to ascertain how the inner dynamics of the human psychic may change to produce what is really a good person. Conversely, there are some nice stories that promote enjoyable reading. The author does provide an excellent list of questions at the end of each chapter. They can be used to provoke discussion and illumination.

Brian’s books have been cool water to my soul as I’ve journeyed through my Christian faith. We Make the Road by Walking does the same. When I was a young pastor in the evangelical church, questioning, doubting, struggling in my faith A New Kind of Christian lit the way through my very dark valley. This was followed by more joyous years of discovery and books like The Adventures of Missing The Point and A Generous Orthodoxy. These books challenged me into deeper wonder, bolder curiosity, and called me to keep walking, keep seeking, keep uncovering theGod that was all around me. I have come to Brian’s new book We Make the Road by Walking nearly ten years after picking up the first. I have been voyaging a long but beautifully profound road and Brian’s books have met me at every corner. This book comes at a perfect time for the Church, Society and for me personally.

We Make the Road by Walking is a travelers guide that we can use together as friends, families, and communities, that grants each pilgrim the freedom to make there own way, together. Brian provides a complex, deeply biblical narrative theology that starts with creation and genesis and treks through the entirety of the Bible. We Make the Road by Walking challenges us to read the text aloud in large sections, to draw connections through the beginning, middle, and end, to trace meta-narratives that weave their way along the path, and as we find ourselves, our neighbors and our enemies in the text to draw deeply on the connections we make individually and communally.

We Make the Road by Walking is Brian’s one year lectionary, his comprehensive biblical narrative theology, his guide to communities of seekers, questioners, vagabonds, doubters, and free agents. He seeks to lead each of us to connect to the Divine God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This text is deeply Trinitarian, non-dualist, communitarian, provocative, and honoring of textual tensions. You can clearly see the “third way” thinking that Brian first mentioned in A New Kind of Christian, illustrated and lived out in magnificent form as a way of understanding the sacred text more clearly.

It is time for the world to hear and understand another historical perspective…a God honoring way at looking at the sacred text...A way that builds community and Neighbors…A way that invites the story to continue, the road to be built and the journey to be shared. It is clear that Brian wants every person to find their own voice of faith, to step into their own role as theologian and make their own road by walking…

With 52 chapters–one for each week of the year–McLaren takes us on a year-long quest toward “aliveness,” as taught by Jesus through words and example. Each chapter lists a few suggested Bible readings, gives a few pages of inspiration, and lists suggested discussion topics. His idea is that we would use this book for Bible study, with family or close friends in Christ.

“Aliveness” is a wonderful description for the type of existence Jesus wishes to share. Where the Synoptic gospels speak of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Gospel of John prefers terminology like life, life of the ages, life to the full (all much more precise translations than “eternal life”). How are we to understand the Kingdom, then? Some possibilities that resonate with our current-day language: how about The global commonwealth of God. Maybe God’s regenerative economy. Perhaps God’s beloved community or God’s holy ecosystem. You get the idea. We’re talking about a transformation of this world, not a distant kingdom in the sky.

McLaren is a liberal Christian. He is not going to preach doctrine, and in fact, even an atheist could be inspired to a more wholesome, meaningful life by Jesus. Nor does McLaren delve in church theology. You won’t be taught you’re a horrible sinner in need of repentance and covering by the salvific blood of a sacrificed god. You won’t be taught that life’s purpose is to guess which religion to believe in, so that after you die you can float away to heaven. Instead, you’ll be reminded that God’s creation is good, we are good, life is good, and aliveness is an attainable dream. Jesus taught us how.

I’m a fan of McLaren’s straight-forward, inspirational writing. Definitely worth reading.

Jericho Books, © 2014, 281 pages

ISBN: 978-1-4555-1400-7

In an article he wrote in 2014 for the Huffington Post, McLaren explains his motives for writing this book and how he decided to structure it. The book comes out of a lifelong desire to “search for a new kind of Christianity,” the same motive at the heart of many books he has already written. This book is specifically meant to “provide a coherent introduction to Christian faith for people for whom traditional framings aren’t working.” Additionally, the book aims to introduce readers to a new and better approach to reading the Bible, which he calls “the critical/literary approach.” He describes this approach as “applying critical thinking to the Biblical texts,” somewhat similar to kicking your car’s tires.

The contents in fifty-two chapters (one for each week of the year), grouped into four sections that are meant to loosely resemble the typical scripture readings and rhythms of the liturgical calendar. Further, each chapter is written as a short sermon, which could be read aloud in approximately ten minutes. At the end of each chapter, there is a list of questions meant to stimulate further discussion and reflection. At the back of the book there is an appendix listing Liturgical Resources and one with Guidelines for learning circles.

McLaren’s aim is “to present that coherent, comprehensive narrative in an accessible and constructive way.” By “accessible,” one can assume that he means “easy to read and understand,” and in this respect, McLaren fulfills his promise well. His prose is clear, engaging and refreshingly congenial. The goal of presenting a reasonably coherent and comprehensive narrative [of the history of salvation] is fulfilled in a necessarily superficial way.

So far, it would seem as if this book promises to be every pastor’s answer to small group ministry. Not so. The biggest problem is McLaren’s goal of providing the material in a “constructive way,” which he understands as material that is “aimed to simply present those better understandings so they could stand or fall on their own merits.” Nevertheless, once one starts to read each chapter carefully and with attention to detail, one finds oneself feeling irritated, baffled, and seriously skeptical of McLaren’s (or anyone’s) attempt to make sense of the entire Bible in essentially 262 pages. There are many occasions in which misinterpretation or sloppy thinking has produced howlers that would or should shock anyone. In fact, McLaren frequently falls into common habits which I caution my students against, namely: (1) conflating Biblical texts, especially the four gospels, and (2) reading meanings into a Biblical text which are clearly not there. Further, McLaren tends to treat the Bible as a unified story, and not as a collection of individual texts with different points of view and with distinct literary and historical contexts. Last but not least, I found the questions at the end of each chapter to be unimpressive. Thus, in McLaren’s handling, the Bible becomes as harmonized, sanitized, and seamless as a popular TV mini-series. It should be no surprise that this is the sort of dumbed down approach that is prevalent among conservative evangelical Christians. Without Biblical substance, faith and theology can easily go down a slippery slope which produces Christians who don’t know why they are Christian or how to be one.

Our pastor is using this book to do her sermons. She is a little more liberal than I so I can see why she likes this author. He views the people who are wealthy in our country as evil. They have all the power, weapons and such while the rest of us are the masses...poor trodden on people. This reminds me of the occupied wall street movement. America was built on the backs of hard working people who had a dream. They could make it to the top and become wealthy business owners. They in turn provide jobs for the masses. I hate hearing this in churches. The message of God is good, but don't demonize those who worked hard and became successful. That is the American dream and it should not be done away with by this spread the wealth mentality. The rich for the most part do a lot to help the poor and they also pay most of the taxes. In a way this is getting a political view into church without saying anything about politics. Subtle suggestions. This is just my feelings so please make up your own minds.

Brian McLaren is an author, speaker, activist and public theologian. A few of his books include WHY DID JESUS, MOSES, THE BUDDHA, AND MOHAMMED CROSS THE ROAD?, A New Kind of Christian trilogy, A GENEROUS ORTHODOXY and NAKED SPIRITUALITY. In his newest work, WE MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING, McLaren paves the way for believers and seekers (not necessarily in that order) with a journey guidebook that is part interactive Bible study and part life manual to use over the course of one year.

Divided into 52 weekly readings, McLaren hopes readers will revisit in a fresh way old Bible stories and do so with an attitude that espouses a “daring reinterpretation of the biblical story” using read-aloud weekly readings that offer discussion questions, prayers, and other resources that will guide individuals and groups through a year of learning. This material is organized around the traditional church year of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter and Pentecost.

Opening his text, McLaren’s statement is fundamental to the content and message of the book: “The quest for aliveness is the best thing about religion, I think. It’s what we’re hoping for when we pray. It’s why we gather, celebrate, eat, abstain, attend, practice, sing, and contemplate. When people say, ‘I’m spiritual,’ what they mean, I think, is simple: ‘I’m seeking aliveness.’” Now, to be clear, how McLaren achieves this “aliveness” will differ according to who is reading the book. Some evangelical Christians will take issue with his offhanded references to the Big Bang Theory, the age of the world, how creation came to be, and whether or not the stories told in the Bible are just that: stories that make a point but did not literally happen. That said, McLaren is trying to appeal to the broadest audience of faith-minded individuals by using inclusive language and terms throughout.

He has divided the book into four parts: 1) Alive in the story of creation; 2) Alive in the adventure of Jesus; 3) Alive in a global uprising; and 4) Alive in the spirit of God. Each chapter begins with various recommended Bible readings followed by an exposition of the texts and the story found there. McLaren does a wonderful job presenting these biblical stories in a fresh and thought-provoking way that will aid readers in asking better questions about the lessons found there. Closing each chapter is the Engage section, where he poses questions relating to the material and asks readers to discuss their findings as well as take the process a few steps further by activating what they learned through life application. Then he leads individuals to meditate on what they’ve just learned and discovered.

McLaren also offers a special section of Liturgical Resources for groups to use and a “Five Guidelines for Learning Circles” outline as well. He has a lot to say about the life of faith, not all of which will be readily accepted. However, he does ask the important questions about life and faith. Readers, whether or not they are fans of McLaren, can find some fuel for their own journey in WE MAKE THE ROAD BY WALKING.

Reviewed by Michele Howe.

The author begins his book by writing:

You are not finished yet. You are “in the making.” You have the capacity to learn, mature, think, change, and grow.
You also have the freedom to stagnate, regress, regress, constrict, and lose your way. Which road will you take?

As a believer, I find this statement to be true - we can all grow or die, depending on the choices we make. The book provides tools for each believer to evaluate his or own life - either as an individual, as part of a small group, or as part of a larger group worshiping together. Or, a church or parachurch group may chose to wrap-up a year long study using all three approaches.

The book is divided into 4 Parts, 52 Chapters, plus a number of supplemental sessions to allow the individual or groups to evaluate their growth through the year. Each chapter includes a suggested reading, a devotional or contemplative reading designed to bring that passage alive to the contemporary reader. The chapter ends with a series of questions to encourage the individual or group to dig deeper into the topics covered in the current chapters. Similarly, each quarter (13 chapters) concludes with a series of questions to evaluate individual and group growth.

Though the book is challenging and worth the time spent working through the studies, I am bothered by the author’s suggestion that the same book could be rewritten for groups of “Jews, Muslims, and others.” Such a task could only be done fairly by alternate authors with their hears firmly rooted in those traditions. For a Christian to attempt to write a devotional for those of other traditions would seem to stretch both the Christian’s commitment and other’s belief systems as well.

Read with care and used to critically examine one’s personal belief system, the book has values for Christians coming from a variety of backgrounds. Merely giving the book a cursory reading would seem to be unfair to the author and the book’s purpose.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

A new way to look at everything in the Bible. After some 4 decades as a Presbyterian, this book was so new to me that I could not really appreciate the lessons until I got to the third lesson. Then I could not put the book down until I finished it, then I went back and read the first two lessons again.

Since I read it and assimilated it, I can't quite tell you why it affected me so. Perhaps just the new viewpoint was enough.

This is the BEST book I've read in a LONG, long time. It is great for a pastor who may be looking for a year long sermon series; or for a small group who want to dig into the Bible...has study questions after each of the 52 chapters. Also good for a family b/c has questions for children as well.

Brian's devotional book is accessible for those new to the Christian faith and challenging for those who have been followers for life. We will be using this resource for our up-coming year in conjunction with an encouragement to our congregation to read the Bible in a year. It has greatly enhanced my personal devotions, and I look forward to sharing it with others. Several of the devotions have stuck with me since I began the book several months ago, especially the ones about God's judgment vs. human judgment and Jesus' encounter with the Canaanite woman. I may not always agree with him, but isn't that what wrestling with our faith is about?

My wife and I have now known Brian for almost 25 years. The paths we have walked to the current moment have been similar. We count him as a special friend in the thick and thin of life. I know we would not want to venture into the future without his grace-filled wisdom and nurturing. This book fully supports all the good things we know about this man. The Triune God is more real and engaged within us and all we are about in our own journey because we trust Brian to be writing authentically from his own journey forward. Our friends are about to get posted that this is another "must read." :-)

With his usual almost poetic clarity, Brian offers a weekly companion for walking with Jesus 52 weeks a year. Easy to use with small groups or for personal study, he continually reminds us of the profoundness of a God who loves us more than we could possibly imagine and who desires the best for each of us. When that truth sinks in, it revolutionizes your life! Our humanity seems to make it way too easy to forget that and fall backward in old patterns of thinking and living, but books like this help revitalize and revolutionize our lives daily. Thanks for another great book, Brian!

McLaren sees the way we image God as dynamic, like Creation itself, fully alive. We Make the Road... is a jump-start for small groups, new faith communities, main line churches, and anyone else who wants to start a conversation about how each of us sees the overarching narrative of the Bible. There's a place at the table for everyone from conservatives to progressives, for those exploring Christianity for the first time and those reorienting themselves in it, because the agenda isn't to convince or convert but to read and think seriously, to share our ideas and concerns honestly and graciously, to engage with the Bible and with each other in ways many of us haven't experienced before. The 10-minute readings and questions in each chapter are the product of McLaren's lifelong love affair and imaginative engagement with the Bible as well as his commitment to creating safe spaces for diverse people to connect and find a unity that transcends their different interpretations and beliefs. It's going to be interesting to see all the ways people are going to use We Make the Road..., and I think it will be a few years before we can begin to get an idea of the book's impact. Only time will tell, but this one may become a classic, a benchmark in the exploration of how to live authentically and faithfully in a period of profound change. This book is a rare thing—it invites us to come as we are and share our dreams while grounding us in the traditions of hospitality and loving community.

Just finished reading this and am looking forward to using it as a focus for discussion within my small group. McLaren gracefully articulates many challenging theological concepts allowing for room within the conversation for each reader to speak to their own experience. The journey is fascinating and challenging.

I "read" the audio version of this book and I plan to buy the hard copy to use in a study group. I like to hear the audio version of a book in the author's voice, because it adds to my understanding of the intent behind the words.
If you are like me, you have a mix of friends along the "very conservative - very liberal" theological continuum. Our church has a Sunday School class with just such a dilemma - what do you chose to study? We take turns. One person recommends a book (or compelling DVD) and we study that, then another person recommends something completely different, and we study that. This leads to some very lively discussions! The really awesome thing about this kind of "mixed" Sunday School class is that you get to hear all kinds of ways of thinking about the Bible, and it really helps you grow as a person.
One of the study tools that Brian McLaren uses at the end of each chapter in this book are the following "Questions for Engagement" which I think are particularly helpful for a theologically mixed study group:

1. What one thought or idea from today's lesson especially intrigued, provoked, disturbed, challenged, encouraged, warmed, warned, helped or surprised you?
2. Share a story about a time...
3. How do you respond to ...

I believe that God has blessed us all with active and engaging minds and then plunked us down into the middle of groups of people who we often don't agree with. What a great way to grow!

In my first group discussion of this book I was amazed how quickly community developed and the ease with which it could be facilitated. The tools for facilitation included suggestions that moved the group from study to inclusive experiential worship. It is a Walk I would like to continue with other Pilgrims..The Appendix II on " five guidelines for learning circles" would bless every small group in and out of our church communities..

I always find it odd how quickly some people confuse a book review as a venue to advocate a particular point of view about what they think the book might be about. Wouldn't it be great if reviewers got much beyond the preface (or author's name) before offering their partisan critiques? And how do such reviews help others to discern between well-written things we might disagree with and poorly written books of the like?

That said, the five star review is temporary and only offered to provide some balance until I have a chance to work my way through the book. If it is truly terrible I'll come back and fix things but the book shows promise, IMHO.

MacLaren is still peddling his Christianity Lite nonsense, which he claims is not dogmatic, except that he is extremely dogmatic on just about everything (the environment, gay marriage, name any issue and he's dogmatic about it). I guess this appeals to the "spiritual but not religious" types, but I can't imagine any mature Christian getting anything from this bushel of nonsense but a lot of laughs. Like most post-Christian authors, he throws in a lot of Scripture but he's part of the Rachel Evans School of Eisegesis - cherry-pick the Bible very carefully, and make the verses fit your own agenda, because how you feel is much more important than the messages the biblical writers were trying to communicate. They are both parasitic writers - they look at evangelicals and define themselves as "I'm not like them, so that must mean I'm a REAL Christian!" If you despise evangelicals and regard yourself as his "new type of Christian," you will adore this book. If "savor this aliveness" is your idea of a profound spiritual insight, this is your book. This kind of bumper-sticker theology has nothing to nurture a mature believer.

Jesus Christ as well as Paul and Peter the Apostles, warned us 2000+ years ago about Apostates coming out of the Church in the final days. Brian McLaren does not speak of repentance...he speaks of the " feel good" Christian Life where every body goes to a Church that doesn't seem like a Church.

Can you hear the hissing as you read? Frightening! Disturbing! Run Awayyyyyyyyyyyy from Brian McLaren and his tribe! Their intention is to lead you off of the narrow way that leads to eternal life. They purport a different gospel, a different saviour. They do NOT teach the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Get thee behind me satan is what I say to this evil propaganda! Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world! The whole world in under the control of the evil one, and Brian McLaren is part of that world! Do not be fooled!

I've read a fair bit of Brian McClaren's writings. He is distinctly Western & American in his presuppositions & perspective. One thing about Brian is this: he is provocative & creative. Unfortunately, he is stuck in the American, postmodern, squishy, 'can't affirm anything' mode. He is sadly stuck in the old Enlightenment path of being unsure of just about everything (except his own abilities to critique & take pot shots at American conservative Christians).

In his new preface, Brian writes "faith was never intended to be a destination, a status, a holding tank, or a warehouse. Instead, it was to be a road, a path, a way out of old and destructive patterns into new and creative ones." This is utterly foreign to the New Testament. While faith is a road - it is a road that must lead somewhere. We don't just travel roads for no reason. To not warn people to avoid the "wide road that leads to destruction" is not only foolish, it is cruel and unloving. It's sad to see such a talented writer be off base spiritually. There's much better stuff out there when it comes to true spiritual formation and the Christian tradition.

In the preface, Brian writes the following: "faith was never intended to be a destination, a status, a holding tank, or a warehouse. Instead, it was to be a road, a path, a way out of old and destructive patterns into new and creative ones." This has been McLaren's mantra for quite some time - faith is a journey and, as he says, not "intended to be a destination." He sees faith like a road that we travel along, taking in new sights and sounds along the way. This vague ambiguity may seem nice and "spiritual" on the surface, but really offers nothing substantial or helpful to the serious Christ-follower. Faith may not be about destination according to Brian, but according to the Bible, the destination certainly is predicated on who you put your faith in, so destination had better be pretty important to your faith. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians all don't end up at the same destination after traveling down the road of faith.

McLaren is right in that respect. Faith is about a road - a narrow road: "small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and few are those who find it" (Matthew 7:14). Thank God that followers of Christ DO know our destination.

In the preface, Brian writes the following: "faith was never intended to be a destination, a status, a holding tank, or a warehouse. Instead, it was to be a road, a path, a way out of old and destructive patterns into new and creative ones." This has been McLaren's mantra for quite some time - faith is a journey and, as he says, not "intended to be a destination." He sees faith like a road that we travel along, taking in new sights and sounds along the way. This vague ambiguity may seem nice and "spiritual" on the surface, but really offers nothing substantial or helpful to the serious Christ-follower. Faith may not be about destination according to Brian, but according to the Bible, the destination certainly is predicated on who you put your faith in, so destination had better be pretty important to your faith. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians all don't end up at the same destination after traveling down the road of faith.

McLaren is right in that respect. Faith is about a road - a narrow road: "small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and few are those who find it" (Matthew 7:14). Thank God that followers of Christ DO know our destination.