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Letter to the editor

What would Jesus do? Ask McLaren

By Dalia Colon, Times Staff Writer
Published February 29, 2008

If Jesus walked the earth today, he'd drink fair-trade coffee and fill his Blackberry with non-church activities.

So says Brian McLaren, author of more than a dozen books on modern Christianity - most recently Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope.

In Everything Must Change, McLaren urges an examination of four critical issues: the environment, poverty, world peace and religious understanding.

The book is titled Everything Must Change. Do you mean everything? Are we doing anything right?

The laws of gravity and the speed of light are just fine. (laughs) But what I'm saying with "everything" is everything meaning the big picture, the big system that we're working in, the big assumptions that underlie so much of what we do.

The idea of changing everything is kind of overwhelming. What's one thing that we could change today that would help a little bit?

If we look at these four crises - the planet, poverty, peace and religion - if every person were to just pick one specific thing they could do in one of those areas, I think that would be a great start. It will help us practice the deeper changes that we need. So relating to the planet, it might be to start recycling or to change your light bulbs. In relation to poverty, it might mean start buying fair trade coffee. Or it might mean when you see a homeless person on the street, actually treat him like a human being and talk to him for a few minutes.

What are your thoughts on giving money to panhandlers? Do you think that helps or hurts?

I've talked to a lot of homeless people, and one of the things they say is, "What really hurts is to be ignored and treated like furniture." ... Giving a smile might be a lot more important than giving a dollar, and giving five minutes of conversation might be a lot more important than giving $5. Often when you do that, you start discovering a lot of the homeless are mentally ill. Then that's going to affect how you vote in the next election when you realize, "Boy, we've got to do something for mentally ill people who don't have anywhere to go."

What are the most common complaints you hear about organized religion today?

One is the association of Christianity with the religious right and with a preoccupation with only two moral issues, missing many others, and with this crazy conclusion that Christianity should be pro-war, anti-poor and anti-environment. People are just saying, "That makes no sense."

To attend

Everything Must Change Tour

Brian McLaren's 11-city book tour stops today from 6 to 10:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at First Baptist Church of St. Petersburg, 1900 Gandy Blvd. Tickets: $109 or $79 for students. Details: (727) 576-5508 or www.deepshift.org.

[Last modified February 29, 2008, 00:19:10]