As Muslims across the world celebrate Ramadan, they’ll be joined in their fast by Brian D. McLaren . McLaren, the controversial godfather of the emergent church movement, says he and a handful of his friends are fasting during the Islamic holy month in order to “come close to our Muslim neighbors and to share this important part of life with them.”
At this point in his postmodern journey, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if McLaren were to decide to become a Muslim (though since he’d claim to still worship Christ, he’d be a heretic in two religions). I’m not being facetious: He’s actually hinted at having a willingness to make such a move. In his book A Generous Orthodoxy, he wrote:
I don’t believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu or Jewish contexts . . . rather than resolving the paradox via pronouncements on the eternal destiny of people more convinced by or loyal to other religions than ours, we simply move on . . . To help Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, and everyone else experience life to the full in the way of Jesus (while learning it better myself), I would gladly become one of them (whoever they are), to whatever degree I can, to embrace them, to join them, to enter into their world without judgment but with saving love as mine has been entered by the Lord.
But perhaps I am being uncharitable. What say you? Is McLaren’s decision to fast during Ramadan an act of neighborly ecumenism or harmful syncretism? And how do Muslims feel about his sharing in their observances? Do they view his action as honoring their religion or as well-meaning but disrespectful?
(Note: In case you don’t get the title, it’s a play on McLaren’s book, A New Kind of Christian .)
Update: Doug Wilson, who apparently appreciates McLaren even less than I do (which I didn’t realize was possible), has an amusing, snarky fisking of the emergent pastor’s post. Sample:
In exchange, each one of these Muslim friends will come over to our houses this Easter for our traditional Easter ham, the kind with the brown sugar glaze . . . oh, they won’t come? Curious. Why not? Something about believing their religion . . .
