Jazz Theologian:  You argue
that, A New Kind of Christianity
will require that we ask, “What is the overarching story line of the
Bible?  How will this answer to this question help African-American
churches that often read the Bible through an Exodus or Exile narrative?

McLaren:  Actually,
in this book I’m saying that those African-American churches that read the
Bible through an Exodus narrative have been right all along, and that the white
churches that tended to read the Bible exclusively through an atonement and
evacuation narrative are missing something tremendously important. Sadly, in my
experience, quite a few of our African-American churches are switching over to
the more traditional white narrative, which says that it’s only about Jesus and
me (and maybe my family, or my religion), with little concern for the more
social dimensions of the gospel for the poor, oppressed, excluded, marginalized
and forgotten, not to mention our enemies. I’m recommending that we take that
Exodus narrative that African American theology has cherished, and then set the
narrative of creation as its prequel, and the narrative of reconciliation as
its sequel … and in that way, I think we’ll have a three-dimensional
narrative that has room for us to live, serve, and breathe.

Join the Groove:  How does your view of the “overarching story line of the Bible” effect the way you live out the faith?