Do I Stay Christian?

I recently sat down with Brian McLaren to discuss what might be one of the most important questions each of us will need to ask ourselves at some point in the deconstruction journey. Do I stay Christian or walk away from this faith movement altogether?

His answers surprised me, especially coming from a pastor and Christian author.

For many of us, there are far more reasons to leave Christianity than to stay. Especially here in America where white evangelical Christians have launched an all-out attack on democracy and individual rights in their pursuit of a “Christian nation.” The wall separating church and state is crumbling, or worse it is being torn asunder by white Christian nationalist politicians like Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene. It’s gotten so scary that Republican Congressperson Adam Kinzinger described his fellow evangelical conservatives as the “Christian Taliban.” He’s not wrong.

Sadly, evangelicals have succumbed to the Satanic temptation to rule the nations, the very same temptation Jesus vehemently resisted in the wilderness. From his first testing in the desert to his final temptation in the garden, Jesus resisted the notion that his kingdom would come through force and coercion. If God’s kingdom is ever to come on earth as it is in heaven, it will arrive slowly through a million different acts of love, compassion, and inclusion.

Brian McLaren joined the show to discuss the ten reasons why anyone with a moral compass should leave Christianity, and a few reasons to stay. Listen here!

The problem is, white evangelicals haven’t gotten the message. Their Faustian deal with Donald Trump gave them enormous political power, as well as a willing strongman to enforce their white fundamentalism on the wider culture. Worse, their compromised Supreme Court is now handing down theocratic rulings that will have an impact on American public and private life for decades to come. The current evangelical attempt to bring heaven down to earth has resulted in unleashing a veritable hell. And though they are declining in numbers, their power over culture is increasing, providing uncomfortable similarities between the United States in 2022 and South Africa in the dying days of white rule. Driven by militant Christianity, America is drifting toward an apartheid system, leaving many of us to wonder if America’s future is South Africa’s past. Is it any wonder then, why millions of us want nothing to do with this corrupted form of faith?

If you are walking away, I don’t blame you. In a way, your resistance to normative Christianity is a form of spiritual conscientious objection. At this point in history, it is almost an ethical obligation to wash your hands of the movement in order to maintain a modicum of morality.

But if you decide to stay, know that there are a myriad of alternative ways to be Christian that have nothing to do with power, control, domination, and white supremacy. There is the Christianity of Pelagius, St. Benedict, Bartolome de las Casas, Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Cesar Chavez, Daniel Berrigan, James Cone, and Rich Mullins. There is still a faith that can make the mountains move, but that power is manifested in compassion, love, and radical inclusion.

I have no idea whether or not you should remain Christian. That is a conversation between you and God. But I do know that if you decide to stay, the next big step in your deconstruction journey just might be deciding what kind of Christian you hope to become. Or better yet, what kind of human you hope to become.

To help you navigate this stage in your faith deconstruction, I hope you will listen to our latest Holy Heretics podcast episode with Brian McLaren. The conversation gives you permission to ask the forbidden question, do I stay or do I go?