Everything Must Change

Everything Must Change

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72  ·  rating details  ·  867 ratings  ·  102 reviews
What do the life and teaching of Jesus have to say about the most critical global problems in our world today?

Acclaimed author and Emergent church leader Brian McLaren states, "More and more Christian leaders are beginning to realize that for the millions of young adults who have recently dropped out of church, Christianity is a failed religion. Why? Because it has special

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Tim Cowley
Brian McLaren's writings first become known to me through "Generous Orthodoxy" and it was, for me, a refreshing read focusing on the strengths of the various Christian church 'brands', as they were, instead of trying to convince the reader what is wrong with everyone else's versions of Christianity.

My own path of church attendance and denominational affiliation boils down to what my parents chose for those first 17 years of my life. We started out as Independent Fundamental Baptists then gradual...more
Andrew Fox
Mclaren certainly made me think. I am not a practitioner in global crisis thinking in my ministry context. Admittedly, he loses me throughout the book by reverting back to a `better world' mentality. This came to light in his comparison of the conventional view and emerging view of the world. "...the conventional view can lead people to celebrating humanity's progress in self-destruction rather than to turn it around." 1 I agree with his method of comparing both views but he does not clearly giv...more
Morten
Det er den første bog, jeg har læst af Brian McLaren, og det har tog mig næsten et halvt år at få den læst færdig.
For det første, har jeg læst mange bøger sideløbende, for det andet har det været en småirriterende bog.

McLaren bruger de første kapitler på at undskylde, at han er så provokerende - hvilket han overhovedet ikke er på mig. Derefter kommer han med nogle forklaringer på hvordan forskellige systemer i samfundet fungerer, og hvordan de bør ændres. Selvom jeg ikke helt udholdt at sætte mi...more
Matt Richter
This book is quite extraordinary. I learnt so much about how our world operates. and subsequently how its systems of prosperity, equity and security are working together in what is aptly described as a suicide machine. at times i was shocked and overwhelmed at learning just how much trouble we are really in. McLaren then shows how Jesus has addressed these crises. He presents a fresh (and what i found abundantly refreshing) perspective & explanation of Jesus' teaching and message. An alterna...more
Todd
I have read a couple of "emergent" authors and usually I identify with there issues. My struggle is usually with their solutions.

With this book, I completely disagree with almost everything he says. This is dangerous stuff and it is nothing but Liberal Christianity remade for today.

First, all of his arguments make plent of sense if you don't believe the Bible. His arguments are humanistic and horizontal as opposed to the Godly vertical message in the Bible.

Second, McLaren seems to hate Western...more
Tim
I just finished reading "Everything Must Change" by Brian McLaren. I've enjoyed all of Brian's books as he is a contemplative thinker and not swayed by what is popular, but by what he believes. Cathy and I sat with him once at a publisher's dinner and we both we're affected at how peaceful he was and how gentle his ideas flowed across the table.

McLaren's book is a methodical look at what must change and how it could change starting with people of faith if we all make a choice:

A choice to stop b...more
Chad Cantrell
A great and inspiring read. I really want to give this a 5-star rating, but the call to action that McLaren urges seems slightly undermined by the fact that he doesn't offer a lot of practical ways for us to contribute to his vision. There is a lot here, though, and I do highly recommend it. McLaren recounts his experiences in poverty-stricken villages and cities around the world, offering touching testimonials from people who truly need things to change. He then proceeds to outline the world's...more
Merrie
The subtitle of this book helps explain the message of this book: "Jesus, Global Crisis and a Revolution of Hope." This first section was a bit slow for me and I had to plod my way through it. My husband, Jim, read it first, and encouraged me to read it. (I get many of my religious book suggestions from him). I read it with a good friend of mine. We would read a chapter each week and then discuss it over the phone (she lives in PA). McLaren's book inspired me to really look at what is going on...more
Neil Hollow
Not everyone likes Brian's theology, I personally think he is wrong to emphasise so much the social aspects of our faith, I think Jesus predominately came for salvation although I think as NT Wright said at Greenbelt what happens between the bookends of his birth and resurrection is very important (almost as salvation after all its part of it).

Having said that my minister invited him to preach at our church when he launched this book, which means he considers him non heretical and this is a very...more
Jo
Very interesting. That was my first review because I was too tired that day to articulate what I was thinking upon finishing the book. It's still hard to articulate. Reading this book stretched the way I think of scripture & Jesus. I don't know that I agree with all of it, but I do think its a valuable, important book to read and think about. The ideas are not so radical to me as they are to a lot of reviewer's I've seen, and I agree with him more than I disagree with him.

He has presented a...more
Amy
Not as readable for me as the "New Kind of Christian" trilogy, but lots of challenging stats to wrestle with. It's exciting to think that we're on the cusp of a great revolution in the church...I hope we can come through!
Adam
I liked what he had to say, although there was not a whole lot of new information but I found it to be poorly written. I'm just not a big fan of McLaren's writing style but I do like his worldview.
Jenny Jeffries
Apr 01, 2013 Jenny Jeffries marked it as to-read
A friend kindly sent this to me, and I'm taking a huge swing out of my current reading themes to some to grips with some global issues I've been ignoring for a long time. . .
Hannah
I did a long summary of this in part because I wanted to keep notes for myself on key parts of this, so you can skip down to the stars if you want my opinion without the summary. :)

Hmmm. I think I liked the overall idea of the book, at least in the way that it was framed, with the concept that our society is made up of three interlocking systems that are there to fulfill legitimate and important desires: the prosperity system, the security system, and the equity system. However, these systems ha...more
Aaron
5 stars for the message, 4 stars for style/delivery.

An earnest invitation to unlearn what we have learned (to paraphrase Yoda) regarding the message of Jesus, and how, in so doing, we might fundamentally change the world. For anyone who's been turned off by fear and condemnation perpetuated by the Church, McClaren refocuses on what the revolutionary teaching of Jesus really means and how it is perhaps more relevant today than ever. If you've lost hope or faith (or maybe never found them in the f...more
Mark

Some people seem to this thing book is pretty radical, but it seemed pretty balanced. It's a call to make a difference in the world by paying attention to the whole person rather than just worrying about their "soul". I found the section on the suicide system a nice start, but somewhat superficial and I didn't find how to attack structural issues very satisfying. Nevertheless it is a great counterbalance to the come disfunction in evangelical Christianity today. I found like multiple issues of c...more
Kevin
Very disappointed in this. He seemed to be more interested in defining the problem than solving it. His "solutions" were all very generic. Mostly it was like: Chapter 1: The world is in trouble. Chapter 2: The world is really in trouble. Chapter 3 - 10: Here's some detail about how the world's in real trouble. Chapter 11: Here some cliches and banalities as my solution.

The biggest problem, however, was that it was boring. At one point he references Shane Claiborne. I wish I could read this book...more
Scott Holstad
I tend to like Brian McLaren books and this one had potential. Unfortunately, I think it ultimately falls short of its goal, which is to educate us to an alternative way of acting with and within the world, in a God-centered fashion according to the principles of Jesus -- his radical teachings being given as framework from which to start from.

McLaren does an interesting comparison between the conventional church and the emerging church early on. In asking why Jesus was important, he writes of th...more
Ashley
The first words I uttered upon finishing this book were, "Thank goodness." Not that it was written and offered a fresh viewpoint on a believer's role in the world, but that is was over. I've read other books by McLaren and have appreciated his depth of theological knowledge and his insight into the current cultural war over authentic religion, however this book was painful.

1) Style- The writing oscillates between a collection of well-researched statistics lined up to prove a point and the last p...more
David
There is a genre of books - often American - written by Christians who have reacted against the conservative version of Christianity with which they grew up. McClaren's book is of that type. What I find fascinating about this genre is that these books frequently express the authors' new convictions with far greater clarity and power than those who have always seen Christianity in that way. It's a case of converts being more zealous than those who are born into the "faith". This book is uncomprom...more
Tim
I have mixed feelings about this book. Brian has had a great impact on me through his writings and in the very rich time I got to spend as a student of his at Fuller Seminary. I love what Brian is doing in bringing the words and deeds of Jesus to bear on these crucial global questions of consumption, war, and justice. And he frames them so well - the prosperity system, the security system, and the equity system - and has some excellent thoughts on how we move forward on these issues as followers...more
Ann
I don't often just leave books with no intention to go back to them, but when I've had to borrow it from the library twice for multiple renewals each time and I still can't get more than 1/2 way through, it's time to put it down.
I started reading because I was curious about the author's views and what he thinks Jesus would say about our current situation. What I've found is that I really don't agree with him much at all. He seems to be taking a very wide view on things, when my impression of Je...more
Mark Franklin
This is McLaren's best work. By this point he has learned to write decently well, and has formulated his theological views quite clearly. He brings to the real world of today the revolutionary nature of the life of Jesus, not just the death of Jesus. Though I have some quibbles with his theology of the atonement, I can hardly deny that the life of Jesus has insufficient impact on the church of today.
Carl
This was a very practical follow up to McLaren's Secret Message of Jesus. He thoughtfully teases out what he sees to be the major crises in the world, how the church has failed at engaging them, and how we might better respond to the crises in new and different ways according to the life and teachings of Christ.

This is a great book if you think Jesus was cool but Christians are dorky.
Brandon
I have been anticipating this book for awhile, and I found it to be very refreshing. Some of McLaren's books feel as if they are simply stating what the last book said in a different format ... but not this book. He does an excellent job providing a model by which christians can interact with global crises in a systemic manner without becoming overwhelmed.

Strengths of the book: Provides historical context for Jesus' interactions, addresses the 'kingdom of god', nicely articulated list of current...more
Ron Cammel
I'm trying to gauge how impactful this book is on my thinking. It certainly was inspiring, but will that last? In any case, McLaren forces the reader to rethink our culture, our daily lives, our beliefs and what Christians are asked to do. I was afraid he was trying to write a "here's the answer to all the world's problems" book, but he admits no one knows if what he proposes will change the world. I think it could.

Many Christians will disagree with McLaren, but I find in him an authentic faith....more
Dave Lester
Brian McLaren is back with more of his wishy-washy, trying to reach the broadest possible audience (and not offend anyone) nonsense. This book really felt pathetic in a lot of ways. In some ways, McLaren does exactly what the Christian right does. He tries to take complicated political issues of the 20th and 21st century and support it with Biblical backup. He does talk about important issues but does so in very simplistic ways for the most part.

He talks about 4 crisises that the world faces tha...more
Derek
McClaren does a great job of highlighting the problems the modern industrial world faces, and tells the truth about their causes. He doesn't sugar coat Christianities complicity in them, either, and he points to a paradigm that makes a lot of sense for believers, encouraging radical changes in the status quo of the 'institutional' church. worth the read.
Rick
This is a great comment on the state of American (or worldly) Christianity. It will not be welcomed or liked by fundamentalists! Basically McLaren calls for a new way of thnking and believing our faith, being the believers Jesus called us to be so as to effect the changes in the world that need to be changed. The Kingdom of God is HERE now, and we need to attend to it.
Alexandra
This book explores how we should interact with the world and world issues through the lens of emergent Christian theology. It's a cool read! It also includes an interesting fact: In the entire history of human civilizations, there has only been a total of 28 years where there has been no war. Crazy, I know!
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Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope (Hardcover)
Everything Must Change: When the World's Biggest Problems and Jesus' Good News Collide (Paperback)
Everything Must Change: When the World's Biggest Problems and Jesus' Good News Collide (ebook)
Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope (Audio CD)
Everything Must Change (Kindle Edition)

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Brian D. McLaren is an internationally known speaker and the author of over ten highly acclaimed books on contemporary Christianity, including A New Kind of Christian, A Generous Orthodoxy, and The Secret Message of Jesus.
More about Brian D. McLaren...
A Generous Orthodoxy: Why I Am a Missional, Evangelical, Post/Protestant, Liberal/Conservative, Mystical/Poetic, Biblical, Charismatic/Contemplative, Fundamentalist/Calvinist, Anabaptist/Anglican, Metho A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything The Story We Find Ourselves in: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian

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“So we must realize this: the suicidal framing story that dominates our world today has no power except the power we give it by believing it. Similarly, believing an alternative and transforming framing story may turn out to be the most radical thing any of us can ever do.” 3 people liked it
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