Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

by Brian D. McLaren

A simple thought experiment, I think, can remind us of those treasures. To put a spin on John Lennon’s beautiful song, imagine there’s no religion. Imagine there’s no set of institutions, movements, and communities dedicated to human meaning, human morality, and human imagination of a better future. Imagine there’s no set of practitioners who are dedicated to the development of the human capacities for wonder, generosity, repentance, and grace. Imagine there’s no set of human traditions seeking to preserve the deepest spiritual wisdom of our ancestors and passing that wisdom on to new generations. Imagine there’s no network of local spiritual communities—Catholic nuns and friars serving the poor and forgotten, Evangelical missionaries caring for addicts and the homeless, Mainline Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians joining with interfaith groups to seek the common good in this neighborhood, that town, that city. It may be that we will only see religion’s true value by imagining the complete loss of it.