This is the forty-sixth and last in a periodic series of reflections on Brian D. McLaren's everything must change. Quotations used by kind permission of the author, with page citations from the edition featured on the Emerging Church Reading List to your right.
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Here’s footnote 6 on page 327:
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“In a sermon on 2 Corinthians 12:9, Dietrich Bonhoeffer spoke of the need for more public action against injustice: ‘Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now. Christians should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong.’ members.tripod.com/~lutheran-peace/bonhoeffer24quotes.htm.” [I just tried to access this URL and received a 404-Page Not Found message]
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This footnote is the last word in Brian’s Everything Must Change. For me, it is a poignant conclusion to this long and fruitful series of reflections because Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship, played a key role in my conversion experience nearly 38 years ago. “Those who believe, obey,” wrote Bonhoeffer, “but it is also true that those who obey, believe.” So I decided to act as though Christianity were true, and to pray as though Someone were listening.
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I conclude with a final word of thanks to Brian McLaren for his generosity in letting me quote so extensively from his book, and for the insights he offered about why Everything Must Change.
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