A Movement that Continues
Thursday, June 18, 2026
What kind of spiritual movement could challenge willing sectors of Christian faith to migrate from their systems of belief to a shared way of life centered on love?
—Brian McLaren, The Great Spiritual Migration
CAC faculty member Brian McLaren shows how Jesus and his followers embodied a communal, public way of life representing a social movement:
On page after page [of the Gospels], Jesus and his disciples practiced movement dynamics in Galilee, Judea, and Samaria. Jesus seized the opportunity for change created by unrest in Galilee … by the injustices of the Roman occupation, and by corruption among the religious elite. He framed his message through a powerful central image (kingdom of God), a unique art form (parables), and through powerful slogans (“Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand,”… “Love your enemies,” “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me,” for example). He developed a protest and messaging strategy that included public teach-ins (the Sermon on the Mount), demonstrations (healings, exorcisms, feeding of the five thousand), guerrilla theater (his triumphal entry into Jerusalem), and advanced action-reflection leadership training (deployments and retreats with disciples).
His mobilizing structures included the three, the twelve, the seventy, and special two-by-two initiatives. In addition, he taught his disciples to build allies among “people of peace,” and to be willing to let people walk away if they were not ready for the demands of movement involvement. He developed rituals of initiation (baptism) and renewal (Eucharist), calling people to initial commitment and strengthening them for the long haul. His movement culture was unique and distinctive, characterized by feasts, parties, joyful processions, and outdoor festivals at which usually stigmatized and outcast people were warmly welcomed. He gave women an unprecedented level of responsibility in his movement, and among his inner circle he included people of diverse gifts and temperaments, from a poet like John to an activist like Simon the Zealot to a steady pillar like Peter (at his best). His movement culture also emphasized the value of contemplative solitude and withdrawal to nourish the inner life and sustain the struggle over the long haul…. Their lives in the movement were characterized by great joy, great sorrow, and great love.
I could see these same dynamics at work in Paul and his colleagues around the Mediterranean, as the “kingdom of God” movement expanded to the far corners of the earth. And I could see similar patterns reemerging throughout Christian history—in the desert fathers and mothers, in Saint Patrick and the Celts, in Saint Francis and Saint Clare, in the Wesleys and the early Pentecostals, in Dr. King and Desmond Tutu, in Dorothy Day and Oscar Romero. Since its earliest and most dynamic centuries, Christianity has been most vital when it has been energized by movements of self-organizing—or perhaps we should say “Spirit-organizing”—cells. These cells have taken root and grown like seeds in communities and institutions. There they have grown, multiplied, and borne fruit—fruit in just and vibrant institutions, fruit in thriving, peaceful, joyful communities.
Reference:
Brian D. McLaren, The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian (Convergent Books, 2016), 141–143.
Living Fearless by Jamie Winship
Abiding
As I rookie police officer back in 1983, I spent fifty weeks of four-day, ten-hour shifts with the first real disciple of my life. The Troll, as he was unaffectionately known by all police rookies, was one of the most feared training officers in the police department. Although the Troll was not a Christ-follower, he understood the art of discipleship better than anyone I had met previously. The first question the Troll would ask me at the beginning of a shift was, “Are you sure you want to stay with me?”
I always felt as if this was the question Jesus Himself would have asked me if He were my field training officer. “Are you going to stay, remain, dwell, continue, abide in and with me today?” Jesus didn’t preach formulaic, chapter-and-verse sermons to His followers. He didn’t lead others through a linear outline of propositional truth points. He spent time with His disciples, asking a lot of questions and telling a lot of stories—stories that we are still trying to understand today.
After every single shift, when I had left the presence of the Troll, my wife asked, “How was your shift?” My answer was often, “I don’t think I’m going to make it. The Troll is making my life miserable. Why keep trying?”
Why didn’t the Twelve leave Jesus? It wasn’t as if Jesus was guaranteeing them a happy, quiet, prosperity-filled life of leisure and comfort. He was leading them straight into their deepest, darkest fears. So, what made them stay?
Peter’s response to Jesus’s challenge is stunning: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life. We have believed and confidently trusted, and we have come to know You are the Holy One of God, the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68–69).
Peter explains his relationship with Jesus as divinely initiated, a covenantal relationship, the benefits of which are quite one-sided. Jesus alone has the words of eternal life, and Jesus is the only hope because Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter’s part was to receive.
This abiding, life union with Jesus is available to us today and includes all the fullness of the Godhead; spiritual fruitfulness; the fullness of the words, love, and joy of the Father; answered prayer; and the glory and honor of God. I ask again, who would want to leave that relationship?
Where do your fears invite you to turn? Do you fear turning to God?
