We will trade in our private histories for one grand, shared history.I don't think I agree. Or more precisely, that may or may not come true but I do not agree that it is a good thing. I believe McLaren is saying that it is good.
Christians should be story tellers. Each believer should be able to tell His story, ones own story, and our story. Each of these would be long or short depending on the context of the conversation. The longer version of His story would include the Church. The "our story" would be the story of a specific community of believers.
McLaren properly sees the strengths and weaknesses of the myriad of denominations and groups and is suggesting that we should focus on the larger narrative and celebrate the richness of the whole. I agree but I would tell about that in His story. I would not jettison the benefit of the local community's story. It seems that we are sharing these stories to draw someone into the Kingdom. If they are already "in", then we are telling the stories to move them closer to the center of a given community. Since I am coming from a centered set perspective, I do not intend that to mean at the exclusion of others. I simply mean that to better see the future, it is helpful to understand the past. I believe that having vision for the future will increase ownership and involvement. I do not think this will work well if the vision is too nebulous, i.e., the larger Church rather than the local community.
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