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TechnoratiA pioneer in transforming the church to reach a post-modern and post-Christian world for Christ has again shocked the world with his latest endeavor – Rethink Conference – which brings leading secular figures such as Rupert Murdoch, former President George H.W. Bush and Larry King onto the same church stage.
Erwin McManus, head pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles, spoke to The Christian Post ahead of the Jan. 17-19 Rethink event about his personal thoughts on the controversial conference and his predictions for Christianity in 2008.
The following are excerpts from the interview.
CP: What was your first reaction when you heard about Rethink? Did you accept the invitation to co-host the event right away or did you have some hesitation?
McManus: Well I was part of the process of putting the event together. So what happened was Bill Dallas said we have an opportunity to bring together a lot of different people but we need someone who could bring all the different thoughts and ideas and create something cohesive and meaningful and I thought that was a great idea because we try to do this all the time.
I think the opportunity to bring together the people in the world of politics, business and entertainment and have an opportunity to listen to their best learning and thinking is a great opportunity. I think many times Christians don’t really take the opportunity to hear what people are saying and seeing in the world around them.
CP: Perhaps the most unique feature about Rethink is all the distinct voices – some secular, some Christian – that is being brought together on one stage. How would you respond to critics of Rethink who point to polls showing young Christians not having a firm grip on the gospel message and having a “truth is relative” attitude, that attribute those statistics to events such as this?
McManus: What I would have them do is look carefully at their own churches because those kids who do not have a firm hold of the scriptures actually come from those churches. It is not events like this that has made them “postmodern” or lack connection with the scriptures, but actually it is the traditional more mainstream church that has pushed kids away and made them conclude that the Bible is irrelevant to their lives.
So this is a great opportunity to actually reclaim those young people that were lost by the mainstream church.
CP: What do you think will be your greatest contribution to the Rethink Conference?
McManus: Well I hope my greatest contribution will be to try to extract principles of truth that will cause us to live our lives in a more effective way and to advance Jesus’ purpose in the world. So I think this is a great opportunity to really help us think better and to live better.
CP: Your church is hosting a conference in April, Awaken 2008. Many of the Christian leaders at the Rethink Conference will also participate in Awaken. Do you plan to reassess and integrate what was heard at Rethink at this all-Christian conference?
McManus: No, they are different conferences. At our event, we wouldn’t really bring certain speakers because we really look for people who have gifts of leadership. So our Awaken conference is experimental and really our passion is to bring leaders of every kind, in the sense of whether they are modern, postmodern, emergent or megachurch, and to say, “Look, there is something to learn from everybody and let’s bring them together and have this amazing experience together.” Continue »
