Ať už jsme na své cestě s křesťanstvím kdekoli, Brian McLaren nás vyzývá, abychom se vrátili k pokynům hebrejského proroka Micheáše: "Ó člověče, toto si pro tebe Bůh přeje. Abyste konali spravedlnost. Abyste milovali laskavost. Abys pokorně chodil před tváří svého Boha" (Micheáš 6,8). Brian píše:

Michael mění náboženskou otázku na otázku lidskou.

Křesťané velmi rádi nazývají Ježíše Synem Božím. Ježíš se mnohem raději nazýval Synem člověka (nebo synem lidstva). Tento termín má mnoho významových vrstev. Ale nejjednodušší a nejzřejmější je tento: syn lidstva je lidská bytost. Chcete-li to upřesnit, synovec znamená podstata nebo snad nová generace. Ježíš říká, že představuje podstatu lidstva, novou generaci lidstva, nový druh člověka. V tomto světle jeho neustálá výzva následujte mě znamená napodobujte mě a připojte se ke mně na mé cestě k novému způsobu lidského bytí. . . .

Wherever we are on our journey with Christianity, Brian McLaren invites us to return to the instructions given by the Hebrew prophet Micah: “O human being, this is what God desires for you. That you do justice. That you love kindness. That you walk humbly in the presence of your God” (Micah 6:8). Brian writes:

Micah turns a religious question into a human question.

Christians very much like to call Jesus the Son of God. Jesus much preferred to call himself the Son of Man (or son of humanity). There are many layers of meaning to the term. But the simplest and most obvious is this: a son of humanity is a human being. If you want to put a finer point on it, son of means the essence of or perhaps a new generation of. Jesus is saying that he represents the essence of humanity, a new generation of humanity, a new kind of human being. In this light, his constant invitation, follow me, means imitate me and join me on my journey toward a new way of being human. . . .

In that light, whatever you choose to call yourself, Christian or not, I hope you will aspire to be a humble human being . . . religiously. . .

I hope you will desire to be a kind human being, because . . . that person you call your enemy . . . that person is part of your family, part of your species, part of your story, part of your kind. . . .

And in addition to being a humble and kind human being, I hope you will aspire to being a just human being. Don’t seek power over others to control or exploit them or harm them. Instead, use whatever power that comes your way for the common good, so that all people everywhere can share equal justice and equal dignity. Seek justice. Love justice. Do justice. Be a just human being . . . religiously.

When I say religiously, I mean intentionally, seeking out practices that promote justice, kindness, and humility. And I mean collaboratively, joining or building communities or networks that promote those practices. And I mean reverently, knowing how precious this heartbeat and this breath really are, and feeling every moment how much danger and opportunity are held in these human hands. Religiously, as I’m using the term, means with a sense of the sacredness of everything and a commitment to re-consecrate everything.

In the midst of uncertainty for what the future of Christianity holds, Brian invites us to continue what he calls “our spiritual quest”:

To become the most just, kind, and humble version of ourselves that we possibly can, day by day . . . to practice a faith that expresses itself in love . . . to lean with others into a new humanity, a new generation or new kind of humanity, open to every good resource that can help us, explicitly Christian or not.