The Secret Message of Jesus
Brian D. McLaren The Secret Message of Jesus, Word Publishing Group, 2006.
As a pastor and ministry leader, I struggle at times to find material that bridges the gap between theologian and the everyday person. Books devoid of the theological jargon but clear on the theological implication and understanding are hard to come by and I realize that there are but a few that are reliable sources for such material.
Among these few is Brian McLaren. His recent book, The Secret Message of Jesus, is a great primer for communicating the present new perspective on Jesus and the significance of His words and actions to those of us who have committed to following Him. The new perspective, [those such as N.T. Wright, Ben Witherington III, and contemporary voices such as Rob Bell from Mars Hill, among others... McLaren himself mentions more in Appendix I of his book ] are proposing is a return to understanding the historical context of Jesus life and sayings so that we are clear on the implication of His words and life on faith today.
McLaren challenges the contemporary Christian to take a harder, closer look at who Jesus is and what He said considering the political, cultural, national, spiritual, historical, geographical and cosmic implications of words and actions to His context to get at the heart of what He calls human beings to commit themselves to in the good news He shared. McLaren encourages the reader to consider the Hebraic roots that Jesus emerges from and the history of Israel and the people of God to make sense of the impact of Jesus' life on humanity and the world. Remaining committed to a consistent unified theme running through the pages of the bible, he encourages the reader to see the big picture of what God is up to in the past, present and future tense.
McLaren is convinced that we have missed the point of what Jesus said and so have lost the impact of his words and actions in our day. One of the most challenging comments in regard to this is his haunting statement:
...the Christian religion continues to sing and preach and teach about Jesus, but in too many places (not all!) it has largely forgotten, misunderstood, or become distracted from Jesus' secret message. - We may have instructed them about how to be a good Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, or Methodist on Sunday, but we didn't train, challenge, and inspire them to live out the kingdom of God in their jobs, neighbourhoods, families, schools, and societies between Sundays. (page 84)
McLaren addresses this absence of clarity concerning Jesus and the good news by short, concise and at times inspiring chapters commenting on areas such as the scandal of Jesus' words and actions to religious leaders of the day, the significance of the Kingdom of God both now in the future, the language of the Kingdom, who is included and who isn't (which I found quite interesting and compelling). He does not attempt to be a scholar but he does give the reader a sense of direction in the topics he addresses by way of wetting the appetite for more on each issue.
To McLaren's credit, the two appendices at the end add some clarity to the gaps he leaves out in the chapters concerning why the Western Christian has missed the boat on the meaning and application of Jesus' message in faithfulness to what He intended in communicating it. Although brief, there are indicators in these appendices of topics that can be uncovered in other volumes such as those of Thomas Cahill in his series on the Hinges of History - specifically The Wine Dark Sea (on the influence of the Greeks on western culture). One would do well to take McLaren's advice and read two very important books as sequels to his: The Lost Message of Jesus by Rod Chaulke and Alan Mann and The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright.
The essential message of Jesus that McLaren is communicating is of his coming to initiate a new humanity no longer held under the power of sin but renewed in its relationship to the Triune God and in harmony with creation. Traditionally, Evangelicals have viewed their present existence on earth as temporary, but McLaren encourages the reader to reconsider the themes of renewal emphasizing the recovery of humanity and creation, not destruction of them and starting all over again. The emphasis of Jesus' message is a focus on God's Kingdom now with anticipation for what it will be in its fullness in the future. Included in this is God's goal of recovering all of creation and emphasis on the significance of the material world over against a history of evangelicals ignoring the material while focusing on a strictly spiritual transformation in the future.
For those who have not yet been introduced to this very important theological discussion, McLaren's book is a great start that will open the door to an introductory understanding preparing the reader for other sources that go farther and deeper into the issue.
As a pastor and ministry leader, I struggle at times to find material that bridges the gap between theologian and the everyday person. Books devoid of the theological jargon but clear on the theological implication and understanding are hard to come by and I realize that there are but a few that are reliable sources for such material.
Among these few is Brian McLaren. His recent book, The Secret Message of Jesus, is a great primer for communicating the present new perspective on Jesus and the significance of His words and actions to those of us who have committed to following Him. The new perspective, [those such as N.T. Wright, Ben Witherington III, and contemporary voices such as Rob Bell from Mars Hill, among others... McLaren himself mentions more in Appendix I of his book ] are proposing is a return to understanding the historical context of Jesus life and sayings so that we are clear on the implication of His words and life on faith today.
McLaren challenges the contemporary Christian to take a harder, closer look at who Jesus is and what He said considering the political, cultural, national, spiritual, historical, geographical and cosmic implications of words and actions to His context to get at the heart of what He calls human beings to commit themselves to in the good news He shared. McLaren encourages the reader to consider the Hebraic roots that Jesus emerges from and the history of Israel and the people of God to make sense of the impact of Jesus' life on humanity and the world. Remaining committed to a consistent unified theme running through the pages of the bible, he encourages the reader to see the big picture of what God is up to in the past, present and future tense.
McLaren is convinced that we have missed the point of what Jesus said and so have lost the impact of his words and actions in our day. One of the most challenging comments in regard to this is his haunting statement:
...the Christian religion continues to sing and preach and teach about Jesus, but in too many places (not all!) it has largely forgotten, misunderstood, or become distracted from Jesus' secret message. - We may have instructed them about how to be a good Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, or Methodist on Sunday, but we didn't train, challenge, and inspire them to live out the kingdom of God in their jobs, neighbourhoods, families, schools, and societies between Sundays. (page 84)
McLaren addresses this absence of clarity concerning Jesus and the good news by short, concise and at times inspiring chapters commenting on areas such as the scandal of Jesus' words and actions to religious leaders of the day, the significance of the Kingdom of God both now in the future, the language of the Kingdom, who is included and who isn't (which I found quite interesting and compelling). He does not attempt to be a scholar but he does give the reader a sense of direction in the topics he addresses by way of wetting the appetite for more on each issue.
To McLaren's credit, the two appendices at the end add some clarity to the gaps he leaves out in the chapters concerning why the Western Christian has missed the boat on the meaning and application of Jesus' message in faithfulness to what He intended in communicating it. Although brief, there are indicators in these appendices of topics that can be uncovered in other volumes such as those of Thomas Cahill in his series on the Hinges of History - specifically The Wine Dark Sea (on the influence of the Greeks on western culture). One would do well to take McLaren's advice and read two very important books as sequels to his: The Lost Message of Jesus by Rod Chaulke and Alan Mann and The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright.
The essential message of Jesus that McLaren is communicating is of his coming to initiate a new humanity no longer held under the power of sin but renewed in its relationship to the Triune God and in harmony with creation. Traditionally, Evangelicals have viewed their present existence on earth as temporary, but McLaren encourages the reader to reconsider the themes of renewal emphasizing the recovery of humanity and creation, not destruction of them and starting all over again. The emphasis of Jesus' message is a focus on God's Kingdom now with anticipation for what it will be in its fullness in the future. Included in this is God's goal of recovering all of creation and emphasis on the significance of the material world over against a history of evangelicals ignoring the material while focusing on a strictly spiritual transformation in the future.
For those who have not yet been introduced to this very important theological discussion, McLaren's book is a great start that will open the door to an introductory understanding preparing the reader for other sources that go farther and deeper into the issue.
Labels: Emerging Church Material
posted by Luciano Lombardi at 4:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home