The Secret Message of Jesus

From the first time I read a Brian McLaren book (A New Kind of Christian) I knew that he understood something that I did not at the time: the Kingdom of God on earth. I had been baptized into the idea that the whole purpose of Jesus coming to Earth and dying on the cross was to save me and several others from an eternity in hell and that one day after this torturous life was over I would get to go home with God in a fluffy heaven period.

As I grew up however I started to get a little tired of just waiting around to die and innevitably started asking the question, "well, what do I do in the meantime?" Unfortunately, I think I missed the fact that the "meantime" was what Jesus was talking about when he said that the kingdom of God is among us, right here and right now.

McLaren's works in the vein and with recognition of Dallas Willard (who I can still only read one page at a time) have helped me to understand that idea much clearer in theory and in practice and The Secret Message of Jesus is no different.

Many of the ideas in this book have been ideas present in his previous works but communicated in a new light and with different language. That is not a negative thing-in fact even though I didn't gleam a lot of new insights on the Kingdom of God (not because i'm very smart, but becuase I have read about this before) I have been inspired to live in the way of Jesus more wholistically and that has made this book worth it. I have been given a challenge and an inspiration for what the Kingdom of God could look like on earth and how it can be communicated in the same inspiring way that Jesus communicated it to his followers.

For instance as (a) the dream of God; (b) the revolution of God; (c) the party of God; (d) the network of God. I love to think about the Kingdom in these terms and it has gotten me excited for future church planting opportunities. There are many valuable ideas that will inspire you and your vision of the "meantime" . I would highly recommend reading this.

One of my favorite ideas that McLaren covered was why Jesus was so cloudy in communicating with people. Why wasn't he more clear if this was such an important message for the salvation of souls??? I have always wondered that myself. Here is how McLaren poses it:

“What could possibly be the benefit of Jesus’ hiddenness, intrigue, lack of clarity, metaphor, and answering questions with questions? Why risk being misunderstood-or not understood at all? If the message is so important, why hide it in evocative rather than technical language?”

The fact that Jesus communicates this way really makes me question my own style of communication. Jesus never gives a five step plan to living a stress-free life but he manages to talk about anxiety in a way that captures the mind and heart through stories and parables. I could give more examples but I don't really need to, you get the point.

By the way, thanks to my pal Drew Moser for sending me a free copy! I've been wanting to read it forever but of course it's impossible to get at the library and i have no money for books anymore.