I finished reading “The Secret Message of Jesus” by Brian McLaren. It was thought provoking, introducing some new ideas and concepts that were fairly intriguing. Although I don’t always agree with Brian I always find myself in a virtual conversation with him as I read his books – there is something compelling about that. With all the hype leading to the release of this book about it being controversial, I found it almost a let down as it was not as controversial as I was expecting. Maybe I am not as conservative as some and find his writing less problematic.

If you are interested in reading a great article/review of the book my friend James (I now call him Prof. James) has written a fabulous one here. For me I found several things compelling. First, you have to begin with title and the overall theme of the book. I have asked similar questions as to why Jesus made his message so seemingly unclear and almost hidden in metaphors and parables. If you have read the gospels you have probably asked this exact same question. I think McLaren does a great job at unpacking the historical context which I think helps to free the often entrapped message of Jesus from our North American individualism that often seems to imprison Jesus’ message. Second, McLaren has wonderful explanation about the Kingdom of God being the Dream of God and how Jesus’ radical message of how to live can produce a change – a transformation – that is revolutionary.

Third, I also think that the reason the message of Jesus isn’t clear is because it, in itself, is part of the message. Jesus asked questions and invited interaction, which is fundamental to any relationship – real relationship based on love. Think about that…Jesus answered a small fraction of questions in the New Testament and asked them in disproportionate abundance. That promotes relationship; Jesus listened and taught in ways that made people think, reflect, contemplate, mull over, question, argue, debate, seek clarification. It is not only compelling but highly effective.

McLaren also takes the book of Revelation and sees it through the lens of the Kingdom of God. I think he is on to something here… I too would argue that when we take the culture, the genre and the message of Jesus in the New Testament and interpret the message of Revelation, we end up with a very different view then your typical pop-culture interpretation. A fantastic book on this topic is a book written by a brilliant former professor of mine, Paul Spilsbury, entitled: “The Throne, The Lamb and The Dragon.” Spilsbury, along with many Biblical Scholars, interpret the book of Revelation in a way that is more connected with its original intent – that is a post for a different time.

I think the danger of McLaren’s interpretation is that you soon begin to find the Kingdom of God in everything – even to the point of finding it in places it was never intended to be. Much like the allegory of old, we begin to read into the next rather than have the text read into us. That being said, there is something also very dangerous about limited the message of Jesus as well. In North American, we have largely limited it to personal salvation and ignored the rest. Think about it, if the Message of Jesus was just about personal salvation…one parable or sermon would have been enough but it is so much more. That doesn’t dismiss the individually responsibility of each person to make a commitment to Christ, but it is also so much more. The problem is we have focused on the former and in the process buried the later.