OK, after yesterday's post, I was reading in McLaren's The Secret Message of Jesus and I found even more troubling questions about Jesus. Here are just some of them:
What if Jesus was right - more right, and right in different ways, than we have ever realized? (then yesterday's question) What if Jesus had a message that could truly change the world, but we're prone to miss the point of it?
What if we have developed a religion that makes reverent and honoring statements about Jesus but doesn't teach what Jesus taught in the manner he taught it? What if the religion generally associated with Jesus neither expects or trains its adherents to actually live in the way of Jesus?
What if the core message of Jesus has been unintentionally misunderstood or intentionally distorted? What if many have sincerely valued some aspects of Jesus' message while missing or even suppressing other, more important dimensions?
What if many have carried on a religion that faithfully celebrates Jesus in ritual and art, teaches about Jesus in sermons and books, sings about Jesus in songs and hymns, and theorizes about Jesus in seminaries and classrooms... but somewhere along the way missed rich and radical treasures hidden in the essential meaning of Jesus?
What if Jesus had actually concealed his deepest message, not trying to make it overt and obvious but intentionally hiding it as a treasure one must seek in order to find? If that's the case, why would Jesus ever do such a thing? How would we find his message if he had indeed hidden it?
What if Jesus' secret message reveals a secret plan? What if he didn't come to start a new religion - but rather came to start a political, social, religious, artistic, economic, intellectual, and spiritual revolution that would give birth to a new world?
What if his secret message had practical implications for such issues as how you live your daily life, how you earn and spend money, how you treat people of other races and religions, and how the nations of the world conduct their foreign policy? What if his message directly or indirectly addressed issues like advertising, environmentalism, terrorism, economics, sexuality, marriage, parenting, the quest for happiness and peace, and racial reconciliation?
Would we want to know what that message is? How much? Would we be willing to look hard, think deeply, and search long in order to find it? Would we be willing to rethink our assumptions?
What if the message of Jesus was good news - not just for Christians but also for Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, New Agers, agnostics, and atheists? And what if the message of Jesus also contained warnings - for Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, New Agers, agnostics, and atheists - and for Christians too? What difference could it make in the lives of individuals, in their families and neighborhoods and circles of friends, and in the world at large?
WOW. Good questions. Hard questions. But it's always good to ask, struggle, and wrestle with questions. It's what makes our faith stronger! If you want to find out where McLaren is going with all of these questions, you'll have to buy the book (or borrow my copy when I'm done with it!).
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