As I study Scripture, particularly the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God, I started to see a message from Christ that is unlike what I was taught in Sunday school, yet was familiar (as I have read the Gospels many times). I would like to share with you some quotes from two authors. One is N.T. Wright (I also find it interesting that such a prolific and respected modern day theologian/scholar/historian have a name like “N.T.” “Wright” , LOL).
The other is Brian McLaren. I must admit that I have not been a big fan of Brian’s, though I have only read a couple of “articles” by him and none of his books. But, what I am reading now, I find fascinating and illuminating. In the past, I have struggled with the strict “fundamentalist” focus on hell and damnation yet have always known that the authority of Scripture holds the keys to spiritual life. First, let me share with you some excerpts from “The Last Word: Beyond Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture” by N.T. Wright (The Bishop of Durham, England):
We urgently need an integrated view of the dense and complex phrase “the authority of scripture.” Such an integrated view needs to highlight the role of the Spirit as the powerful, transformative agent. It needs to keep as its central focus the goal of God’s Kingdom, inagurated by Jesus on earth as in heaven and one day to be completed under the same rubric . It must envisage the church as characterized, at the very heart of its life, by prayerful listening to, strenuous wrestling with, humble obedience before, and powerful proclamation of scripture, particularly in the ministries of its authorized leaders.
God, Scripture and the Church’s Mission:
…. “the authority of scripture,” when unpacked, offers a picture of God’s sovereign and saving plan for the entire cosmos, dramatically inaugurated by Jesus himself, and now to be implemented through the Spirit-led life of the church precisely as the scripture-reading community.
This means that “the authority of scripture” is most truly put into operation as the church goes to work in the world on behalf of the gospel, the good news that in Jesus Christ the living God has defeated the powers of evil and begun the work of new creation. It is with the Bible in its hand, its head and its heart– not mearly with the newspaper and the latest fashion or scheme– that the church can go to work in the world, confident that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not. The wisdom commended in scripture itself (e.g., Colossians 4:5-6; 1 Peter 3:15) suggest that we will not go about this work simply by telling people what the Bible says. In the power and wisdom of the Spirit, we must so understand the priorities of the gospel and the way in which they work to pull down the strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) that we articulate for ourselves, addressing particular contexts and settings, the challenge of the God who loves the world so much that he longs to rescue it from folly, oppression, and wickedness. Scripture’s authority is thus seen to best advantage in its formation of the mind of the church, and its stiffening of our resolve, as we work to implement the resurrection of Jesus, and to anticipate the day when God will make all things new, and justice, joy, and peace will triumph (Ephesians 1:3-23).
Within this, scripture has a more particular role in relation to the gospel’s challenge to individual human beings. The gospel by which individuals come to personal faith, and so to that radical transformation of life spoken of so often in the New Testament, is the personalizing of the larger challenge just mentioned: the call of every child, woman and man to submit in faith to the lordship of the crucified and risen Jesus and so to become, through baptism and membership in the body of Christ, a living, breathing anticipation of the final new creation itself (see Galatians 6:15; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
I want to leave you with a thought from Brian McLaren’s book, “The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything”:
The kingdom of God, the empire of God? What could Jesus mean by this? One thing is for sure: he did not mean what many–perhaps most–people today think it meant. He did not mean “heaven after you die.” Maybe the meaning would be clearer if we paraphrased it like this: “You’re all preoccupied with the oppressive empire of Caesar and the oppressed kingdom of Israel. You’re missing the point: The kingdom of God is here now, available to all! This is the reality that matters most. Believe this good news and follow me!”
I’ve become convinced that if the good news of Jesus were carried in a newspaper today, it wouldn’t be hidden in the religion section (although it would no doubt cause a ruckus there). It would be a major story in every section, from the world news (What is the path to peace and how are we responding to our neighbors in need?) to national and local news (How are we treating children, poor people, minorities, the last, the lost, the least? How are we treating our enemies?), in the lifestyle section (Are we loving our neighbors and throwing good parties to bring people together?), the food section (Do our diets reflect concern for God’s planet and our poor neighbors, and have we invited any of them over for dinner lately?), the entertainment and sports section (What is the point of our entertainment, and what values are we strengthening in sports?), and even in the business section (Are we serving the wrong master: money rather than God?).
In my religious upbringing, I was not taught the public and political dimension of Jesus’ message–only the personal, private dimensions. Yes, Jesus loved me and wanted me to be good to my little brother and obedient to my parents. But Jesus’ idea that God loves my nation’s enemies, and so our foreign policies should reflect that love–the idea never crossed my mind. At some point, though, I began to get a hint that I was missing something. At that same moment, I think I began to catch a faint scent of the secret message of Jesus.
What do you think?
My friend, RonLawHouston shared: I somewhat disagree with NT Wright and more agree with McLaren on this one. To me, the enemy is the mind. Making ourselves smarter (while not necessarily a bad thing) only makes our egos stronger and leads to a greater separation from God. When I think I understand the mind or will of God, I am a very dangerous person. Jesus reminds us to be like children. He asks us why we worry. He tells us that the kingdom is within. So, I tend to agree with McLaren. Don’t be overly preoccupied with the world. The kingdom is here right now. That is very good news indeed.
My friend Redeemer2006 shared: Looks like we are both McLaren fans. I love that book as well. It is a kingdom mentality, and we need to start preparing for it.
To RonLawHouston: Thank you for your comments. I agree with you that “Making ourselves smarter (while not necessarily a bad thing) only makes our egos stronger and leads to a greater separation from God.”, only I would say that while it CAN make our egos stronger, this is not necessarily always the case. I don’t believe that trying to understand what God is telling us through scripture makes us any more dangerous than trying to understand what our parents tell us. Children must be communicated with to understand the world around them. I believe that the Scriptures are a communication from God. It’s funny, N.T. Wright is one of those that Brian McLaren would probably say he looks to as a teacher. In fact, the only way Brian came to his conclusions is through reading and understanding Scripture. N.T. Wright is one of the pioneers in my mind of looking at scripture through other than a “fundamental” “we already have all Scripture figured out” lens. Jesus teaches that the Kingdom is here, right now, in our midst…….however, Jesus also teaches us that not everyone is in the Kingdom, if it can be put that way. Just my thoughts I appreciate your comments.
To Redeemer2006: Actually, I have not been a great fan of Brian McLaren’s, as I said above however, I must say that I have not read any of his other books so am not able to make well informed decision. This book caught my eye and I wanted to see what he had to say. I am impressed with this book as I have been discovering the very same thing concerning the Kingdom of heaven, that it is very misunderstood by many Christians. I am impressed by Brian’s knowledge of Christian history (which he thanks NT Wright for in the appendix this book). In fact, Brian credits N.T. Wright with pointing him in the right direction concerning the secret of Jesus’ message (page 209). I appreciate your comments. I’m not sure we should start preparing FOR the kingdom…….as Jesus tells us, it is right here in our midst……we have only to follow Him and start living IN the kingdom God bless
My Friend RonLawHouston replied: Hi Jan – I agree with you – knowledge or learning (like most other things) can be good or bad. It’s all what we do with it. I often see people using knowledge as what I call a “zero sum game.” I’m right – you’re wrong. Instead of viewing each of us as seekers on a journey, we think that one of us should be a natural leader.
All these have tremedous implications for mission work. I have worked in a Budhist country and I could not see any hope of Budha’s teaching bringing people closer to God.
Comment by admin — October 9, 2010. But surely some people might be right and some others might be wrong They cann’t all be right! Or are they? That sounds like the tolerant lessons I received in school which says that nobody has the monopoly of the truth. Everybody has the truth. Surely the truth is the truth and if I do not konw that truth I am in the wrong. Is there not absolutes?
I aggree with admin that the kingdom is within. But would it not be just an aspect of the kingdom? Surely this is not all! What about the spiritual aspect? Experiencing our relationship with God restored and the transformation that this brings in our lives is a fortaste of what is to come.
God’s truths in Scriptures need to be expressed through culture, our own culture. Many times the way we interprete God’s truths will reflect our own cultural background. It may also reflect our actual situation, whether we are experiencing grief, happiness, prosperity, poverty, etc. It may also reflect uncertanity when our culture is facing big changes, when our society struggles to cope with some of these chamges, we querry our experiences and we examine our beliefs and formulate questions that otherwise would not be relevant in different circumstances. I believe McLaren “new Paradigms’ reflect very much that. There are some legitimate questions that he formulates in seeking some answers to the changes that are happening in his own culture or society. Now it would be an exaggeration to say that every Christian in their culture and society is experiencing the same as McLaren’s therefore McLaren’s questions should be relevant to every Christian around the globe. There are some changes in the North American society that are challenging Christian “Orthodoxy’ and the due to the events happennig there and the church is trying to grapple with this. But it does not mean that every church is in the same situation.
Thank you for contributing to the conversation Luis 🙂 I certainly agreee 100% that God’s truths in Scriptures need to be expressed through culture, our own culture. May God bless you my friend!
Hi admin,
Thank you for your kind response. I found something amusing in your blog! I was checking it out and found you come from the first church of Peru. Fancy that!That caught my attention. Now, I know that it does not have anything to do with the country of Peru but I am actually from the country of Peru. I found that quite amazing. What a coincidence!!
At college we are studying the book McLaren “the secret message of Jesus” among other books. To be honest, I got mixed feeling. On the one hand I think McLaren has some good insights that the church as a whole can take notice of, but especially the church in the U.S.,and on a personal level, it serves as a “How am i going?’ check list (well, at least for me).
On the other hand, McLaren, sort of claims that after many years of the Christian church, he has found the secret of Jesus mesasage the many Christian today and in the past missed altogether.
Now he might not mean that, but that is how he come across.
Now I have heard some interviews where he is asked some directs questions about politics, homosexuality and atonement, and he does not give convincing answers, and at some point he says that he does not want to offend anyone by telling where he stands on these issues.
I might be wrong, but he sounds like he has a relativistic understanding of the truth. For some people the Gospel is offensive, especially Jesus’ exclusive claims of Himself.
Overall, I am glad I am reading the book. But at the same time I am sad because I think he, in a way, represents the psotion of many Chiristians in his country and shows that they are at a crossroad in their walk with GOd. The decisions they make today will very much impact their future walk with God, and will definitely shape the future of the church in the U.S., hopefully to be in a better situation and bring her closer to God.
Blessings
It is funny that we are both from Peru (in different ways) 🙂 As I noted in my blog post, for reasons you have noted. I am not necessarilly a huge fan of Brian McClaren. On the other hand, I respect his reasons not to share necessarilly what he believes about politically charged issues (such as homosexuality). I believe that he might have a relativistic understanding of the truth which I don’t agree with. This does not, however change anything about my thoughts about this book, “The Secret Message of Jesus”. I believe that this is a strong and important book.
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Unfortunately, as Christians, we often focus on a Gospel that revolves around us rather than the Gospel that Jesus preached which revolves around God and others. It is important to focus and practice the message that Jesus shared with us. Not the one that makes us simply feel good. I may not be articulating fully what I mean and would be happy to expound on it 🙂
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Thank you so much for your addition to the conversation 🙂 God bless ya!