what if Jesus of Nazareth was right - more right, and in different ways, than we have ever realized? What if Jesus had a message that truly could 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 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 the rich and radical treasures hidden in the essential meaning of Jesus?
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?
What if the message of Jesus was good news - not just for Christians but also for Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, New Agers, agnostics and atheists? And what if the message of Jesus contained warnings - for Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, New Agers, agnostics, atheist - and for Christians too?
What difference could it make in the lives of individuals, in their families and neighbourhoods and circles of friends, and in the world at large?
These are just a few of the questions that Brian McLaren ponders in the beginning of "The Secret Message of Jesus," questions that I've been pondering for months now, wondering how to truly live a life that reflects the message of Jesus, unencumbered by the "stuff" of religion that is neither required or recommended by the man who was Jesus, the Son of God.
2 comments:
hmmm.... What if the real faith Jesus called us too much like sacrifice? Or is that the point and I'm too scared to accept it?
That's the thing, right? That there's sacrifice and surrender, recognition that we're part of a bigger something and that the beauty of it, truly living like Jesus does cost something ...but it costs something we have to freely give...ourselves. That, too, is where the blessing is found, where we find ourselves and, therefore,have more to give. Yikes!
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