"What if" Bliss

Finished More Ready Than You Realize and enjoyed my second Brian McLaren book so much that I wanted to immediately "go again". So, I began reading his recently published The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the truth that could change everything.

You all have heard me say it a few times already, I'm a "what-if'er". I have been since long ago. I love those two words. I love to dream about the answer to such questions. I love to plague people with my "what-if'er" sickness!

Brian catapulted me into "what-if" bliss in chapter 1 of this book with a page and a half of my favorite questions! And the excitement was intensified knowing that the core of these questions involves so many things I've been exploring, considering, embracing in past months. I want to share some of this with you.

What if Jesus of Nazareth was right -- more right, and right 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 the religion generally associated with Jesus neither expects nor 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 message 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? (pp 3-4)

There's more but I'll stop there. I've already (as I seemingly often do) gone long. These are tantalizing questions, don't you agree? Don't they make you want to know what he's talking about? Maybe I'll share more in a few days. Or better yet, pick the book up and join me on the journey!