The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything

Por años y años la Biblia ha contado una historia. Una historia que todos conocen de memoria. Sean creyentes o no. La misma historia. Pero....sera tan asi como nos la enseñaron? o hay algo mas detras? Una historia de la que solo hemos visto la superficie. La Palabra, no nos hemos dejado inspirar y cautivar por ella. La religion nos ha enseñado a leerla de una sola manera. La manera "correcta" segun la tradicion. Una sola manera de verla. Una sola manera de entenderla. Entre esos paradigmas se encuentra un Jesus debil y vulnerable, aburrido. Un Jesus con el que no nos identificamos. Y si logramos hacerlo, pensamos que debemos convertirnos en personas aburridas y serias. Creemos que eso es santidad. Y que si Jesus no era asi? Quizas debamos quitarnos el velo de la religion y la tradicion para ver mas claramente al Jesus del que nos habla la Biblia. Un Jesus imprevisible. Un Jesus que nunca hacia dos veces lo mismo. Jugaba con la creatividad y predicaba un mensaje revelador. Un mensaje que va mas alla de las reglas y los esquemas humanos. Un mensaje liberador. Un mensaje que solo algunos podran captar si se lanzan en la busqueda. Un mensaje que si es captado en su plenitud podria cambiar tu manera de ver a Jesus y al mundo que te rodea. Para aquellos valientes que quieran ir en su busqueda. Armense de imaginacion, creatividad y expectativas. Existe algo mas.....existe una mayor revelacion...una vision mas profunda...un mensaje mas cautivante...un tesoro escondido...un mensaje secreto... "...el estilo de Jesus no fue tipicamente religioso. Sus charlas casi siempre eran improvisadas y en respuesta a situaciones que se daban de manera espontanea. En algunos casos daba un discurso entero sin mencionar a Dios por nombre propio, aunque los oyentes de algun modo sabian que les hablaba de Dios en sus historias sobre mercaderes, pescadores, amas de casa, pastores, familias disfuncionales, reinos y sembradores. Los lugares que elegia casi siempre eran al aire libre, en playas, colinas, campos o calles, y tambien en casas. Ademas, si hacia aparicion en un escenario religioso como la sinagoga y el templo, tendia a interrumpir el flujo rutinario de los eventos." pag 31 "Esta imagen revolucionaria de Jesus no me quedo plasmada en la mente durante el tiempo que pase en la escuela dominical de mi niñez. Alla me presentaron a Jesus como un tipo amable, callado y sereno, quizas un poco fragil pero siempre dispuesto a cargar niños. O lo pintaban como un mistico que se vestia con tunicas raras y llevaba un corderito debajo del brazo mientras mantenia el otro levantado todo el tiempo, como llamando un taxi. La imagen revolucionaria de Jesus tampoco me vino a la mente durante mi vida adulta en la iglesia. Alli Jesus era alguien cuya labor principal fue morir para que mis pecados sean perdonados y yo pueda ir al cielo (claro, ¡eso es maravilloso!), alguien de gran valor "en mi corazon" pero ajeno a este mundo y la historia, no un factor decisivo, publico e histori

This is, once again, an excellent book. McLaren has done a marvelous job of going back to the real text of scripture and pointing out what Jesus has said and how he thorough. That said, in many ways, the ideas in this book are not really theologically novel thoughts, and as such, I believe this book is very accessible even for those who may be suspicious of the emergent movement or McLaren's writings. McLaren frequently references respected Christian scholars and leaders whose names should not ring bells of terror to any Christian: Martin Luther King, C.S. Lewis, Dallas Willard, Walter Bruggemann, and Tony Campolo. The Jesus presented in The Secret Message of Jesus is orthodox and non-heretical. But Jesus is shown to be a real person with a very radical message - one which we are often too uncomfortable with to give real credence to in our lives. He didn't fit into easy, comfortable boxes back then, and he doesn't now, either. McLaren demonstrates a real commitment to scripture as he not only does an excellent job of walking through Christ's manifesto, the Sermon on The Mount, his parables, and other teachings and explaining them through the contextual lens of the culture of Christ's day, but also demonstrating what they can mean for us today. It is an uncompromising, no-holds-barred approach to Christ and what he expects of his followers. I think the thing I appreciated most about this book was how McLaren was able to tie together Paul's writings with Jesus' teachings and help the reader get past the sometimes stumbling block of "Paulianity" vs. "Christianity." He explained Paul's writings, which we sometimes see as contradictory to or inconsistent with Christ's, as a logical development which applied to a new and changing culture of both Christ-followers as well as the political era of the day. I also found Appendix A, containing his study of church history and some of its shortcomings with regard to the message of Christ, fascinating. I studied theology at a conservative Christian college, and there discovered the scholarly studies of scripture that are often inaccessible to the lay person. I learned to read scripture in a way that took into account context and culture and ancient writing styles. Because of this, much of what McLaren says is not new to me, but the great strength of this book is that it makes accessible to lay readers the truths gained from Christian scholarship that are not often utilized in the modern church. And I believe that is the point of the title of this excellent work, The Secret Message of Jesus. It is not that Christ's message has been completely hidden for centuries and only now has McLaren discovered it. It is rather that the church has tended to water down and compromise Christ's message and that lay church members have not always had the resources or wherewithal to see that message in all its unflinching honesty. Certainly many have over the years, including C.S. Lewis, Dietrich Boenhoffer, and Martin Luth

The provocative title alone is enough to grab one's attention. In fact, I have been reading scathing reviews/criticism of the title for weeks on other sites written by people who haven't even read the book. I guess I'm a little different. I felt that I should probably actually read the book before I presumed to comment on it (crazy, I know). Now, having read the the book ), I'll share my thoughts on what I have (actually) read. I'll begin my admitting my bias. I have been looking forward to this book. McLaren's work has been a blessing to me and has reinvigorated my faith. That being said, introduction is vintage McLaren. On every page I was struck with the sense of "I'm not alone," and "I'm not crazy". He beautifully articulates thoughts and feelings that I've been having for years. Has Christianity in it's most popular forms somehow missed or lost the major thrust of Jesus' message and elevated other things, which though important, were never meant to have the prominence they now enjoy? Chapter 1 is titled "Troubling Questions About Jesus". It begins with almost 2 full pages of questions about Jesus and his message that will indeed trouble you if you will actually consider them. They are not however the kind of questions that critics would accuse him of asking. From the title, many are assuming that McLaren is promoting a Gnostic view of Jesus. This is most assuredly not the case. The divinity of Jesus is quite firmly upheld and affirmed. What is questioned is our perceptions and understandings. McLaren asks "What if Jesus of Nazareth was right--more right in different ways than we ever realized? What if Jesus had a message that could truly save the world, but we're prone to miss the point of it?" This chapter is a very useful exercise in thought for those who are willing to go through it. Chapter 2 is on "The Political Message of Jesus". In in, McLaren outlines the 4 major "political parties" of Jesus' day (Pharisees, Saducees, Zealots, Essenes), and then compares and contrasts Jesus' message/methods with theirs. It is quite an informative exercise with far reaching implications that branch into our own day and culture. Chapter 3 explores "The Jewish Message of Jesus". This chapter brings to mind the work of N.T. Wright (particularly "The New Testament and the People of God"), though it is done in a more accessible way than Wright's scholarly work. McLaren has certainly done his homework. This background is absolutely key to understanding Jesus and his message in context. I am genuinely excited about the release of this book so that this type of contextualization will be available in such a readable form. Chapter 4 examines "The Revolutionary Message of Jesus." It begins with a summary of the story of scripture very similar to the one presented in "The Story We Find Ourselves In". Some may consider this to be rehashing old material, but I find it to be quite necessary for the argument McLaren is building and appreciate it's inclusion here

This book should finally lay to rest any complaints that Brian is too often vague and evasive in stating what exactly he does believe about the gospel. In this book he is crystal clear. Bottom line: it's about the kingdom of God. Of course, that's not to say that Brian purports to answer every question or spell out a detailed systematic theology. Instead, rather true to form, he paints us a picture with broad strokes, giving us a new way to look at what Jesus and his gospel were all about. And he does it with a remarkable clarity and simplicity. Indeed, the most surprising thing about this book is that it seems to have been written as much for non-Christian seekers as for fellow Christians. This is a book you could give to your "spiritual but not religious" friends who might be interested in learning more about Jesus. However, from the looks of some of the previous comments here, this quality seems to have already caused some people to misread and misunderstand Brian's words. For example, Brian does NOT say that he doesn't believe in demons or supernatural powers, but he does acknowledge that some of his non-Christian readers may have a hard time believing in such things, and thus he tries to cast his discussion of Jesus' encounters with demonic powers in terms that would make sense to skeptical people. The title itself has to do with the idea that Jesus often concealed his message in parables and questions. Rarely does Jesus ever give a clear statement of what the gospel is all about. In fact, in Matthew 13:10-15 Jesus flat out admits that he is being deliberately unclear. Brian asks why would Jesus do such a thing? If doctrinal knowledge is so very important (at least according to evangelical theologies), then why couldn't Jesus have just spoken more clearly and told us everything we needed to know. Why did he speak in parables rather than in doctrinal statements? Why does the Bible contain letters and poems and stories rather than systematic theology? What Brian suggests is that perhaps Jesus' purpose was not to simply impart knowledge. Instead maybe Christ's goal was to effect spiritual transformation in the lives of his hearers by inviting his hearers into an interactive relationship with himself; and maybe this goal is best achieved by means of parables and other similarly evocative forms of communicating. But what is Jesus' secret message then? According to Brian, it comes down to the idea of the kingdom of God as a present, political, social, and personal reality. In other words, he focuses on the fact that Jesus didn't seem to talk about heaven as some place we go to after we die, but rather as a reality that we can begin to live in here and now ("the kingdom of God is among you!"). And perhaps by living in this reality (according to its ways and values) we can begin to transform the world in such a way as to bring a little bit more of heaven to earth. In other words, Brian challenges the dominant evangelical theologies that mak

I just finished an advanced copy of Brian's newest book, The Secret Message of Jesus - Uncovering The Truth That Could Change Everything, and I believe it will be considered his best book so far. Not because he's sharing something so incredibly new, but because he has done so in such a way that invites such wonderful dialoge and engagement for all who read it. He brilliantly shows how Jesus Christ "came to start a political, social, religious, artistic, economic, intellectual, and spiritual revolution that would give birth to a new world" (p.4). He not only shows/explains/discusses this "secret message of Jesus," he generously invites all to participate in the implications it brings to our world, our relationships, the church, our jobs, and beyond. One of the things I love about Brian's books is that he is challenging and open to new ways of thinking. This book is no different. Brian never comes across as a no-it-all or a man that says it's "my way or the highway" rather Brian writes the way he is in person - with honesty and generousity. --------------------------------------------------------------- The book is laid out like so... Part 1: Excavation: Digging Beneath The Surface To Uncover Jesus's Message In this section McLaren introduces the readers to the political and socio-economic message embedded within Jesus' teachings. Part 2: Engagement: Grappling With The Meaning Of Jesus's Message In this section, the reality of the "the Kingdom being here and now" or "the present kingdom" and it's powerful and never-before-experienced implications are explained and developed. Part 3: Imagination: Exploring How Jesus's Secret Message Could Change Everything In this section, Brian spends most of his time challenging different views about heaven and hell, and discusses a kingdom manifesto and kingdom ethics. He also explains how in so many ways we have "missed" the message and shares a wonderful list of people who have influenced his way of thinking. He even has a discussion about Kingdom prayer. There is no question that some will find this book controversial, but more so I believe will be invited, encouraged, and motivated. And for those who have not enjoyed McLaren's books in the past I think this book may change some of your feelings. I definitely recommend you getting The Secret Message of Jesus and reading it. You will not be disappointed.