What if…

Richard Rohr puts out a daily email message. Often he’ll quote other folks. Recently, he had a reflection on the Gospel of Mark and included a statement by Brian McLaren. Here’s what he included:

“What if Jesus had a message that truly could change the world, but we’re prone to miss the point of it? . . .

“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? [1]”

Brian D. McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything, (Thomas Nelson: 2006), 3–4.

Yes, what if…

Imagine if Jesus’ talk about the unfolding Kingdom of God is not about a spiritual, individualized, distant realm, but rather about where we are right now, in community? Imagine how that changes everything. Imagine how that impacts us? Imagine how that causes us to respond? Imagine how that invites us to participate? Stop imagining because that’s what it’s about.