The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything    by Brian D. McLaren. Thomas Nelson, 2006.

Reviewed by Patty Campbell

Here’s a book that our own Bishop Matthes has recommended to all of us.

Unlike the “secret” in The Da Vinci Code, this secret is real and vitally important. What is it?

Brian McLaren carefully analyzes the sayings of Jesus, using the searchlight of modern Bible scholarship, and finds a hidden (and not so hidden) message behind every parable, every sign and wonder and mysterious instruction to the disciples. That message is the surpassing value and beauty of the Kingdom of God, not as something to be longed for in heaven, but as a reality that is all around us right now—“at hand,” as Jesus has said--just waiting for us to enter it.

As McLaren brings meticulous attention to developing this idea, it gradually emerges in its full glory as a political, radical, even revolutionary state of being that could—as the subtitle maintains— change everything. I particularly like what he says about war:

“It is time, I believe, for people who have confidence in Jesus and his message to lead the way in imagining what could happen…if increasing percentages of our budgets were diverted from peacekeeping through weaponry to peacekeeping through actively addressing the underlying causes of conflict—causes like injustice, lack of compassion, racism, corruption, lack of free and ethical press, and poverty—and the fear, hatred, greed, ignorance, and lust that fuel them.
Either way, the cost will be high; it’s just a question of which kind of cost we would prefer to pay.”

This book is so rich, so full of new insights and fulfillment, that it is an injustice to McLaren to attempt to summarize it in a few words. So let me just join with our Bishop in recommending that we all read it. You’ll find a copy in the church library this week—if somebody else doesn’t get there first!