Ian & Jocelyn Barker

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at Barnes & Noble speed reading through Brian McLaren’s book “Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. I was reading it to help a friend with a project he is working on, but also because I was interested in what McLaren is all about since I have heard about him, but never read him.

If you are intrigued by him and his ideas, don’t be. Instead, be worried.

The essential message of the book is that the Church has had it wrong for too long and Jesus’ message was not about getting to heaven after we die and worrying about our personal relationship with God, but that everyone needs to help the poor of the earth and in doing so, we will be living like Jesus.

It is all fair and good to say that the Church needs to care more for the poor and that the gospel is not about us going away to His kingdom in the sky. But to say we are to do that to the neglect of establishing a right relationship with God, or that we are not awaiting a coming kingdom, is insane. Furthermore, to help the poor at the expense of preaching the gospel and requiring allegiance to Christ is to trample on the blood of Christ.

From what I observed, there are three faulty foundations on which he builds his ideas:

1. Jesus’ Kingdom was established when He walked on the earth and it is our job as His followers to expand that kingdom. We are not waiting for Him to return, but for humanity at large to do what He told us to do.
2. Man is not born into sin, but is capable of progressing and improving themselves if only they are relieved of exterior negative circumstances.
3. Our great hope is not that Jesus the King will one day split the skies and establish His Kingdom on earth, but that man can apply the teachings of Christ in order to improve themselves and be healed.

If we remove the eschatological hope of Jesus returning as a King, then we are left hopeless. If we remove any semblance of sin as being the sickness that plagues mankind and repentance and faith in Christ being the answer, then we are left with vanity.