CHAPTER 6
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!
So, the gospel according to Brian McLaren is simply the kingdom of God is at hand! As it has been shown, Emergent theology, just like its Protestant Liberal counterparts, began by accommodating to the culture, and compromising biblical authority. This was followed by a here and now/inclusive salvation. All that is left, then, is emphasis on the kingdom that grows into a social gospel movement.
The Kingdom of God According to McLaren
Throughout McLaren’s writings, heavy emphasis is placed on the present reality of the kingdom of God. After noting that the central message of Jesus was the kingdom of God, co-author with McLaren, Tony Campolo writes, “God wants this kingdom to become established on earth, now! . . . Which, of course, contradicts what both evangelicals . . . believe about Christianity being an otherworldly, pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die religion that promises us mansions in the next world if only we endure the oppressions, inequities, and injustices of the present socioeconomic order.” Campolo goes on to define the kingdom of God as, “a new society that Jesus wants to create in this world - within human history, not after the Second Coming or a future apocalypse or anything else. But right now.”[1]
McLaren echoes the present reality sentiment of the kingdom throughout many of his writings. In one instance, while discussing the frustration of the only sermon Christians preach: if you do not repent and believe in Jesus then you are going to hell, McLaren describes how radically different Jesus’ message of the kingdom is. He writes:
This message of the kingdom – contrary to popular belief – was not focused on how to escape this world and its problems by going to heaven after death, but instead was focused on how God’s will could be done on earth, in history, during this life . . . God’s Kingdom [is] God’s dreams coming true for this earth, of God’s justice and peace replacing earth’s injustice and disharmony.[2]
McLaren, then, by emphasizing the present reality of the kingdom, ignores the future hope of the kingdom. McLaren goes so far as to virtually deny any traditional eschatology because it take our eyes off fulfilling the kingdom here and now. McLaren criticizes “current eschatologies” as “not only ignorant and wrong” but also “dangerous and immoral.” The picture of Christ establishing His kingdom by force runs counter to the kingdom in His first coming:
We don’t have a violent “Second Coming” Jesus who finishes what the gentle “First Coming” Jesus failed to do, but we have a poetic description of the way the gentle First Coming Jesus powerfully overcomes through his nonviolent “weakness” . . . a prince of peace whose word of reconciliation is truly mightier than Caesar’s sword.[3]
The kingdom is much different than how it is portrayed by current evangelicalism. Overemphasized eschatologies and a failure to see the kingdom as here and now has caused Christians, for centuries, to ignore the real message of Jesus. Christians, therefore, have “launched . . . wars, perpetuated racism, and defended an unjust status quo.” The message of Jesus, rooted in the kingdom of God, is about “making peace and turning the other cheek and crossing boundaries to serve people formerly considered ‘outsiders.’” It is inclusive, loving, serving, and open. Because the church has missed this vision of the kingdom, McLaren argues, our message is ignored and “people turn from us in boredom,” and “disgust.”[4]
Not only is the kingdom present, it is also inclusive. Like the Pharisees, the modern Church believe that unless one believed the right things, they were not right with God. Jesus, McLaren argues, transformed all of that. By having fellowship with “notorious sinners . . . Jesus wanted to help them experience transformation.” Rejection only “hardens people,” whereas acceptance “makes transformation possible.” Therefore, the church must be inclusive, inviting persons to participate in the conversation, to join the kingdom of God. Rather than a “me vs. us” approach, the model set forth by Jesus was inclusive and accepting.[5]
This inclusive mentality results in unity and reconciliation. In Galations 3:28, Paul remarks that because we are all united in Christ distinctions like Jew and Gentile, free and slave, and male and female, are gone. McLaren says the kingdom unites the war veteran and the pacifist, the contemporary granddaughter and traditional grandmother, the Pentecostal and the Baptist, the Christian and the Muslim, the Republican and the Democrat, the Believer and the doubter are all reconciled in Christ. Only the kingdom of God can reconcile us.[6]
[1] McLaren and Campolo, Adventures in Missing the Point, 47.
[2] McLaren, Everything Must Change, 21.
[3] Ibid., 144-145.
[4] McLaren, The Secret Message of Jesus, 78-79. See also, Ibid., 83-87 where McLaren goes into more detail into why church attendance has plummeted.
[5] Ibid., 162-170.
[6] Ibid., 99-100.
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accomodation to the Kindgom of God - Chapter 1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.1
Thesis| Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 2.3
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 3.1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 3.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 4.1a
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 4.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.1
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.2
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.3
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.4
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 5.5
Thesis | Brian McLaren and Emergent Soteriology: From Cultural Accommodation to the Kingdom of God - Chapter 6.1
For more:
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 1
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 2
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 3
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the Emergent Church - Part 4
Theology - The Clarity of Ambiguity: The Erosion of the Perspicuity of Scripture in the emergent Church - Part 5
Theology/Reviews - "A New Kind of Christianity" - A 11 part review and critique of McLaren's book
Reviews - McLaren - A Generous Orthodoxy
Reviews - McLaren - A New Kind of Christian
Reviews -McLaren - A Search For What Makes Sense: Finding Faith
Reviews -McLaren - Adventures In Missing The Point
Reviews - McLaren - Church On The Other Side
Reviews -McLaren - Everything Must Change
Reviews -McLaren - Finding Faith
Reviews -McLaren - More Ready Than You Realize
Reviews - McLaren - The Justice Project
Reviews - McLaren - The Secret Message of Jesus
Reviews -McLaren - The Voice of Luke
Theology - Revelation and the Ambiguity of Justification: McLaren Adds to the Confusion
Theology - Does McLaren Reject Penal Substitution?: A Review of the Evidence
Blogizomai - Where is He Now? McLaren on the Question of bin Laden's Final Destination
Theology - Hamilton: McLaren and Whole Foods Stores
Theology - SBTS and McLaren: A Response to SBTS Panel Discussion
Theology - The Evolving God: McKnight's Critique of McLaren
Theology - The Future of the Emergent Church: McLaren Weighs In
Theology - The Immutability of God: Its Truth and Relevancy - Introduction
Theology - The Postmodern Social Gospel: Brian McLaren Proves My Point
Theology - Where to Begin?: 10 Emergent Must Reads
Theology - Who Isn't One?: Brian McLaren and Social Christians
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Narrative Question - Part 1
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Authority Question - Part 2
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The God Question - Part 3
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Jesus Question - Part 4
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Gospel Question - Part 5
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Church Question - Part 6
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Sex Question - Part 7
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Future Question - Part 8
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: The Pluralism Question - Part 9
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: Where Do We Go From Here - Part 10
Theology - A New Kind of Christianity . . . Indeed: Some Final Thoughts - Part 11
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