January 29, 2018 Chapter 22 Jesus the Teacher
I have always considered Jesus to be the master teacher. I guess what this chapter helped me to understand was all the different ways that he taught. I found it interesting that McLaren considered things like the Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem and driving the money changers out of the temple to be moment of teaching. In some ways it challenges me to look at all aspects of my ministry as teachable moments.
I also liked the thought that McLaren offered in regard to a current understanding of the kingdom of God. I liked the diversity of this thought. Not only is the kingdom of God about a mutual sharing of resources, but it is also about living life to the fullest. Not only is it about freedom and community but it is also about the environment and holy aliveness.
All of this tied in well with the reading from Jeremiah--the kingdom of God is about what God has already written in our hearts: We are God's people and God is with us always as our God.
It seems everything I read this week was about the Kingdom of God . I always struggle with what Jesus was saying about the kingdom and even don't really like the term kingdom since it denotes to me a place of privilege and elitism. Yet the idea of a world where peace reigns and resources are shared sure does sound nice if totally different from the world we live in. Maybe that's why we assign it to that place we go when we leave this earthly life. After all Jesus did say"Eye has not seen , ear has not heard what God has ready for those who love him."
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