The King Jesus Gospel: A Review

Scot McKnight in "The King Jesus Gospel" dares to ask if we have somehow managed to misinterpret the full meaning of the gospel, and I for one am glad that he did.  McKnight claims that we have shrunk down our understanding of the gospel to include only the plan of salvation and have thus missed out on the full understanding of the gospel in our lives.  I don't know about you, but this seems like a risky proposition.  We in the church do not handle people who come along and claim that we have missed the point to well.  In fact, we usually call them heretics and create smear campaigns across all forms of media about them.  But I hope that those who would first throw stones will give the message of McKnight's book a chance.  For his desire is not to throw out our previous assumptions of the gospel, but to reframe them in light of apostolic teachings.

The meat of this book is centered around looking at what a fuller understanding of the gospel is and where it is found in the teachings of the apostles and even Jesus himself.  Central to McKnight's definition of the gospel is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the story of Israel.  The incarnation was not a random event that occurred in a vacuum, instead it was a continuation of the work that God had already been doing in the world that began with His calling of Israel.  It is through this lens that we begin to understand that the gospel is not just a saving story, but a calling story.  The story of Jesus as the fulfillment of the story of Israel gives us insight as to this calling that God has for us.  As McKnight says at the end of the book, "The gospel propels us into mission, into the holistic mission of loving God, loving self, loving others, and loving the world." (pg 160)

I highly recommend this book as it is both well written and thought provoking.  Allow its message to reframe what we proclaim the gospel to be and in turn how we are shaped by it.

I received this book from Zondervan in exchange for a review on this blog.

Fasting

My latest book from the Book Sneeze bloggers program is called "Fasting" by Scot McKnight.  While this might seem a curious title to read around the holidays, I did enjoy reading the e-book version on my new Kindle.  This is the fourth title that I've read in the Ancient Practices series and probably one of my favorites.  I really love McKnight's writing style and how he weaves in teaching about the ancient Jewish understanding of his subject as well as the early church understanding and how it has evolved over time.  As an associate pastor, I have often taught on and lead groups through various fasts, especially through the season of Lent.  But after reading McKnight's book I have a slightly different take on fasting.  Most of that is through his assertion that fasting, in the Biblical sense, can only be defined as refraining from food and/or water.  He made the distinction of abstaining from certain things (caffeine, TV, etc) is not really a Biblical fast.  Probably the biggest revelation for me is his central thesis of how a fast "works."  I put works in quotations because fasting is not some formula that we plug certain things into and then expect a certain result from God, although many do feel that way.  McKnight brought to my realization that fasting is a response from a God event, where the one experiencing the event is moved to repentance and a further longing for connection with God, and in some cases there is a result that does occur.  He diagrammed this as a movement from A > B > C.  Of course there is more to his point and I will leave that to the book to explain.  I would definitely recommend this book.

The Bible and Missional Listening

This was the title of a talk that Scot McKnight gave at the Missional Theology Conversation gathering I attended last Friday.  His main focus was for us to understand the Bible through a relational approach instead of an authority approach.  I'll try my best to break down what he was talking about and hopefully it will spur some conversation among us as well.

McKnight set up two different approaches to the Bible that we can take.  The first he called the authoritarian approach.  This approach uses a flow that looks something like this.  God-revelation-inspiration-inerrancy-truth-response-submission.  This is an approach that many of us are very familiar with and have spent much of our time in ministry combating.  "God said it, I believe it, and that's good enough for me."  This approach leads to things being very black and white with no room for gray.  McKnight says that the words inerrancy and submission are the most troubling with this approach.  He used Psalm 119 as an example where scripture (or the law) is not for submission purposes but to be followed out of response.  Vs 35, "Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it." (ESV)  Notice that it doesn't say "your words are authoritative so therefore I submit", instead it's "your words are a delight therefore I will follow."  This authoritarian approach is framed epistemically (knowledge is the desired outcome) and seems not to be what the God of the Bible is desiring.

The approach that McKnight was encouraging us to embrace is what he called the relational approach.  This approach is framed by desiring to know the God of the Bible or the 'I' and 'You' behind the Bible.  Here are a few tenets through which this approach flows.  First, we need to understand that the Bible is God's spoken word to us.  The Bible is not God but it points to God.  The Bible is God's way of assuring us that God is there and is not silent.  Second, we are invited to listen to God through the Bible and respond.  Third, we enter into the Bible's own conversation and the conversation that has been going on throughout church history.  There is a community focus to reading and understanding the Bible.  It cannot be done in a vacuum.

McKnight's claim is that the relational approach leads to a better understanding of who God is and what God has called us to.  The relational approach leads to us being able to respond to God in love and respect instead of fear and submission.  One quote that I especailly loved is that "having the right view of the Bible is not the point, but having a relationship (or engaging) with the God of the Bible is the point."

McKnight then moved on to talking a bit about Missional Listening.  He said that the biggest complaint that God has of the people is that they do not listen.  His call is for us to be attentive enough to hear the words of God, allow them to sink in our very being and then to go and do what they say.  When we engage in missional listening we will truly know God and follow God's desire for us to love and God and to love others.  It is not about gathering information, but it's about how we are following what God has asked us to be about.  Missional listening is inspired and it is a process.

I hope this is a fair summary of what McKnight was presenting to us.  I did buy the DVD so when I get it I'll watch it again.  What do you think?  What is your understanding of the Bible?  If you have shifted away from the authoritarian approach do you ever find yourself reverting back to the old ways?  How can we help others to view the Bible in this way without pushing them over the edge or is that what needs to happen?

By the way, I just received McKnight's new book, The Blue Parakeet, where I believe most of this talk came from.  I will let you know that later on as well.

Missional Theology

Last Friday, I and 3 others from my church went to Biblical Seminary to hear a conversation in Missional Theology.  The occasion was in honor of one of their theology professors, John Franke, who was being installed as the Lester and Kay Clemens Professor of Missional Theology.  I have read two of Franke's books and recommend them both, The Character of Theology and Beyond Foundationalism.  The best part of the event was that Franke asked 4 presenters to come in and talk about Missional Theology.  The presenters were Scot McKnight, Tim Keel, Darrell Guder and Brian McLaren with a few breakout sessions lead by some local leaders in our area.

I will spend the next few posts talking about the meat of what was covered, but I want to make one general point before I do that.  I was totally blown away by the way a generous orthodoxy was embraced at this event.  Having grown up in a denominational setting my whole life, I have trouble breaking out of a sectarian mindset.  I am constantly fighting the desire to draw the battle lines between the other and myself, when in reality we are on the same team!  I think that is in large part why Mission Theology is resonating within me.  It is speaking a new language that seems so right to me.  Missional Theology does not seek to further point out our differences, but instead to find commonality that will move towards uniting us as the people of God.  Thank you Biblical Seminary for being courageous to live out this conviction.  May God continue to build the Kingdom here among us all.