Catch post #2 from this series here.
In Burundi, a war torn nation in East Africa, McLaren encounters Claude Nikondeha, who jokes with his fellow Christians that in spite of growing up in the church, he only ever heard one sermon, and it went like this: You are a sinner and you are going to hell. You need to repent and believe in Jesus. Jesus might come back today, and if he does and you are not ready, you will burn forever in hell. Claude went on to say, They told us how to go to heaven . . . They didn't tell us how the will of God could be done on earth. [1]
Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like the only sermon I heard growing up, too. I guess the question is, Does Jesus in my life make a difference to my life and to the world around me? Or is it just an initiation now for eternal life later?
After Claude's sermon, McLaren met a young lady overwhelmed with what she had just heard: Today, for the first time, I see what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God. I see that it's about changing this world, not just escaping it and retreating to our churches. [2]
[1] Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 18ff.
[2] Ibid., 23.
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