Respond to McLaren's question: "What if his message directly or indirectly addressed issues like advertising, environmentalism, terrorism, economics, sexuality, marriage, parenting, the quest for happiness and peace, and racial reconciliation?"(p. 4)
If Jesus’ message answered these questions then he would be stepping out of his box as a teacher. We seem to forget that Jesus was mainly a teacher while he was on Earth. And a good teacher gives you the information you need and maybe a few hints, but never the answer. Jesus has given us all the information we need through his lessons, and for him to answer the questions above would be for him to no longer be a teacher.
Respond to McLaren's questions: "What if we have developed a religion that makes reverent and honoring statements about Jesus but doesn't teach what Jesus taught in the manner he taught it? What if the religion generally associated with Jesus neither expects nor trains its adherents to actually live in the way of Jesus? (p.3)"
For an individual to live a life just like Jesus is impossible. He is a man without sin, and we as humans are all born into a sin and many of us sin every day. For that reason we are cannot live in the way Jesus did even if we wanted to. Now if a religion leaves out Jesus’ teaching power then it is taking away from one of the many reasons Jesus was placed on the earth. Jesus was placed on the earth to teach and show us the way in which to live our lives so that we could enter heaven one day. Jesus’ teachings were meant to cause people to think and by just giving honor to his statements it does not have the full affect. It would be like hearing a movie, but without action. And actions speak louder than words.
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