This Beautiful Mess, by Rick McKinley
This is a discussion of our second Burnside Collective Reading selection. Please feel free to post your comments below. If you are a goodreads member, you can also start a discussion on the BWC discussion board. - Ed.
My thoughts:
I read This Beautiful Mess as a dual call to contemplation and action.
It caused me to re-examine my own ideas about the kingdom of God, which Rick McKinley defines as the “living, breathing presence and purpose and reign of God on our planet.” My “kingdom theology” has changed dramatically over the years, from the otherworldly focus of my conservative religious upbringing, to the stubbornly-earthbound humanism of my reactionary years.
But the kingdom (as presented in Jesus’ teachings) is a much richer, more complex reality - one that cannot be identified as a point on a theological spectrum. Somehow it exists over and above the spectrum, in a third dimension that is beyond the reach of my antitheses. The kingdom is “breaking in but finding itself in opposition with much of what is already here. It is a kingdom of conflict.” McKinley calls this the “already/not yet” tension.
This Beautiful Mess is also a call to live in fidelity to the “both/and” paradox. Part Three of the book is entitled “Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom.” McKinley says that the “kingdom is already beautifully present in our flawed word and…Jesus invites us as His flawed people to respond.” Respond how? By adding to the beauty: finding the places of need in our community and imagining what the kingdom would look like if it was made manifest there.
For me, the most provocative part of the book (in the sense that it led to the most discussion with friends and family) is the Appendix. It makes some important points and yet it is strangely hidden, tucked away behind the Acknowledgments and before the Links page. In the appendix (“The Gospel and the Kingdom”) McKinley writes about the “two gospels” - the gospel of Jesus and the gospel about Jesus:
The gospel of Jesus is usually taken to mean His announcement of the kingdom and the life He embodied in His loving actions toward the world. The gospel about Jesus refers to His atoning work on the cross and His resurrection, through which we can receive the forgiveness of sin through our faith and repentance.”
The “two gospels,” he says, “even correlate to a schism in the church, with more liberal churches living the gospel of Jesus…while more conservative churches preach the gospel about Jesus.” McKinley believes, however, that the two are actually one gospel. “[When] we lose the tension that comes from holding both together, we experience an unhealthy and unbiblical pendulum swing in our faith.” (This pendulum swing is the dramatic change in kingdom theology that I mentioned earlier.)
I brought up the “two gospels” concept to my friend Matt last week. He said that he appreciates McKinley’s choice of language (“gospel of Jesus” and “gospel about Jesus”), but he prefers the phrases “gospel for the offended against” and “gospel for the offender.” Matt also suggested that the reason why American Christianity has focused so much on the “gospel for the offender” (the forgiveness of sins) and so little on the “gospel for the offended against” (loving actions for the world) is because theology, like history, is too often written by the winners. The winners in this case are white Protestant males.
Matt went on to say that it was not until the 1960s that the voices of the “offended against” became too loud to ignore. The social movements of that decade, as well as the rise of liberation theology with its “preferential option for the poor,” has compelled the American church to rediscover the other half of the “one gospel.”
Rick McKinley is one of several influential pastor-writers (Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, and Jim Wallis are others) who are bringing the holistic “one gospel, one kingdom” message to mainstream evangelicalism. For this reader, it was a message worth hearing.
- John Pattison
Your thoughts:
What was your overall impression of the book? Which parts were especially impacting for you?
McKinley says that an “already/not yet” kingdom perspective will help us see the world in a different light. Do you see the world differently?
Have you accepted McKinley’s challenge to find the places of need in your community, and then imagine what the kingdom would look like if it was made manifest there? What can you tell us about your experience?
I am intrigued by the word “practicing” in the subtitle. What does it mean to “practice” the presence of the kingdom of God?
This Beautiful Mess is available from Powells Books.
BWC Books is now on goodreads.
Posted on June 18, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
The book wasn't in stock when I went to pick it up, but I'm excited to read it. It sounds like Tolstoy's title "The Kindgom of God Is Within You: Christianity Not as a Mystical Teaching but as a New Concept of Life" -- maybe not the technical theology of it all, but certainly the call to live out the Kingdom of God (peace, service to others, etc.) while we're here on earth.
I think to "practice" the presence of the Kingdom of God means to go beyond just mere belief (because, as some have said, even the devil believes in God) and actually participate in being a part of and building the Kingdom. I like the word "practice," too, because it suggests that we don't have it perfect yet -- that we're just working at it now till we get to see God's true perfection.
Posted by: Stephanie Nikolopoulos | June 15, 2007 2:18 PM
I know you've done it, I've done it, and we have all done it. You've been driving on you way to work, sometimes eating on a hamburger or sub sandwich, when suddenly you pass by a extremely tan, ashy-skinned homeless man sitting patiently on an overstuffed backpack with his wrinkled thumb sticking up. As you pass by, you keep your head straight on the road, never looking directly at him, acting as if you don't see him there. Further on down the road you feel sorry for the man, and think of the way you might help him, but you never do. Somewhere along the way you talk yourself out of it and try to forget he was ever there. I know you do this, because I to have done it. We all have.
This man, like every homeless man, is just a small part of the "Mess" Rick talks about in his book. Rick builds on the idea of what this mess is that we leave behind daily and the fact that the very "Mess" are the very people Jesus came to save. Rick reveals how Jesus loved these people dearly, not seeing the mess that the passer-by's see, but rather something "Beautiful."
No one knows reality in life more than a man(or woman) who has been homeless, hungry, sick, poor and/or despised and hated. I believe that is the very reason Jesus chose those such as these. Not choosing the best, or the holiest and most righteous, but instead those who understand real life struggles and pains inside and out. These people would be the ones who understand the message of Jesus fully and accepting it as a gift rather than a payment for good deeds as their oppressors were expecting. It is these people who see the real Kingdom of God and it was the very reason Jesus said they would be the first to enter the Kingdom.
There are many more examples of beautiful messes, such as a child�s attempt at drawing that came out as a catastrophe of scribbled color crayons, or a father changing his newborn son�s freshly soiled diaper for the first time. Finding the beauty in these events is only the first step. Seeking the kingdom through these messes is one way of practicing the presence of the kingdom. Furthermore, the kingdom is not limited to just the beautiful mess. God reveals himself in the sight of a sunset, in the sound of rain, in the thickness of clouds, in the birth of a child, in the growth of a tree, in love, happiness, kindness, tenderness, compassion, and He is never limited to any word that we can describe Him. God is everywhere and his kingdom is everything.
After reading Rick's book, it has impacted the way I look at the homeless man I pass by on the way to work and encourages me to help people such as these, and furthermore seek in them the Kingdom of God.
Posted by: Steven Malone | June 18, 2007 9:03 PM
It seems like this website is always trying to divide the "conservative" christians (mean spirited, judgemental, homophobic and racist) and the "progressive" christians (love for all).
The Emerging Church or "progressive" christians or whatever, have made rock stars out of the socio-economic poor class. For all the wrong that Christians have done in the name of Jesus, there is far more good...including the love and ministry to the poor and widows. This ministry was present long before 1960's.
In response to Steven's point, I question your interpretation of the Bible when you say that Jesus came to save only the poor. Jesus came to save the Poor In Spirit. Jesus used a powerful and wealthy man to spread the Gospel beyond The Middle East...see Paul. Nicodemus and Zacchaeus were not poor. I hope I'm interpreting your response wrong! The poor are not rock stars of the Bible.
Posted by: Chris | June 19, 2007 4:30 PM
Chris,
You say this website tries to divide the "mean conservative" Christians from the "loving progressive" Christians, but you won't find a word of that in Steven's response. His post was well-balanced, heartfelt, and expertly crafted.
Nor will you find it in McKinley's book.
If you detected such an agenda in my original post, then I failed to articulate my true response to the book. I will acknowledge my bias as a writer. Will you acknowledge your bias as a reader? (We're all biased readers.)
In fact, McKinley takes a holistic approach to the Kingdom of God (remember what I said about "the two gospels"?). I identified this section as the most personally provocative part of "This Beautiful Mess."
In my opening post, I did go on to talk about the "gospel for the offender" and the "gospel for the offended against." But these are two sides of the same gospel coin. I am guided by their deep roots in theology, not political philosophy.
And you are right that the church's ministry to the poor has been around since long before 1960. Even in the American church, which is the distinction I made.
But a cursory glance through the history of the American church - especially the history of American evangelicalism - will reveal broad cycles of waxing and waning social engagement. The Emergent Church movement has a strong evangelical foundation (Carl F.H. Henry and the Chicago Declaration, for example), but it has also been influenced by so-called liberal theology - including theologies of liberation.
I identify myself as an evangelical, though I don't identify with the Emergent movement. Regardless, Christians of all stripes (myself included) would do well to examine our kingdom theologies in light of the "two gospels" matrix and the "already/not-yet" paradox. These aren't ideas that originated with Rick McKinley, but with Jesus himself.
Thanks for the discussion.
John
Posted by: John Pattison | June 20, 2007 9:21 AM
I finally picked this book up two days ago. I had to search every bookstore in town and even some at the beach over vacation before finding it. But it is well worth the wait.
I believe I truly became a follower of Christ about 10 years ago although I walked the aisle maybe 20 years ago. I was 16 and had just got involved in a good youth group when I really started to grasp the truth that God is all that I could ever want or need. Since then, I have been a part of everything that is church. You know, youth retreats, conferences, prayer breakfast, and even leading a college group for several years. (Being active in all of the above has a tendency to puff me up so that I am scared to admit that I have more to learn and discover about God. Does anybody else struggle with that?) But through it all I have felt great frustration with life in the church. I mean how we reach people. Spending money on banners and luncheons to get them to come in our doors, but rarely going out. In the past couple of years I have, little by little, begun to grasp what I consider to be the bigger picture of being a true disciple of Christ. The first and greatest commandment sums it up doesn't it? Love God and love your neighbor.
But to really love God we have to first see how He loves us and when we see that...Wow! It just turns into something powerful. There is this phrase that I have been repeating to myself and others over the past year or so that states "when we see what God sees we will love what God loves." When we enter into this powerful realtionship with God things change. We begin to see things that we didn't see before.
There I can see that God is not only far away, but he is near also. I mean right here. In my breathing. Almost like there is some other dimension that is happening all around me that I can't see with my eyes but that I can sense with my soul. I am hearing this call that says His kingdom is not only to come, but His kingdom is happening now. Salvation is not only a trip to somewhere else later, but is happening to me now. That His love is not just giving me a "get out of jail free" card, but His love is actually embracing me now. In my life He is breaking through and loving me through all the "Mess."
Practicing the presence of the kingdom is realizing His presence and love are actually happening now to us. In the everyday. And responding to it by reflecting the light of His presence and love onto the world by loving our nieghbor. Really loving them sacrificially like He did. Not only the homeless, for some that would be to easy. But in our marriage, in our workplace, in every broken situation and wounded heart. This is what it seems Christ did. He responded to His Fathers love by reflecting it back onto the world. Even to the cross.
Sorry to be long winded and not really to any particular point. I haven't even finished the book yet. But I am definitly relating to it along my own little journey. I felt this a good place to share about it.
Posted by: Ben | June 22, 2007 1:53 PM
In response to Chris:
I never said anything about Jesus coming to save only the poor, rather I said "Mess." Keeping in mind I wrote that in quotations to directly relate to the symbolism of to what Rick McKinnley had described in his book as "This Beautiful Mess" and not to what I had described in my post. I used the poor as an example of part of the "Mess", but there are so many more examples to which Ben also gave in his post.
Chris, I don't know what churches you attend but I rarely see true, unconditional love and giving in the churches I've been to. I have seen churches that spend money on a 60-foot replica of the statue of liberty holding a cross in one hand and the ten commandments in the other with shackles around her ankle to which the chains probably cost 5 times that of my monthly income while poor, hungry, and homeless people pushing their carts pass by it daily. I have to ask myself "What motivates people to spend so much money these things instead of on those very people starving outside their doors?" I've seen televangelist, one after another, on TV asking for $1000 donations while promising you "If you give God a seed... He will make you a harvest!" Saying this so passionately, trying desperately to convince you that if you put in some money, you will surely get much more of it back. He fills your head with examples of what he put in and how much he got back, which many of these example are ridiculous. I have to ask myself, "Do we really have to SELL Jesus? Why do we have all these door to door salesmen spreading the Word?"
Maybe this is just my opinion, but it seems the modern American church has so much focus and drive on getting people "saved" and spreading the "Good News," but what about the rest of Jesus' message? What about the parts about social justice, community, and love? Is it no consequence that the two things our churches do most are the moneymakers, and the other things they lack to do are the moneytakers? And its not all just about money, its about love, acceptance, appreciation, companionship... all the things that bring joy to our lifes. We so easily take these things from others, and it seems that gaining these things is our very goal at life, but rarely ever do we spend time to give it back. This is not just a church problem, but rather it is the human condition.
The primary joy of life is acceptance, approval, the sense of appreciation and companionship of our human comrades. Many men do not understand that the need for fellowship is really as deep as the need for food, and so they go through life accepting many substitutes for genuine, warm, simple relatedness. - Joshua Loth Liebman
When Jesus gave us His message he showed us a way of life, now, and in heaven. It is, I believe, the way it was in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Before we became separated from God, we had love, acceptance, appreciation, and companionship. Just as God designed us to hunger for food and thirst for water, he also design us to hunger for acceptance and thirst for companionship. After the fall we lost this glory that God gave us, and now we spend all our time trying to fill that void with the acceptance of other men/women, our careers, even out XBOX 360's. These of which will only leave us thirstier in the end. It is only Jesus who can quench this thrust, and it is his will for us to be with Him again.
Chris, you questioned my interpretation of the bible, so I answer you in a general summarization of the whole bible in one word: "Emanuel" I believe it is God's will for us to be with each other again, in community (The Kingdom of God) with him again. In Rick's book "This Beautiful Mess," he describes how God is breaking through into this world, sharing with us the Kingdom that is here and now, showing up through the love, acceptance, appreciation, and the companionship of others. We do not naturally desire to give these things to other, but when we do for the will of God, He seems to show up reveling to us the Kingdom.
Chris, though it seems I was directing this response towards you, I'm hoping others can benefit from it. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, and I must give you appreciation for holding me accountable for the potential flaws of my original comment. I hope I made my point clear and that I further discussed my reactions towards Rick's book.
Thanks,
Steven
Posted by: Steven Malone | June 24, 2007 4:18 PM
In the midst of spiritual loneliness in the quest for finding a faith community where I live, this book gave me some hope. The challenges to be an active part of the kingdom is something I've been trying to do for awhile on my own because it seems like churches that I've attended are more interested in their own survival. I tire of pleas for more giving to the church building project or that concerns that the budget won't be met so we should bring more people to church.
I want to be in community with people who are active in the kingdom everyday, not just Sunday; people who want to live life together, who are invested in each other. This book shows fruit of such a community, albeit 3000 miles away from where I live.
In the meantime, it is good to know people who believe the same way about Jesus and His kingdom are out there praying for us, especially our brothers and sisters outside the US. That was particular gripping to me, for how true it is that we depend so little on Jesus when we have medicine to cure dandruff or nit-picky problems.
Posted by: Tim | July 2, 2007 12:47 PM