As our kids prepare for a Vacation Bible Camp experience called “Adventure of the Treasure Seekers,” it occurs to me that they’re not the only ones digging to discover God’s promises these days.

Brian McLaren has become a favorite author of ours around here. The evangelical church planter and theologian is the author of A Generous Orthodoxy, and he has a new book called The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything.

It’s a provocative title, isn’t it? To suggest that Jesus had a secret message sounds suspiciously like Gnosticism, the early heresy that insisted true believers were privy to special knowledge, and that only through that special knowledge could they be saved. Well, we don’t believe that and neither does McLaren. The Secret Message of Jesus may aim to rope in true DaVinci Code believers, but its thesis is this: the message of Jesus isn’t something you can simply explain with words. You must intentionally seek it and discover it in order to understand it.

Some Christians would say the most important message Jesus brought is, “Believe in me and be saved.” Others would say it’s more like, “Love God and love your neighbor.” Still other Christians might insist that Jesus’ main point was, “Blessed are the poor and downtrodden.” Or perhaps, “The Kingdom of God is at hand”?

Well, all of these are true messages of Jesus, and they all revolve around the same basic truth. But don’t try to express that truth in a simple phrase! It’s something that must be expressed through story and metaphor, and only then can it be experienced and lived in community. It would be easier to hang all our faith on one phrase or one core belief, but then we would miss the full panorama of God’s plan.

McLaren points to a series of Jesus’ parables from Matthew 13: seeds planted in a field, weeds growing among the grain, a mustard seed with great potential, yeast kneaded into a lump of dough, treasure buried in a field, a valuable pearl among less valuable pearls, and edible fish caught in the same net as inedible fish. In every one of these parables, Jesus refers to something of value hidden unremarkably until we find it and recognize its power for transformation.

Jesus says, “If you have ears, listen!” Do you have ears? Eyes? Do you have your shovel of curiosity, your spade of open-mindedness, and your brush of intentionality? Are you ready for the surprising treasure that awaits you? Good. Let’s start digging.