I'm interested in truth & what it means for individuals & humanity. This re-vamped blog is dedicated to truth and honest questions about faith in Jesus Christ. It is an effort to engage in authentic dialogue among Christians, Atheists and all points in between. Posts that do not honor legitimate discussion may be removed at my discretion. That doesn't mean that you can't disagree, but it DOES mean that you can't be a jerk. Welcome to the discussion.
As many people will tell you, it is hard to nail down what the emergent/emerging definitively stands for. A description that I came across said categorizing the emerging church is a bit like trying to nail jello to a wall. I first encountered Brian MacLaren's "A New Kind of Christian" about four years ago. While I wasn't sure if I agreed with everything, I did appreciate that someone was asking questions that I felt needed to be asked. At the same time, I discovered the website for Jacob's Well Church in Kansas City, MO, and started listening to the sermons from Tim Keel, pastor of that church. In many ways I would say that Keel has shaped my current theology as much as C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton with regard to non-Biblical people. I loved what I had encountered and eagerly awaited what this movement/conversation would become.
Unfortunately, I don't like where it is heading. I sympathize so much with the challenges the emerging church has leveled at the church in America (I hate to classify it as the "modern" church, because I don't entirely agree with the emerging church's designations of when philosophical movements happened). The church in America seems to have drifted to far into the realm of right-wing politics. It has largely rendered the Body of Christ ineffective by turning church into a spectator sport. However, the most visible spokesmen/writers for emergent books seem to have no problem removing orthodox boundaries. I'm all for analyzing Christianity to determine what are the bare essentials for Christian belief and leaving freedom and discernment for all other areas, but too often the emerging church seems to err on the side of so-called tolerance. Statements from Peter Rollins and Tony Jones in particular seem to be merging New Age paganism with Christian ideas. This makes me very nervous.
Other forms of practice in the emerging church seem little more than marketing church for hipsters. It is a type of indie-rock snob church. It appeals to those who have been hurt or disenfranchised by the evangelical church, but really appears to be nothing more than trendy church.
Bottom line, it seems as if the emerging church is becoming something that we already have too many of. It is becoming another denomination. However, this one will have no particular defining trait, it would seem.
I personally feel that this could have been a great movement, but that it seems to have settled far too short of what it could be.
This post seems a bit incoherent to me, so I can elaborate if necessary. I threw out my back recently, so writing through the haze of pain is a bit difficult.
Thanks for typing in on this discussion; I appreciate your comments. I read McLaren's "A New Kind of Christian" a few years ago and recently finished his "Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope." Like you, I didn't agree with EVERYTHING I read, but there was enough there to seriously consider and challenge some thinking that I had defaulted to.
I also share some of your concerns about the emerging church movements, but part of the problem is that this trend is not a clearly delineated movement at all, but rather a loose collection of similarly themed movements. There is no central, emergent, governing body that we can join or critique. There seem to be only trends and individual expressions thereof.
But I would not be too quick to write off the emergent movement(s) as a failure or success. I think that it is building momentum and not likely to dissipate anytime soon. Like the Protestant Reformation, these evolutionary explorations of what church can be may very well yield amazing Spirit-led results, but there is always the risk that some branches may go wrong (reference the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses in reformation movements). I feel drawn to participate WITH and maybe even IN the emergent movement, not simply to approve of or resist everything that goes on there, but rather to help steer (and be steered by it) in a direction that is in-step with what God is doing.
Like you, I also have some hesitation concerning what traditional Christian denominations and movements have wrought and continue to assert. Where the emerging movement has the chance to really succeed is to let go of these past church errors and break new ground in the lives of those who have come to suspect, resent and even hate the old paradigms and misguided Christians that follow them.
Anytime the Spirit can be set free to move in the lives of people who were once hostile to God is a very good thing indeed. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we should abandon all former ways of "doing" church, after all there is no reason to assume that there is currently only one true denomination or church model, but it DOES mean that we need to be active participants so as you said, [the emergent church] does not “settle too short of what it could be.”
Thanks again for adding to this developing post, Steven.
Please keep in mind that comments which do not honor the spirit of legitimate dialogue may be removed at any time and without notification. You are free to disagree passionately, but not inappropriately. -CL
As many people will tell you, it is hard to nail down what the emergent/emerging definitively stands for. A description that I came across said categorizing the emerging church is a bit like trying to nail jello to a wall. I first encountered Brian MacLaren's "A New Kind of Christian" about four years ago. While I wasn't sure if I agreed with everything, I did appreciate that someone was asking questions that I felt needed to be asked. At the same time, I discovered the website for Jacob's Well Church in Kansas City, MO, and started listening to the sermons from Tim Keel, pastor of that church. In many ways I would say that Keel has shaped my current theology as much as C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton with regard to non-Biblical people. I loved what I had encountered and eagerly awaited what this movement/conversation would become.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I don't like where it is heading. I sympathize so much with the challenges the emerging church has leveled at the church in America (I hate to classify it as the "modern" church, because I don't entirely agree with the emerging church's designations of when philosophical movements happened). The church in America seems to have drifted to far into the realm of right-wing politics. It has largely rendered the Body of Christ ineffective by turning church into a spectator sport. However, the most visible spokesmen/writers for emergent books seem to have no problem removing orthodox boundaries. I'm all for analyzing Christianity to determine what are the bare essentials for Christian belief and leaving freedom and discernment for all other areas, but too often the emerging church seems to err on the side of so-called tolerance. Statements from Peter Rollins and Tony Jones in particular seem to be merging New Age paganism with Christian ideas. This makes me very nervous.
Other forms of practice in the emerging church seem little more than marketing church for hipsters. It is a type of indie-rock snob church. It appeals to those who have been hurt or disenfranchised by the evangelical church, but really appears to be nothing more than trendy church.
Bottom line, it seems as if the emerging church is becoming something that we already have too many of. It is becoming another denomination. However, this one will have no particular defining trait, it would seem.
I personally feel that this could have been a great movement, but that it seems to have settled far too short of what it could be.
This post seems a bit incoherent to me, so I can elaborate if necessary. I threw out my back recently, so writing through the haze of pain is a bit difficult.
Steven,
ReplyDeleteThanks for typing in on this discussion; I appreciate your comments. I read McLaren's "A New Kind of Christian" a few years ago and recently finished his "Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope." Like you, I didn't agree with EVERYTHING I read, but there was enough there to seriously consider and challenge some thinking that I had defaulted to.
I also share some of your concerns about the emerging church movements, but part of the problem is that this trend is not a clearly delineated movement at all, but rather a loose collection of similarly themed movements. There is no central, emergent, governing body that we can join or critique. There seem to be only trends and individual expressions thereof.
But I would not be too quick to write off the emergent movement(s) as a failure or success. I think that it is building momentum and not likely to dissipate anytime soon. Like the Protestant Reformation, these evolutionary explorations of what church can be may very well yield amazing Spirit-led results, but there is always the risk that some branches may go wrong (reference the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses in reformation movements). I feel drawn to participate WITH and maybe even IN the emergent movement, not simply to approve of or resist everything that goes on there, but rather to help steer (and be steered by it) in a direction that is in-step with what God is doing.
Like you, I also have some hesitation concerning what traditional Christian denominations and movements have wrought and continue to assert. Where the emerging movement has the chance to really succeed is to let go of these past church errors and break new ground in the lives of those who have come to suspect, resent and even hate the old paradigms and misguided Christians that follow them.
Anytime the Spirit can be set free to move in the lives of people who were once hostile to God is a very good thing indeed. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we should abandon all former ways of "doing" church, after all there is no reason to assume that there is currently only one true denomination or church model, but it DOES mean that we need to be active participants so as you said, [the emergent church] does not “settle too short of what it could be.”
Thanks again for adding to this developing post, Steven.
-C. Lambeth