Stop Hating on the Emergent Church!
Given the results of my "theological worldview" quiz, it's no secret that I find the emerging church movement interesting. Before you throw up your guard and stop reading my blog, think about why I have come to this conclusion. By conclusion, I mean this stage in my life-I'll never have it all figured out to the point that I am done seeking. Anyway, we Christians too often disown one another when our beliefs don't coincide. We hear something that challenges us or our way of thinking and we immediately write it off as nothing less than heresy. We forget that there are many opinions and many influences that shape a person's theological worldview. **News Flash** None of us have it exactly right! I won't go into the details, but one of the main reasons I have found a breath of fresh air among my emergent brothers and sisters is because of the way my home church treated the community in which it was placed. this includes the way I treated the community, I am not innocent. This is just an example, I've got many more and if you care to discuss them drop me an email. Remember, we are all on this journey together and it pains me to see such hateful conversation between followers of Christ.
On another note, I found a post about the ongoing conversation between a couple of theologians concerning this very issue. You can find it on amazon here. I bought Carson's book last night and plan on reading it this weekend. I'll let you know what I think next week.
Given the results of my "theological worldview" quiz, it's no secret that I find the emerging church movement interesting. Before you throw up your guard and stop reading my blog, think about why I have come to this conclusion. By conclusion, I mean this stage in my life-I'll never have it all figured out to the point that I am done seeking. Anyway, we Christians too often disown one another when our beliefs don't coincide. We hear something that challenges us or our way of thinking and we immediately write it off as nothing less than heresy. We forget that there are many opinions and many influences that shape a person's theological worldview. **News Flash** None of us have it exactly right! I won't go into the details, but one of the main reasons I have found a breath of fresh air among my emergent brothers and sisters is because of the way my home church treated the community in which it was placed. this includes the way I treated the community, I am not innocent. This is just an example, I've got many more and if you care to discuss them drop me an email. Remember, we are all on this journey together and it pains me to see such hateful conversation between followers of Christ.
On another note, I found a post about the ongoing conversation between a couple of theologians concerning this very issue. You can find it on amazon here. I bought Carson's book last night and plan on reading it this weekend. I'll let you know what I think next week.
posted by brog @ 3:28 PM
3 Comments:
At Fri Jul 29, 02:12:00 PM,
Cameron said…
You're right, Brandon. I, for one, know little about the "conversation" and mostly only go on what I've heard other people, whom I respect, say about it. I think I've only made one off-hand comment on the issue, and that one comment was a negative one. I'll try to get a post out soon that retracts my generalization of Emergent churches until I know more about you guys.
From what I know about Emergent, I think part of the problem is that it doesn't actually mean anything -- or it means too many things. I'd love to see you guys at Crosspoint blog about what you mean when you call yourself emergent.
Lex, is this quote from Carson a good definition of postmodernism? If it is, does that mean that you guys won't be defining emergent since that would be modernism? ;-)
I see some similarities with the debate over Calvinism in the SBC. People who oppose Calvinism generally criticize hyper-calvinism, which is unbiblical. I think many people opposing Emergent are criticizing one player in the movement with whom they disagree and simply say that person's views define everyone's view in the movement.
Disclaimer: I'm a member at Wylie BC and don't want you thinking I'm against Crosspoint or our sponsorship of you.
At Sat Jul 30, 02:20:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
brandon...
good to find another texan (there's more than we think, but it doesn't feel like it). my sister and brother-in-law live in clyde, tx. drop me an email or comment sometime. maybe when i'm up that way we can meet.
peace
At Thu Aug 04, 12:26:00 PM,
mmmmm said…
I'm not really sure what emergent is. It sounds like you're getting triaged.
One of the best and simplest explanations of M and PM is Piper's first two chapters of "Don't Waste Your Life." He says that in M, you discover essence. In PM you create essence. I'm teaching a class in the Spring, and I'm gonna make my students read these chapters.
The reason I don't like PM is it POTENTIALLY could be more open to Christianity, but it's not. I think both M and PM are equally resistant to Christianity, especially in the academy.
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