This Emerging Movement: Part II

I wanted to try and jump into some of the history of this movement today, but there is a bit of prefacing that needs to happen before we can move forward. I am doing this primarily because there are many presupposition and assumptions we bring to this kind of discussion. It is important, then, that I present a couple important framework pieces.

1. The Church has and is always emerging. There has never been a static moment in the history of Judeo-Christianity. When we read scripture all the way through we should quickly recognize that there was growth process taking place. (I submit that we should think of this process not so much like evolutionary progress, but more like a seed that is constantly growing and emerging.) When we look at Church history we also find constant changes and metamorphoses happening. Our last major turning point could be considered the Reformation, which oddly at times becomes the starting point of Church history for some. I mention this point because it is important that we recognize that change is going to happen, and that this emerging movement is completely in line with what is presented in scripture and in Church history.

2. Know the differences between Modernism and Postmodernism. Postmodernism has been completely summed up with one term--relativism. This is bothersome because it is a straw man argument that does not deal with the substantive issues that the philosophy actually brings to our attention. There is also little understanding and critique of our own modern philosophy with its assertion in the objective knower. (I will get into this in a later post.) What I am pointing out here is that people need to be aware of their presuppositions. The modern ethos, which has influenced most of us in varying degrees, taught certain ways of viewing reality, ourselves, and even the Scripture. If we want to even be reasonable in our assessment of Postmodernity or the Emerging Movement we need to understand the assumptions or suppositions we bring to the critique. Postmodernity or the Emerging Movement should not be summed up with the term Relativism any more so than Modernism should be summed up as Individualism. Both terms are present in each, but do not define the whole.

3. Read the materials and become familiar with Emerging Leaders. The disagreements and controversy surrounding folks Brian McLaren and Rob Bell no more represent the entirety of the Emerging Movement than Joel Osteen or Ted Haggard represent the rest of Christianity. If you think some of these guys are teaching heretical ideas then challenge them. But challenge them with sound reasoning, wisdom, and understanding. If you want to take pot shots at these guys, then be prepared to have pot shots taken at you. We have got to learn to disagree strongly but with civility and good character. Pithy jabs and passive-aggressive statements are ridiculous. I do not agree with everything the ladies and gentleman of this movement present, and I am going to strongly challenge and critique them. But I will do this on the basis of the thoughts and content that has been presented for all of us to read. Here is a personal bibliography to help with this:

Webber, Robert. (1999) Ancient-future faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing

Kimball, Dan. (2003) The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for new generations. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan

*Webber, Robert (ed.) (2007) Listening to the Beliefs of the Emerging Churches. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan

McKnight, Scot. (2007, February) The Five Streams of the Emerging Christianity. Christianity Today, 51(2) 35-39

Bolger, Ryan and Eddie Gibbs. (2005) Emerging Churches: creating Christian community in postmodern cultures. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing

Jones, Tony. (2008) The new Christians: dispatches from the emerging frontier. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

*Sweet, Leonard (ed.) (2003) The Church in Emerging Culture: five perspectives. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan

Podcast:

Dallas Theological Seminary: DTS Dialogue—Issues of God and Culture: The Emerging Church. (Host is Dr. Mark Bailey)


* These versions consist of essays written by various leaders on the Emerging Movement continuum. Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones also edited a book of essays: The Emergent Manifesto of Hope. I did not add it in the list because I have not read it.