Emergent Church

Got this email from a friend this morning. We have been discussing the Rob Bell book and the Emergent Church. Both are new to us and we are finding a lot to talk about. He makes some really good points that I will be pondering over the next few days.

….. you are such a good brother. Glad you found the tapes stimulating and I look forward to hearing from you after you have read the book.I like the article you attached - very well written.

I found another article from pastors.com about an Emergent conference that is pretty good. Attached below.I like to understand first and talk second, so forgive me for talking some before I have come to understand...I have been trying to figure out what the real question is here - apart from all the unhelpful labels. Ain't there yet, but one line of thinking I have been going goes like this...

Emergent is a reactionary movement with all the associated +'s and -'s of reactionary movements. Fine. What is the reaction to?

A. Part of the reaction is to some very bad teaching and preaching out there. Boring, stogy, no connection with the audience, no personal impact or application etc. Right on.

B. Part of the reaction is to a church culture that is insulated from the world, developing an "us vs. them" attitude, talking about how bad it is out there, how we are right and they are wrong. This gets linked to political ideology and becomes pretty ugly. Right on.

C. Part of the reaction is to a church that has not been salt and light in the world, a church that is not addressing Jesus' target audience of the hungry, tired, lonely etc. Right on.

These things are much more about means (how we are doing it), and performance (how well we are doing it) rather than ends (what we should be doing). Those are very important distinctions to make.I am wondering, especially after reading about the Emergent Conference and a few other articles, if the real reaction goes deeper than the above.

I wonder if emergent is a reaction to authority and authority figures. "That pastor can't stand up there and tell me he has it figured out. Who does he think he is?" Or "I have my own views about what this means. Let's ask questions and hear stories and views from other people. I want to see behind the curtain and see who is pulling the levers back there (Wizard of Oz)."

So I wonder if this is really a reaction against the authority of absolute truth. I guess at that point we are into post modernism and other unhelpful labels. I get a sense reading the words of folks at the Emergent Conference, as well as listening to one of Rob Bell's sermons (which was excellent BTW), that there is a strong anti-authority and anti-establishment leaning.

So I wonder if this movement may have been started by, and may be attracting, folks who are really in rebellion against much more than a church that isn't getting the job done.So maybe the question is something like "Is Emergent a reaction against a church that is not getting the job done, or a reaction to absolute truth and authority"Just some thoughts from a guy that wonders what the real question is.

Your brother from Mississippi