[εις επαινον δοξης αυτου] 9/01/2006 02:49:54 PM
Matt, I totally agree with your comments. I don't know that I could state it better! As you know, I studied the emerging church for over six months. Here is a portion my paper on the subject. Hope this helps.
The questions that the emerging church raises are not new. It is the age-old conversation about the relationship of church and culture. What are the nonnegotiables of Scripture and what is merely cultural? How do we evaluate culture against the backdrop of Scripture? Is culture the incarnation of religion? Is it neutral or bent toward evil? Authentic Christianity is truly distinct from this world, but what does that mean for a world is changing so fast? Has the modern, conservative church entangled itself in a Western, Modern mold, suffocating the work of the ministry? The consistent warning by both emerging followers and critics has been William Inge’s proverb, “Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next.” Recognizing that truth, it seems that most conservative churches instead are wedded to this Age’s older sister, Tradition. In other words, the worst possible, yet most common answer to cultural questions offered seems to be, "Stay fifty years behind society for safety." The emerging church (nor many of Gen-X) is not willing to accept the standard answers to cultural questions. (If nothing else, I hope that the emerging church spurs on more thoughtful writing on culture and aesthetics). The emerging church is neither insincere nor unintelligent in asking these questions. What then can we learn from the emerging church?
The emerging church has rightly observed that society is much different now than fifty years ago. Post-Christian America is the new mission field. Rather than playing Chicken Little, they are optimistically engaging their culture. Even though their prescription for society is wrong, their analysis of contemporary culture has much to teach. Beyond society, “emerging” insight into the modern church’s own cultural baggage is a legitimate warning. Their desire to break the typical modern cookie cutter shape for church is not implicitly wrong. One aspect of modernism that Christianity has not conquered is individualism. It seems as though postmodernism, as they see it, will catalyze communal Christianity again.
The emerging church may also answer the question of what may happen when people become disenchanted with the seeker-sensitive movement. Thus, those churches desiring to be “seeker-sensitive” in order to be up-to-date are already significantly behind the times.
and so on...
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Posted by Zach Dietrich to εις επαινον δοξης αυτου at 9/01/2006 02:49:54 PM
The questions that the emerging church raises are not new. It is the age-old conversation about the relationship of church and culture. What are the nonnegotiables of Scripture and what is merely cultural? How do we evaluate culture against the backdrop of Scripture? Is culture the incarnation of religion? Is it neutral or bent toward evil? Authentic Christianity is truly distinct from this world, but what does that mean for a world is changing so fast? Has the modern, conservative church entangled itself in a Western, Modern mold, suffocating the work of the ministry? The consistent warning by both emerging followers and critics has been William Inge’s proverb, “Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself a widower in the next.” Recognizing that truth, it seems that most conservative churches instead are wedded to this Age’s older sister, Tradition. In other words, the worst possible, yet most common answer to cultural questions offered seems to be, "Stay fifty years behind society for safety." The emerging church (nor many of Gen-X) is not willing to accept the standard answers to cultural questions. (If nothing else, I hope that the emerging church spurs on more thoughtful writing on culture and aesthetics). The emerging church is neither insincere nor unintelligent in asking these questions. What then can we learn from the emerging church?
The emerging church has rightly observed that society is much different now than fifty years ago. Post-Christian America is the new mission field. Rather than playing Chicken Little, they are optimistically engaging their culture. Even though their prescription for society is wrong, their analysis of contemporary culture has much to teach. Beyond society, “emerging” insight into the modern church’s own cultural baggage is a legitimate warning. Their desire to break the typical modern cookie cutter shape for church is not implicitly wrong. One aspect of modernism that Christianity has not conquered is individualism. It seems as though postmodernism, as they see it, will catalyze communal Christianity again.
The emerging church may also answer the question of what may happen when people become disenchanted with the seeker-sensitive movement. Thus, those churches desiring to be “seeker-sensitive” in order to be up-to-date are already significantly behind the times.
and so on...
--
Posted by Zach Dietrich to εις επαινον δοξης αυτου at 9/01/2006 02:49:54 PM
posted by Matthew LaPine at
12:50 PM
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