There is plenty of hubbub among defenders of the inherited church about the “emerging church” (EC).
There is plenty of hubris among “emerging church” (EC) advocates.
Well, let’s give the benefit of the doubt to all and naïvely assume that followers of Christ on both sides of this ecclesiological issue want to incarnate ekklesia. We want to live out Jesus’ idea of Church — ekklesia that is culturally relevant, Scripturally faithful, and indwelled by the Spirit.
Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger interviewed emerging churches leaders to get at the heart of the emerging church movement. Their book, Emerging churches: creating Christian community in postmodern cultures, presents some helpful road signs for those on the path toward 21st century ekklesia.
So here are some of those road signs in notebook form. For those of the inherited church, this may help you to better understand "emerging church" people. For emerging church people, this is what your fellow travelers are saying...
EC THEOLOGY
“Emerging churches remove modern practices of Christianity, not the faith itself” 29. E.g. one EC leader said, “I needed to trust God more than my theology about God” 34. Though there is much inspiration in pre-modernist Christianity "there are also some things that will not change, the framework of orthodox belief in a saving God, for example” 229. But while the inherited church’s structure is theological in nature, the emerging church’s “structure is missional in nature” 107.
EC EVANGELISM
ECs consider evangelism more like "an open-ended conversation," emphasizing apologetics. They view evangelism as "an embodied way of life as distinct from a result-geared confrontation” 80, their own lives being a demonstration of the gospel because “a servant does not present a product but gives himself or herself” 128. For ECers, being on mission is less, Have I announced the Good News? and more, Have I been Good News? 52. Thus, emerging churches “do not separate the Great Commission (to make disciples of all peoples) from the Great Commandment (to love one's neighbor as oneself)” 149.
EC COMMUNITY
ECs recognize that “Christians need community, especially in a society like [their] own, which is indifferent or possibly hostile to Christianity” 98. One EC leader says therefore, “relationship is our organizing principal” 110.
EC LEADERSHIP
Due to the postmodern “hermeneutic of suspicion toward authority" 209, emerging church leadership is egalitarian, not hierarchic; “leadership is fluid.” Leadership is “flexible so that the right people lead the right things” 198.
“Leaders who follow the kingdom lead not by controlling but by connecting. They bring people together to generate synergy through the combining of visions, gifts, and experiences for the diversifying of the church’s mission and its continuing outreach in society” 215. EC leaders, therefore, persuade and seek consensus 191-3. They are facilitators, advisors, empowerers, envisioners, permission givers, advocates, friends, encouragers, and defenders 212.
EC leaders make it possible to initiate ministries without going through a chain of command. “We welcome the expression of any gift: dance, writing, film, graphics, installations, meditations, etc.,” not just preaching and guitar playing. This is so that all can participate in a community that produces, as opposed to being spiritual consumers 139.
EC PRAXIS
1/ identify with the life of Jesus
2/ transform the secular realm
3/ live highly communal lives
4/ welcome the stranger
5/ serve with generosity
6/ participate as producers
7/ create as created beings
8/ lead as a body
9/ take part in spiritual activities 45
EC ETHOS
Emerging churches have three core principles:
1/ identify with the life of Jesus.
2/ seek to transform secular society around them.
3/ live as community.
Emerging churches are “pro-testify,” “pro-community,” “pro-ownership” (priesthood of believers), “pro-relationships,” “pro-kingdom”. They emphasize holistic spirituality, servanthood, inclusiveness, forgiveness, hospitality, relationships, justice and transformation. The emerging church “is a servant and a sign of the coming kingdom” 90.
Sounds like many ECers might be tempted to adopt the sermon on the mount as their by-laws. In sum, “emerging churches are communities that practice the way of Jesus within postmodern cultures” 44.
I loved the book and can’t wait for the movie, or better yet, EC "live" !
6 comments:
Thanks Paul for a great review. I will be directing both advocates and naysayers on EC to this posting. Very helpful! Blessings!
Hi Paul. This is an excellent overview. Thanks. Since this ended up being a description of the "emerging church", I was looking for your comparable description of what you call the "inherited church". Could it end up being that the truest emerging stuff will come from IC churches, while EC'rs miss out by being over-reactionary? I'm struggling to see how the good parts of the EC movement are offering anything new or different. Meanwhile, I'm concerned that the EC as a movement is devaluing preaching in general, and expository preaching in particular. I'm also concerned that the EC will have no means to perpetuate itself beyond one generation. If Jesus comes first, that won't matter, but . . .
Thanks again for the good thinking.
Keith Shearer
Your blogsite became the topic of dinner conversation last night, specifically this book review. WE enjoy visiting it though at times I must get the dictionary out. It seems we have a copy of Eddie Gibbs book ChurchNext, will have to read it to refresh my memory. Perhaps we shouldn't be looking at IC and EC in vs. terms. It seems that there is a need for the EC's. Some denominational IC's are imploding because they are looking inward instead of outward... a focus problem. There is great value in solid leadership and expository preaching the problem is that many of the IC'ers begin following the leader instead of following Jesus. It is difficult for me to grasp the EC movement and all of its fuzziness (apparent lack of organization), but i think that is because of my own modernistic mentality. There is need for structure that is not restrictive but empowering. Thanks for sharing!
Glad this entry has been helpful and stimulating. A few quick thoughts in response (possibly a full-blown entry is in order at some point).
I believe that whether one looks at the surface or under the crust, emerging church is fundamentally different from the inherited church. Both are valid expressions of Jesus’ church, but they emphasize different elements of ekklesia.
I am going to be reductionistic, but I believe the inherited church is an expression that fits the mindset and giftedness of the “teacher,” (which was the dominant gift since the Reformation). Emerging churches is an expression that meshes with the apostolic / cross-cultural church planter’s mindset and giftedness.
Stuart Murray, an anabaptist author who has heavily influenced me, says, “The brightest hope for church after Christendom is a symbiotic relationship between inherited and emerging… churches. We need each other. We need creative partnerships” (Church After Christendom, 122).
Thanks all for the interaction!
hey paul. dennis just sent us your blog. interesting stuff! i just finished the book you reviewed a couple of months ago. it was one of the best books i have ever read. you could say that i found myself within its pages. leaving the states when we did, i guess i missed out on the whole "emerging church" controversy. i didn't know that some of the things i felt, experienced, believed and wanted to try and live out where considered postmodern in nature. since that time i have done a lot of reading on the emerging church and have been so comforted in knowing that there are others who think the way i do!
i am glad i found your blog. i will be interested in keeping up and seeing how you flesh out all these insights in a french context.
Hi Paul,
Thank you for this interesting blog (and BTW, Hi Mentana, Dawn and I hope you're doing well)
Here's my European view of the EC debate I've been following for some months.
-Many of the concerns of the EC are mine. I keep saying the EC asks good questions, without necssarly bringing the right answers.
-The EC defies any general description, dut to its diversity.
-there are good men on both sides of the issue
Now,What worries/frustrates me in the EC:
-many of their leaders do not have, philosophically and theologically, strong enough shoulders to deal with the problems they're adressing
-as a consequence, the movement can be extremly shallow doctrinally (see the general endorsement of the problematic views of British theologian NT Wright).Sorry, but biblical doctrine is necessary for the being and the well-being of the church.
-a tendency to elitism
-maybe the most important:it's a 30-years-old-white-male American-with-lots-of-money thing. And I am a European believer.
-it could very well be just one more fad
This being said, I still think the EC insights can be beneficial for the Body of Christ. The EC is just part of the broader Evangelical movement. It reacts to some of its weaknesses, and tries to find solutions. I am convinced that at least some good will come out of it. How much? I do not know, and nobody knows.
The EC guys talk all the time about a "conversation". I am glad to be part of it.
Post a Comment