An Overview of the Emerging Church Defining the Emerging Church
The Emerging Church is extremely fluid. Most adherents prefer to use the terms
“conversation and friendships,” rather than movement. They “have said that there is no
single theologian or spokesperson for the emergent conversation.” They also
acknowledge that there is “neither . . . unanimity – nor even necessarily consensus – of
opinion” among them.
Aaron Flores writes, “There is currently no clear, distinct definition or descriptive label
for the emerging church” (“An Exploration of the Emerging Church in the United States:
The Missiological Intent and Potential Implications of the Future,” M.A. thesis,
Vanguard University, 2005, 7). Yet, Gerald K. Webber describes the emerging church as
“essentially a Generation-X happening, a reaction to the seeker-driven approach of the
Baby Boomers and many who preceded them” (“The Emerging Church: Emerging from
What to Where?” Baptist Bulletin Online, October 2005, p. 1).
Generally, the Emerging Church appears to be Evangelicalism’s effort to move away
from the thinking and methods of Modernism in order to reach those who have embraced
a Postmodern world view. It is difficult to call the Emerging Church a movement
because it is in a state of flux. While there are similarities between groups and leaders,
their differences can vary greatly. In essence, it presents a struggle in “how to effectively
do church” during a Postmodern age.
While wide variety exists among emergents, their major theme appears to be a reaction to
previous generations. Webber writes, “At heart the emerging church is a protest
movement, deeply disillusioned with the previous three or four generations. They have a
great respect for ancient forms and traditions but feel that their ‘modern’ forbears [sic]
have failed them. Emergents are turned off by the traditional worship patterns of the
Builder generation and by their absolutism. They reject what they describe as ‘rational’
preaching, dogmatic teaching and confrontational evangelism. They are even more
appalled at the commercialism of Baby Boomers and are determined to replace
‘programs’ with ‘relationships,’ ‘excellence’ with ‘realism.’ They refer to this as the
‘rebooting of . . . church’” (p. 2).
In his helpful critique of emergents, John Greening accurately describes its emphasis:
“An emerging church . . . recognizes the transition in worldviews taking place in our
culture.” “The transition demands that the church rethink its approach. Without
recognizing the changes in worldviews, the church will increasingly close itself off to
ministry influence” (“A New Trend Emerging in the Church,” Baptist Bulletin Online,
October, 2005).
Emergents appear to focus upon Postmodernism’s reaction to Modernism. Rick Shrader
writes, “The primary tenet of the Emerging Church has been that we must a) recognize
that our culture has become postmodern and b) we must immerse our churches much
more into this postmodernism if we are to reach this generation with the gospel” (“The
Emerging Church, Part 2,” in Aletheia, October 2005). D.A. Carson, in his work entitled
Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church, also sees this movement as a protest
movement against modernism. He writes, “The reforms that the movement encourages
mirror the protests of the lives of many of its leaders” (p. 14). Carson believes “the
fundamental issue in the move from modernism to postmodernism is epistemology—i.e.,
how we know things, or think we know things.” Carson summarizes the thinking of
emergents when he writes, “Modernism is often pictured as pursuing truth, absolutism,
linear thinking, rationalism, certainty, the cerebral as opposed to the affective—which in
turn breeds arrogance, inflexibility, a lust to be right, the desire to control.
Postmodernism, by contrast recognizes how much of what we ‘know’ is shaped by the
culture in which we live, is controlled by emotions and aesthetics and heritage.”
“Modernism tries to find unquestioned foundations on which to build the edifice of
knowledge and then proceeds with methodological rigor; postmodernism denies that such
foundations exists . . . and insists that we come to ‘know’ things in many ways.”
“Modernism is hard-edged and, in the domain of religion, focuses on truth versus error,
right belief, confessionalism; postmodernism is gentle and, in the domain of religion,
focuses on relationships, love, shared tradition, integrity in discussion” (p. 27).
Understanding the Emerging Church
Jimmy Long, a proponent of the emergent church writes, “We can choose the
unchanging-tradition road and face cultural extinction. We can take the developmental-
phase road and wake up one day to see that the culture has passed us by. We can take the
generation-transition road and see that we might make a difference in people around us
but have no chance of changing the culture. If we take the fortress-mentality road, we
might save ourselves but will have lost any chance to save people in the world. If we
take the prophetic-voice road, we might end up only critiquing the church or the world
but not making any change in either church or culture. Or we can take the missional road
and provide hope for people in the emerging culture” (Emerging Hope, p. 35).
Like Long, many emergents are motivated by sincere desires to reach the emergent
generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dan Kimball, one its chief proponents, writes,
“I believe with all my heart that this discussion about the fast-changing culture and the
emerging church must take place. While many of us have been preparing sermons and
keeping busy with the internal affairs of our churches, something alarming has been
happening on the outside. What once was a Christian nation with a Judeo-Christian
worldview is quickly becoming a post-Christian, unchurched, unreached nation. Tom
Clegg and Warren Bird in their book Lost in America claim that the unchurched
population of the United States is now the largest mission field in the English-speaking
world, and the fifth largest globally. New generations are arising all around us without
any Christian influence. So we must rethink virtually everything we are doing in our
ministries” (The Emerging Church, pp. 13-14).
Jimmy Long provides a stimulating philosophical discussion of change in our culture. He
believes “the church is at a critical juncture in regard to two major societal changes. The
first societal change is the generation transition from the Baby Boom generation to
Generation X and the Millennial generation.” “The second change is a cultural shift that
is occurring in Western society as the prevailing culture moves from the
Enlightenment/modern era to the emerging/postmodern era” (p. 21). Long writes, “In the
Western world there have been four major cultural paradigm shifts (transitions) since the
death of Christ. The last two transitions have not only impacted the Western world but
also have influenced cultures in the Two-Thirds World. Due to increasing globalization,
this emerging culture will have even more of an impact throughout the world.” “While
we call these phenomena ‘paradigm shifts,’ we should probably call them ‘paradigm
changes’ because instead of occurring rapidly (like the shifting of car gears), they take
place over the course of years (like changes in climate). These paradigm changes have
their own distinctives. The Hellenistic/Roman period was characterized by evangelistic
zeal on the part of Christians. During the years of medieval paradigm, the church was in
survival mode and was drawing people into the Christian community. Then the
Enlightenment/modern paradigm shifted from faith in God to faith in human reasoning.
In the current transition to the postmodern world, the emphasis is changing self and
reason to community and feeling” (pp. 63-64).
Jimmy Long contrasts four parallel traits of the Enlightenment with Postmodernism’s
thinking. He also provides a helpful chart (p. 73).
Enlightenment Postmodernism
Objective truth Subject truth (Preferences)
Individual Community
Scientific discovery Virtual reality
Metanarrative (Societal progress)
Micronarrative (Societal cynicism)
He writes, “Instead of human reason that leads to truth, postmodernism posits multiple
truths that lead only to preferences. The search to find the central theme of life or to
distinguish the grand narrative has given way to multiple alternatives and competing
viewpoints. Richard Rorty, a prominent postmodern thinker, defines objectivity as an
agreement among everyone who is in the room at the present time. Truth is not so much
found as created. What is true is what one believes to be true. The saying ‘To each his
own’ could be the motto of postmodern culture.” “Deconstruction is the uncentering of
modern life that leaves us with multiple possibilities and the equal validity of all
interpretations. MTV is an excellent example of deconstruction. The images in any
given video are constantly changing and redefining reality.” “There is no grand theme to
life. We are left with fleeting images, and it is up to us to define reality as we choose”
(pp. 74-75). Long is a proponent of the emerging church whose insights are quite helpful
in understanding the postmodern generation.
Classifying the Emerging Church
Because the proponents of the emergent emphasis have such broad views, it is difficult to
understand the movement. Ed Stetzer classifies emergents into three categories. First, he
terms the most theologically conservative emergents as “Relevants.” According to
Stetzer, these individuals “are just trying to make their worship, music and outreach
more contextual to emerging culture.” “They are simply trying to explain the message of
Christ in a way their generation can understand.” Stetzer gives the second group the
name “Reconstructionists.” They “think that the current form of church is frequently
irrelevant and the structure is unhelpful.” They “reject certain organizational models,
embracing what are often called ‘incarnational’ or ‘house’ models.” They “want to think
in new ways about the forms (the construct) of church.” Stetzer gives the third group the
name “Revisionists.” They “are questioning (and in some case denying) issues like the
nature of the substitutionary atonement, the reality of hell, the complementarian nature of
gender, and the nature of the Gospel itself.”
Leaders of the Emerging Church
Rather than taking the time to describe some of the key leaders, allow me to simply list
their names along with titles of their writings and web sites to search if you have greater
interest. The emerging church movement is worldwide. In fact, Dan Kimball, in his
work entitled Emerging Worship, sees strong parallels between the contemporary culture
in England and the postmoderns of the United States. He writes, “So, in terms of church
methodology and the Christian subculture, there’s a vast difference between American
and British churches. And while the churches in England may seldom have embraced
seeker and contemporary methodology, those who never experienced church there are
similar to those [who] haven’t experienced church here yet” (p. 210).
Key writers include at least the following. Some of these works have multiple authors.
Dan Kimball – The Emerging Church; Emerging Worship: Creating Worship
Gatherings for New Generations
Brian D. McLaren – A Generous Orthodoxy; The Secret Message of Jesus; The
Last Word and the Word After That; A New Kind of Christian, The Story We Find
Ourselves In; Adventure in Missing Point; More Ready Than You Realize;
Church on the Other Side
Tony Jones – The Sacred Way; Postmodern Youth Ministry; Read, Think, Pray,
Live (Think); Soul Shaper; Pray (Think)
Doug Pagitt – Preaching Re-Imagined; Church Re-Imagined; Body Prayer;
Reimagining Spiritual Formation
Spencer Burke – Making Sense of Church: Eavesdropping on Emerging
Conversations about God, Community, and Culture
Chris Seay – Faith of My Fathers; The Dust of Their Feet; Stories of Emergence;
The Gospel Reloaded; To Become One; The Tao of Enron; The Gospel According
to Tony Soprano; The Voice Revealed; The Gospel According to Tony Soprano
Display; The Last Eye Witness
Leonard Sweet – Post-Modern Pilgrims; First Century Passion for the 21st
Century World; Church in the Emerging Culture; Postmodern Pilgrims;
SoulTsunami; AquaChurch
Worship of the Emerging Church
Leonard Sweet, in his work entitled Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the
21st Century World, outlines the objectives of worship in the Emerging Community (p.
xvii). The acrostic EPIC delineates that worship should be experiential, participatory,
image-driven, and connected.
This workshop seeks to explain what is meant by the acrostic EPIC and illustrate each
segment by examples which occur in emergent “gatherings.” The nature of emergent
worship is fluid. It is ever developing and transitioning. There is no set format for
emergent “gatherings.” Dan Kimball, in his work entitled Emerging Worship, provides
helpful information to understand the thinking and practice of emergent gatherings. He
writes, “There is no model of an emerging worship gathering because each one is unique
to its local church context, community, people, and specific leaders of the church” (p.
73).
Experiential – Emergents emphasize experience. Sweet writes, “Postmoderns
don’t want their information straight. They want it laced with experience.” “The
more extreme the better” (p. 33). Sweet also writes, “Total Experience is the new
watchword in postmodern worship. New World preachers don’t ‘write sermons.’
They create total experiences” (p. 43).
The Postmodern world believes “experience is the new currency of our culture.
In the past we gained knowledge of a subject or issue and then later validated that
knowledge. Today, people have an experience that is later validated by
knowledge.” “This shift has implications in the way we learn, communicate and
interact. For churches it impacts the design of worship, liturgy, and the shape of
and content of educational ministries, the process of spiritual formation, the
design of sacred space, and programming” (Online Leadership Network, Explorer
no. 57, March 11, 2002).
Emergents see Modern church services as boring and lacking experience. They
view them as lacking the means to engage people in worship. They lack the
multi-sensory aspects of worship that allow the teachings of the Scriptures to
impact people’s lives. Postmoderns react to a striving for “excellence” in the
Modern church. Dan Kimball writes, “‘Excellence’ is not a core value in the
emerging church. If it lacks authenticity or is too perfect and polished,
‘excellence’ can actually go against the grain of emerging church values” (p. 69).
For emergents, a gathering might include the hauling in of large amounts of sand
and large heaters to create a desert environment that provides an experience to
underscore the difficulty of Israel’s wilderness sojourn. Participants will remove
their shoes to feel the sand between their toes. Passages indicating the weariness
of nomadic life would be read. Passages revealing the grumblings of the people
of Israel might be read. People do not simply want to hear what God says, they
want to experience it. They believe experiencing Scriptures, rather than just
proclaiming it, creates authentic Christianity. They usually react to a
propositional presentation of truth. They want experience.
Participatory – By participatory, Postmoderns mean that two-way
communication occurs. Emergents view Modern church services as one-way.
Congregations tend to have little involvement. Most, if not all of the
involvement, outside of congregational singing or the offering, involves the
pastor, the music leader, and the band. Attendants are passive in their worship of
God. Emergents desire to be active. Leonard Sweet calls the Postmodern world
the “Karaoke Culture.” He believes they do not simply desire to listen to music,
they want to participate in the music.
Dan Kimball writes, “Many emerging worship gatherings seek to be nonlinear.
They don’t want to be so pre-planned that the Spirit isn’t allowed to work in
people or change things. Emerging generations have grown uncomfortable with
the boxed-in feel of many contemporary worship services. Instead of a linear
design of five songs, a sermon, closing song and dismissal—emerging worship
moves in an organic flow.” “Organic means a weaving of many things
throughout a meeting that people can participate in.” He further writes, “Being
organic is not being unorganized and chaotic.” “It means thinking through
creative ways for more interaction, more involvement than just a sermon and
some songs” (pp. 76-77).
Room layouts are usually arranged to avoid a theater feel. Designated places
called “prayer stations” are established in which participants may move to
throughout their “gathering.” Kimball writes, “In most emerging worship
gatherings, people aren’t forced to remain stationary in their seat for the whole
meeting.” “During . . . reflective worship, people are allowed to leave their seats
and go to prayer stations around the room. Prayer stations are spaces created in
the room for people to use to help guide them in prayer and many times have
interactive elements as part of them. They usually have Scriptures written out to
guide people in prayer about various things that may tie into what was taught in
the sermon. During these times of contemplative musical worship, people feel the
freedom to leave their seats and go kneel down or lie on their faces to pray and
communicate to God. They have freedom to leave their seats and go to
community journals at prayer stations set up for people to write out prayers and
thoughts. There might be places where they can paint and or artistically express
worship using other materials.” “Having the freedom to move about at appropriate
times during the worship gathering is a very freeing and beautiful thing in
emerging worship. People are free to pray on their own, pray with others, or go to
a prayer, art, or journaling stations while musical worship plays” (pp. 89-90).
Image-Driven – Sweet writes, “Postmodern culture is image-driven. The
modern world was word-based. Its theologians tried to create an intellectual faith,
placing reason and order at the heart of religion.” “The lesson for the church is
simple: images generate emotions, and people will respond to their feelings” (p.
86). Rather than emphasizing “propositions,” emergents emphasize metaphors,
similes, and parables.
Kimball writes, “Emerging generations are very visual. They crave a sense of
mystery and wonder of God as they worship. They desire a spiritual environment
for worship. That is why in most emerging church gatherings you will see crosses
set up on tables or hung or propped up in various other places in the room. In
many contemporary and modern churches a large simplistic cross may be
displayed behind the pulpit. But emerging churches use crosses that usually look
ancient. Some use Celtic crosses, and some use crosses normally seen in
Orthodox churches” (p. 78).
This image-driven emphasis will appear through art. Such artwork might include
murals, artistic prayer stations, Bible verses written in creative ways, a variety of
lighting and draperies, paintings, etc. Gatherings often begin with various ancient
visual images projected on screens. These expressions seek to assist in creating a
sense of religious mysticism that moves one emotionally to what some term raw
or authentic Christianity.
Emergent gatherings view preaching differently. They move away from a
propositional approach. Leith Anderson, in his work entitled A Church for the
Twenty-First Century, writes “The old paradigm taught that if you had the right
teaching, you will experience God. The new paradigm says that if you experience
God, you will have the right teaching” (p. 46). Emergents, as a whole, believe
that most Modern churches focus too much upon the pastor or the music leader.
They believe more emphasis should be placed upon the Scriptures and Christ.
Connected – Sweet writes, “The web is less an information source than a social
medium.” Amazon.com and eBay “are becoming the new town squares for the
global village” (p. 109). This strong desire for connectivity appears to come from
the disjointedness of postmodern society. Because of the breakdown of the
traditional family, people need a place to belong and connect with others.
Jimmy Long, a proponent of the Emerging Church, writes in his work entitled
Emerging Hope, “Essentially, aloneness is a state of the soul. We can be
surrounded by people but still be alone. Aloneness can only be healed by being
part of a community—ultimately the community of God. Without consciously
realizing it, many young people today are adapting to their aloneness by seeking
community.” “For them, community replaces the vacuum left by their family’s
abandonment of them” (p. 51).
“The preaching usually does not occur from an elevated stage.” “There is a
plurality of people in the church involved in reading Scripture passages, sharing
poems, and participating in other ways so the focus is not always on one person.”
“Communicating with visuals is very much part of emerging worship gatherings.
Even if there is one primary teacher in a local church, the speaking is shared as
much as possible. The desire is to avoid developing a dependency upon one
person in the worship gathering (or a dependency on a certain personality or style
of teaching).” “The preacher is not seen as above or separate from the
congregation, but among them” (pp. 90-91).
There appears to be an attempt to parallel what occurred in the Jewish synagogue
or early church home churches. Kimball writes, “In emerging church worship
gatherings, the teaching and preaching spring from the community. Jesus is the
centerpiece, not the preacher. This also applies to musical leaders and worship
bands. Emerging worship is not a pop concert and the leader of musical worship
needs to reflect this in his or her approach to leading. We are moving away from
flashy colored lights focusing upon the band. Instead, the musical worship leader
and the band are trying to disappear rather than be staring out at everyone.” “The
communal reading of creeds, prayers, and Scriptures also enhance the sense of
community” (pp. 91-92).
Emergent worship gatherings obviously appeal to a Postmodern world. Experience plays
a large role in today’s society. People’s emotions often become the guiding rule of the
day. Interest in objective truth pales in importance compared to feelings about truth. In
fact, what is true to one person is not necessarily true to someone else. Participation is
very important. To passively sit back and be entertained is not appealing to Postmoderns.
They want to actively participate. Since we live in such an iconic day, images have
become a major part of society. Entire companies are known by a symbol. Symbols
have meaning. They communicate powerful messages. Lastly, society desires to be
connected. We live in a global world in which many people feel disconnected. Lack of
family connectivity increases the need for Postmoderns to be connected.
While every missionary understands the need for contextualization on the foreign field,
Bible-based missionaries also realize the need for the Bible to shape a culture, rather than
the culture to shape one’s understanding or presentation of the Bible. Most emergents
believe that if Christians are going to reach effectively the Postmodern world they must
adapt to what today’s culture desires. Bible-based believers daily face the challenge of
being true to Christ’s teachings yet relevant to today’s culture.
Theological Analysis of the Emerging Church
Opinions differ widely regarding the emerging church. Those supporting the emphasis
believe it is the hope for reaching the postmoderns. Jimmy Long writes, “Though the
gospel does not change, the world does, and the strategies that we use to reach the world
must change over time. As we move into the twenty-first century, many Christians
continue to minister as if they were living in the nineteenth century, convinced that they
are ministering as Jesus did” (p. 80). He further writes, “I am convinced that God is
preparing the people of this postmodern culture to hear God in new ways” (p. 83). Long
believes that “although the culture around us may be decaying, the church, instead of
being on the brink of extinction may be on the verge of a great revival” (p. 30).
Others call for a more measured response. Stetzer writes, “To be in this conversation, we
need to think biblically and critically. We should journey and partner with the
‘relevants,’ seeking to make the Gospel understandable in emerging culture. We can and
should enter into dialogue with reconstructionists – learning, discussing and applying
together what Scripture teaches about church. But, we can and must speak prophetically
to revisionists that, yes, we know the current system is not impacting the culture as it
should – but the change we need is more Bible, more maturity, more discernment and
more missional engagement, not an abandonment of the teachings of scripture about
church, theology and practice. Every group that left these basics has ended up walking
away from the faith and then, in a great twist of irony, is soon seen as irrelevant to the
world they tried to reach” (p. 2).
Many express great concern regarding the emerging emphasis. Webber writes,
“Contextualization of a message can be a valuable tool in communicating across cultures;
but when the context is allowed to determine the message, no good will come of it” (p.
3). He believes “the answer to the unveiling of people’s hearts is regeneration—not an
adaptation of the message to pander to a culture that denies absolutes and embraces
contradiction, but the unambiguous preaching of that message in the power of God,
resulting in a lifting of the veil and an expression of true faith” (p. 4). John Greening
provides two helpful points of analysis. He astutely comments, “A culture-focused
church will repeatedly need to redefine itself. The need for the redefinition is obvious:
culture is constantly changing. That is why there is a constant turnover in church-
ministry approaches. According to this new church-growth book, the seeker-sensitive
model that has been promoted for the last several years will not work with younger
generations. The book states that the previously revered technology for worship services
requiring the use of lighting, sound, PowerPoint, and video to capture the attention of the
TV/computer generation is no longer desired. The newer generations are looking for a
mystical experience—preferring stained glass, a darker atmosphere, candles, and icons.
Platforms that had the appearance of an entertainment venue for the MTV generation are
now to be designed with crosses and other symbols to promote spiritual reverence.” He
ends by asking, “Did God really intend for His church to change with the frequency of
styles in the fashion industry? Did He want His church to be the pawn of culture’s fickle
tastes?” (p. 1).
Greening’s second point is that “A culture-driven church puts itself at risk. The emerging
church emphasizes the recognition of pluralism and multiculturalism in society. In an
attempt to relate to this cultural diversity, many are encouraging dialogue with different
religious traditions for better understanding among groups. To make unbelievers or new
believers more comfortable, they are invited to continue practicing their former religious
rituals. I read of a Native American who believed the ritual of the Indian sweat house for
tribal men had been a helpful way for him to connect with the Great Spirit, so he
continued that practice after his ‘conversion.’” “The recognition of pluralism can even
lead to evangelical churches working with non-evangelical churches. Recently I received
a brochure from a large church in our area of Chicago that was hosting Purpose-Driven
Life and Church Seminars. The seminars were led by a staff member of Saddleback
Church, the parent church of the Purpose-Driven movement. To my dismay, the church
that was hosting the seminars was a Roman Catholic Church.” He concludes his article
by writing “God spent considerable time in His law warning the Children of Israel not to
absorb the religious and lifestyle culture of the Canaanite nations that surrounded them.
If they absorbed the local culture, disaster was sure to follow. It has always amazed me
that the people of Israel could shift from allegiance to the one true God to embrace the
religions of their neighbors in the space of only a generation or two. Is it possible we
could witness a similar shift in the church in our generation, all in the name of cultural
relevance? While we do want to be culturally aware, we must determine to always look
to God’s Word as the final authority for church faith and practice, not to the world around
us” (pp. 1-2).
John S. Hammett, a Professor of Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Society,
provides a helpful analysis of the emerging church. After attempting to define the
movement, he asks the question “Must All Churches Respond to Postmodernism?” to
which he provides four answers. “First, as Ed Stetzer helpfully notes, ‘the shift to
postmodernism has not happened everywhere
. . . . There are still large pockets in North America where people live out their lives in
much the same manner as their parents before them.’ In other words, the influences of
postmodern culture and thus the need for churches to adapt to postmodern culture may be
limited. There still seems to be a place for traditional churches.” “Second, even in areas
that are strongly affected by postmodernism, there are churches that are effectively
reaching their communities who are decidedly not part of the emerging church
movement.” “A third line of evidence questioning the central premise of the emerging
church movement is the continuing influence of parents on the spiritual lives of their
children.” Hammett quotes Christian Smith who indicates “’the vast majority of
American teenagers’ as ‘exceedingly conventional in their religious identity and
practices.’” “A fourth issue that questions the necessity or advisability of responding to
postmodern culture is the suspicion on the part of some that the influence of postmodern
culture itself is already waning.” Hammett concludes, “To insist that all churches must
change their methods and message in the light of postmodern culture to reach the next
generation seems simply to be an inaccurate overstatement.” He further states, “For
those most deeply and profoundly affected by those changes, emerging churches may
provide a helpful ministry, though I do not think there is either empirical evidence or
theological reason to believe only emerging churches can reach postmodern young
people. And, ironically, the more emerging churches target the postmodern generation,
the more they risk becoming what they oppose, a religious reflection of our consumer
culture. The church always faces the twin dangers of cultural captivity and cultural
irrelevance. The emerging church charges evangelicalism as a whole with being captive
to modern culture and irrelevant to postmodern culture. These charges are not without
merit. However, the emerging church itself also runs the risk of being captive to culture,
only to postmodern culture” (“An Ecclesiastical Assessment of the Emerging Church
Movement,” found at
http://ateam.blogware.com/AnEcclesiologicalAssessment.Hammett.pdf).
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,
Kentucky, in his critique of Brian D. McLaren’s book entitled A Generous Orthodoxy,
writes “This author’s purpose is transparent and consistent. Embracing the worldview of
the postmodern age, he embraces relativism at the cost of clarity in matter of truth and
intends to redefine Christianity for this new age, largely in terms of an eccentric mixture
of elements he would take from virtually every theological position and variant.”
“McLaren effectively ransacks the Christian tradition, picking and choosing among
theological options without any particular concern for consistency. He rejects the
traditional understanding of doctrine as statements of biblical truth and instead presents a
variant of postmodernism—effectively arguing that doctrines form a language that is
meaningful to Christians, even if not objectively true. He claims to be arguing for a
‘generous third way beyond the conservative and liberal versions of Christianity so
dominant in the Western world.’” Mohler concludes, “The Emergent movement
represents a significant challenge to biblical Christianity. Unwilling to affirm that the
Bible contains propositional truths that form the framework for Christian belief, this
movement argues that we can have Christian symbolism and substance without those
thorny questions of truthfulness that have so vexed the modern mind. The worldview of
postmodernism—complete with an epistemology that denies the possibility of or need for
propositional truth—affords the movement an opportunity to hop, skip and jump
throughout the Bible and the history of Christian thought in order to take whatever pieces
they want from one theology and attach them, like doctrinal post-it notes, to whatever
picture they would want to draw.” “The problem with A Generous Orthodoxy, as the
author must surely recognize, is that this orthodoxy bears virtually no resemblance to
orthodoxy as it has been known and affirmed by the church throughout the centuries.
Honest Christians know that disagreements over issues of biblical truth are inevitable.
But we owe each other at least the honesty of taking a position, arguing for that position
from Scripture, and facing the consequences of our theological convictions.”
One of the most thorough critiques comes from D.A. Carson. Carson writes, “From these
opening pages—the summaries of the stories of many of the leaders of the emerging
movement, and the survey of some of their publications—one point stands out rather
dramatically. To grasp it succinctly, it is worth comparing the emerging church
movement with the Reformation, which was, after all, another movement that claimed it
wanted to reform the church. What drove the Reformation was the conviction, among all
its leaders, that the Roman Catholic Church had departed from Scriptures and had
introduced theology and practices that were inimical to genuine Christian faith. In other
words, they wanted things to change, not because they perceived that new developments
had taken place in the culture so that the church was called to adapt its approach to the
new cultural profile, but because they perceived that new theology and practices had
developed in the church that contravened Scripture, and therefore that things needed to be
reformed by the Word of God. By contrast, although the emerging church movement
challenges, on biblical grounds, some of the belief and practices of evangelicalism, by
and large it insists it is preserving traditional confessionalism but changing the emphasis
because the culture has changed, and so inevitably those who are culturally sensitive see
things in a fresh perspective. In other words, at the heart of the emerging reformation lies
a perception of a major change in culture.” Carson concludes his chapter by calling for
three points of consideration. “First, the emerging church movement must be evaluated
as to its reading of contemporary culture. Most of its pleas for reform are tightly tied to
its understanding of postmodernism.” “Second, as readers will have already observed
from the survey provided by this chapter, the appeals to Scripture in the emerging church
literature are generally of two kinds. On the one hand, some emerging leaders claim that
changing times demand that fresh questions be asked of Scripture, and then fresh answers
will be heard. What was an appropriate use of Scripture under modernism is no longer an
appropriate use of Scripture under postmodernism. On this gentler reading of
evangelicalism’s history, traditional evangelicals are not accused of being deeply
mistaken for their own times, but of being rather out of date now, not least in their
handling of the Bible. On the other hand, the emerging church’s critique of modernism,
and of the evangelicalism that modernism has produced, is sometimes (not always) so
bitter that evangelicalism’s handling of Scripture can be mocked in stinging terms.”
“Third, granted that the emerging church movement is driven by its perception of
widespread cultural changes, its own proposals for the way ahead must be assessed for
their biblical fidelity. In other words, we must not only try to evaluate the accuracy of
the emerging church’s cultural analysis, but also the extent to which its proposals spring
from, or can at least be squared with, the Scriptures. To put the matter differently: Is
there at least some danger that what is being advocated is not so much a new kind of
Christian in a new emerging church, but a church that is so submerging itself in the
culture that it risks hopeless compromise?” He summarizes his concern by writing “If the
four subsequent chapters are more critical, it is partly because my ‘take’ on contemporary
culture is a bit removed from theirs, partly because the solutions I think are required are
somewhat different from theirs, partly because I worry about (unwitting) drift from
Scripture, and partly because this movement feels like an exercise in pendulum swinging,
where the law of unintended consequences can do a lot of damage before the pendulum
comes to rest” (pp. 41-44).
Because of the Emerging Church’s constant evolving development, it is impossible to
cover adequately all of its aspects. While it is difficult to fault believers who desire to see
the unsaved come to Christ, both our beliefs and our methods must come under the
authority of Christ. Culture is constantly changing. It is a challenge for God’s people to
be both relevant and biblically-based. Many of the emergents’ insights into the
Postmodern culture are helpful. However, their solutions appear to be short-sighted and
problematic overall.
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