Emergent Movement Within Evangelicalism
You can sense that the next great debate within Christianity in America will be about the Emergent movement within Evangelicalism. It's been picking up steam over the past few years and seems to have quicken the pace with a few recent books critiquing the Emergent movement (Truth and the New Kind of Christian by R. Scott Smith; The Truth War by John MacArthur).
Even with this approaching debate coming to a church near you, many in the Evangelical circle are still unaware of what exactly is Emergent. Part of the reason may be because it is a movement that enjoys being in the "flux of change". Many in Emergent believe that once you put concrete theological definition to the movement, you'll lose what is unique about Emergent. For them, the movement is an on going "conversation" that changes as we continue to learn more about our faith and ourselves. Emergent finds comfort in believing that we can never truly know for sure anything about our faith (A New Kind of Christian p. 14). This belief of "not knowing" or not having "bombproof" answers from Scripture is equal to humility. One of the questions that Emergent followers ask is how we (Christians) can claim to know absolutely what truth is. For Emergent, the answer is simple; we can't and shouldn't presume to think we can.
This isn't to say that Emergent does not have anything positive or insightful to offer the Church. And it isn't to suggest that the modern Evangelical church of today is not without its own pitfalls, but the question is resting on biblical doctrine and how the Emergent movement are choosing to rewrite truths of Scripture. If it were a matter of the movement being outside of Evangelicalism, then the debate would be no more than another outside attack on Scipture, but because Emergent is getting a wide acceptance in the Evangelical community and especially with young emerging adults, many conservative pastors/theologians are sensing a more proactive response is needed.
For me, because I minister with these emerging adults, I can tell you that many are unaware of what exactly Emergent stands for. The reason writers like Donald Miller or pastors like Rob Bell are so attractive for young adults is because they connect the Bible to their world. Evangelicals can learn a lot from these new postmodern teachers. The trick is to connect culturally without denying sound doctrine. The reality is that we live in a world that continously tries to chip away at the truth of God's Word. Whether that is from a Modern or post-Modern perspective, how the Church reponds in combating these errors will determine the future of the North American Church.
Even with this approaching debate coming to a church near you, many in the Evangelical circle are still unaware of what exactly is Emergent. Part of the reason may be because it is a movement that enjoys being in the "flux of change". Many in Emergent believe that once you put concrete theological definition to the movement, you'll lose what is unique about Emergent. For them, the movement is an on going "conversation" that changes as we continue to learn more about our faith and ourselves. Emergent finds comfort in believing that we can never truly know for sure anything about our faith (A New Kind of Christian p. 14). This belief of "not knowing" or not having "bombproof" answers from Scripture is equal to humility. One of the questions that Emergent followers ask is how we (Christians) can claim to know absolutely what truth is. For Emergent, the answer is simple; we can't and shouldn't presume to think we can.
This isn't to say that Emergent does not have anything positive or insightful to offer the Church. And it isn't to suggest that the modern Evangelical church of today is not without its own pitfalls, but the question is resting on biblical doctrine and how the Emergent movement are choosing to rewrite truths of Scripture. If it were a matter of the movement being outside of Evangelicalism, then the debate would be no more than another outside attack on Scipture, but because Emergent is getting a wide acceptance in the Evangelical community and especially with young emerging adults, many conservative pastors/theologians are sensing a more proactive response is needed.
For me, because I minister with these emerging adults, I can tell you that many are unaware of what exactly Emergent stands for. The reason writers like Donald Miller or pastors like Rob Bell are so attractive for young adults is because they connect the Bible to their world. Evangelicals can learn a lot from these new postmodern teachers. The trick is to connect culturally without denying sound doctrine. The reality is that we live in a world that continously tries to chip away at the truth of God's Word. Whether that is from a Modern or post-Modern perspective, how the Church reponds in combating these errors will determine the future of the North American Church.
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on Friday, July 13, 2007 at 6:32 AM.
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