The Emerging Church: Part 2

And now continued:

However, this essay would be incomplete if the common criticisms of the emerging church were not voiced here. This is not a polemic; it is an education. There are a few criticisms that seemingly occur constantly. The first and most obvious is the claim of postmodernism to the point where they deny the certitude of truth. It all sounds nice and lovely until an emergent denies the inerrancy of scripture; or that Truth can be objectified. An emergent would counter (since I’m being fair) that we live in a postmodern world; thus, it takes a different form of evangelism. Scot McKnight calls this critical realism , or the understanding that this is the world we live in and traditional forms of evangelism might not be enough.

Others say that the emergents are too syncretistic in their spirituality. In their unrelenting iconoclasm of classic Christianity, some would say that the emergents go too far; God cares about sacred spaces and tradition too. In their emphasis on interdenominational and interfaith dialogue, some claim that the emergents are too lax and ignore the cost and consequence of sin. Emergents would likely counter that in the context of understanding, once someone knows where you stand, it would be better to let them make their own decisions and continue the friendship than continue harping and lose any contact with them. In theology, this is called adiaphora; to agree to disagree.

So what are you to take from this? Remember that the emerging church is not a single denomination; it is individuals along a spectrum of beliefs. While the more radical voices (of the Emergent Village and New Monasticism et al) tend to be the loudest, emergents as a rule refuse to be herded into a single label. I would go so far as to say that every Christian has some amount of emergent in them, for their causes and beliefs are essential to Christianity. We should all be concerned with our actions and how to live out Christ to the world; we should all be concerned about whole people and whole societies; we all need to recognize our underlying unity as people of a fallen race, all with a Common Story (of sin and redemption and sanctification).

The Christian Church, as an institution, has made some pretty poor decisions in the past. Individuals in the Church have hurt a lot of people. Emergents (listen up, mainstream Christians) attempt to bridge the gap and heal the wounds that the church created. No longer are unbelievers simply “unchurched”; people know quite well the message of Christianity in America – When abortion clinics are bombed, they hear you are evil. When homosexual rallies are protested with hate posters, they hear you are not worthy. When they think of Christians, they hear you will never be like us. Emergents understand something essential to being human; that having someone love you as you are is fundamental to life. We, as Christians, should also take that stance because we have a God who loves us as we are. The world needs a God that will love them (yes, even in their sin), and it is our job to show that God to them.