Emerging Church.
First of all, I really cringe at this label. Although I'm not exactly sure why, I have some ideas. Division and exclusion. You put a label on something you automatically draw a line between what is an "emerging church" and what is not. You put a label on a person, and you begin to form a club.
However, I do understand that language tends towards labelling, for many reasons. And I'm not getting all worked up here.
I don't pretend to know anything...but here are some thoughts. Take them or leave them.
The word emerging. I like it. When I think of emerging I think of something growing out of something, naturally. Growth is a healthy part of spirituality. If the "emerging church" is growing from the Christianity of the past, it will hopefully continue to have a respect for what has come before, and extend grace to everyone, no matter where they are in their spiritually journey.
I like to see people asking questions. We need many more questions.
I have panic attacks when I hear people demeaning, or being condescending to, more traditional or let's say, (since we love labelling people) "fundamentalist" Christians. If we don't have love we don't even deserve to call ourselves a church, no matter what type.
A little history lesson: At the time of the Protestant reformation, the reformers were so violently opposed to the corruption in the Catholic church that they reacted in irrational fear. Centuries of beautiful artwork and architecture was destroyed and meaningful tradition forgotten. Now I'm not suggesting that a new generation of Christians are going to start burning country chapels and tearing down the steeples of Sarnia, but I believe that we must be careful to “emerge” with the wisdom that has been passed onto us. We are not an island.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the next generation of Christians would see more unity, rather than another division.
posted by Maria Elyse at 9:28 PM
5 Comments:
I love what you have to say Maria, you reflect my own thoughts.
11:00 PM
maria... very good thoughts that really resonate with my heart. i think to contrast the points you bring up... while i'm annoyed by the vocal minority that seems to have it all figured out and have found the perfect way of doing church in the emergent movement, i'm excited by what i see in this movement. i'm excited to see the post-denominational direction this movement is heading, embracing many traditions from many denominations. we're now seeing liturgy being reincorporated into these churches in a meaninful way, we're seeing prayers and writings of the early church fathers being embraced, and overall we're seeing a movement toward the chuch operating a communal, relational, redemptive organism, while seeking to get away from the church as an institution. does that make this movement better than the previous? (because if we're honest we need to admit that church for the past 2000 years has been lived in a series of movements and cycles) no. it just makes it different... in my opinion as the emergent church is birthed, it thrive if its an attempt to learn and grow from the previous movement and not simply a reaction that says "we can do it better". that causes division and is exactly what happened in with the contemporary movement of the 80s/90s.
those are my random thoughts...
9:57 AM
I couldn't agree more. These are all the things I appreciate so much as well.
Thanks for stopping by.:)
5:27 PM
wise wise post.
2:14 AM
Having lived through the contemporary church of the 80's and 90's I can attest that the emerging church is designed from on high. Progressive revelation was calculated before creation.
It's very exciting to read how the next generation of leaders is shaping up.
Grat post and coments.
8:04 AM
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