Emerging Church, Part 2

Here we go. Can of worms: Part 2.

 Dear Twenty-Something Emergent-ish Believer –  

Be careful. I have been where you are. I’ve read the same books you have read and I’ve heard the same motivating messages spoken by Emergents and those who associate with them. It’s hard not to get swept away in it. It was made to speak to our generation, after all, and some of its loudest voices are engaging speakers and excellent writers (note: did you know that McLaren studied English – specifically, that he spent a significant amount of time studying philosophical literature? I think it’s kind of significant to note that, since he writes as if he’s an educated theologian and philosopher. He has an honorary D.Div., but no formal education in theology to my knowledge….which is why he writes great books that have questionable theology. J). It looks as if the culture we live in and the church we’ve been hoping for have collided to form the Emergent conversation, and it is really, really appealing for you to think that you have found the answer to your questions.   

It is so easy to point a finger at the evangelical church. We don’t quite fit into their modernistic, Baby-Boomer ways, and there aren’t many evangelical churches that seem to have adapted to a new generation quite yet. It’s really easy to think that because we ourselves don’t quite fit that the church must not be real or authentic or correct in its teaching. Because you feel like the church has failed you, you feel like the church has failed. I don’t think so. Maybe the evangelical church isn’t reaching our generation. Maybe it is a bit stuck in modernistic ways that don’t reach a generation of believers that have grown up in postmodern culture. I think that is true, in a sense. I don’t think the church has really caught up with the culture yet…but I think we, as a generation of young believers, are probably the ones at fault for that. 

Generally speaking (as a culture, not necessarily as individuals), we are self-centered and cynical, and there has been so much hoopla about saving our precious, fragile self-esteems that we’ve ended up a bit arrogant about how we will change the world and live our lives. This isn’t just a church thing. This is a cultural thing. We’re a generation of people who don’t know how to appreciate those who have gone before us. We have a hard time with the idea of delayed gratification or working our way to the top the corporate ladder. We walk with a sense of entitlement to the best and the most and the first….and we’ve transferred some of this generational arrogance to our position in the church. (Note: Don’t take that the wrong way. I’m not speaking of the Emergent church when I talk about generational arrogance. I’m talking about our whole generation – myself included).  So, you say that the church is outdated and irrelevant, and you jump into the new Emergent stuff because it’s easier to do that than to be a part of slower changes in evangelical churches or to have to continue participating in church with generations that may never adapt to postmodern style. When you separate yourself from the evangelical church, you don’t really fix the problem. You act as if the Emergent church is the solution, but I’m not sure that it’s logical to think you’ve found the solution when you haven’t helped to fix the problem.

When you jump on board with Emergent Church (or more commonly Emergent-ish faith communities), I’m not sure you know what you know what you are getting into. I’m not sure you understand some of the theological foundations that you are now standing on, and I’m not sure you know where your leaders are deriving their key influences. I’m not sure you understand the implications of what they are saying because it just sounds so good. It is so good to be welcomed and understood and accepted by a faith community that thinks like you do that it is easy to be swept up in it without thinking twice about some of the theological foundations.  

 It seems like Emergents value the church as a “who” over church as a “what” (church the people v. church the institution). I think it’s both, but I do like that they value the person-church instead of just the institution-church. But if it’s true that the church is meant to be more person-church than institution-church, it’s not the evangelical church’s fault that our generation is not being reached. The evangelical church you generally refer to is the institutional church. If the church is a “who” more than a “what”, that makes it the “who’s” fault that our generation is not being reached…and that is us – me and you – not the institutional church that often takes the blame for things. 

I’m one of a million voices who are recognizing that church isn’t trendy in a postmodern culture, and it’s increasingly difficult to reach our generation with the gospel. And I’m one of a million voices that still doesn’t know how to articulate a better solution than the ones already offered. But I do know this.  I’m going to be smart about the choices I make as an individual. I’m going to read up on theology (on both ends of the spectrum), and I’m going to understand the implications of my beliefs. I’m going to value the generation that has gone before me, and I’m not going to jump ship from the evangelical church just because my personal needs are not always met with excellence. I’m going to be firm on my foundational convictions. And every time – every time – I’m going to measure the changes I want to make by the teaching of Scripture. I want to be a part not just in creating an alternative (like the Emergent Church) but in creating the solution to the problem of an unreached postmodern generation. And to be a part of the solution is to be a part of fixing the problem. I’m sticking with the evangelical church. 

Sincerely – and with genuine love and concern –

A Twenty-Something Evangelical 

 Tomorrow: Part 3/Wrap-Up. I have a few odds and ends to tie up that I think might answer/address some of the comments made. They just didn’t fit neatly into my letter, so I’ll try to bullet through them tomorrow or Tuesday.