The Emergent Church

Scott, over at Christian Telegram started a little, friendly discussion (in comments) about "Emergent" theology ... right after a post on postmodernism. (The two concepts are linked.) I suspect, however, that "the Emergent Church" theology isn't very well known yet. Perhaps it ought to be.

According to Wikipedia, "Proponents of the emerging church embrace the reality of postmodernism and seek to deconstruct and reconstruct Christianity in order to meaningfully engage with Western society which is pre-dominantly post-Christian." If that doesn't send off alarm bells in your head, perhaps you aren't paying attention.

First, "postmodernism" is all about "relative". The fundamental tenet of postmodernism is that all truth is relative and no truth is absolute. That is a problem when we have a God who claims to be absolute. Second, the phrase "deconstruct and reconstruct Christianity" ought to raise a serious problem. What went wrong with God's idea of Christianity? It worked in the past, but it doesn't work now? In what sense does biblical Christianity fail to "meaningfully engage with Western society"?

How does the Emergent Church movement go about deconstructing and reconstructing Christianity to make it more relevant to our society? Well, here are a few of their ideas.

- Missions are largely carried out by social activism. If you work to decrease poverty and meet people's felt needs, then you can better bring them to Christ.

- Theology isn't really important. It's better to share your personal narrative, your personal experience.

- Orthodoxy is generalized and ecumenical. Try not to make divisions over doctrine. Some encourage "dialogue with non-Christian religions and non-religious people." (One specifically listed who encourages this is Pastor Brian McLaren, the guy with whom I had some conversations earlier in my blog over the question of the poor. I wasn't aware of that at the time. He left saying, "This isn't the site for me." Is it that he encourages dialogue with non-Christian religions and non-religious people, but not so much with Christians who might disagree with his position?)

- The movement encourages a commitment to emulating Jesus' way of living, in particular his loving of God, neighbors and those normally considered enemies. (On the surface this would seem a good thing, but digging a little deeper, wasn't it changed hearts that Jesus was trying to obtain, not merely emulators?)

- The Bible is to be viewed with an open mind. There may be a plurality of interpretations, often determined by your own culture. This is contrasted with the primacy of the author's intent and cultural context.

One of the "beating drums" of this movement would be Schleiermacher's idea that "Experience unites; doctrine divides." This precisely plays into postmodernism. Truth isn't the issue; experience is. As such, how we experience God is of much higher importance than how we think of God. Everyone knows that these days. Make worship more "relevant". (Being in the presence of the Most High surrounded by other saints joining with the heavenly hosts to offer praise to God isn't really relevant if I don't feel warmly about it.) All that talk about "truth" and "the only way" is just alienating people. And "sin" ... that topic has to really be avoided. We don't want to hit that too hard at all because it just pushes people away. No, no, we need to conform more to the world's image. Our music should be more like theirs; our messages should be more appealing like theirs. We are competing with an entertainment glut and if we don't make it more experiential, well, it just won't work. At this point, truth is not the issue; survival is. So it's better if we just slough off the traditions of Scripture and the historical Church and work better in the direction of relevance and "feeling God".

Okay, I would say that from the churches around me that I see, I'm likely in a minority here, but I have a real problem with this type of approach. This "Emergent Church" concept is not merely sending off warning bells. I'm getting klaxons, flashing lights, and "Run, do not walk!" messages in my head. I'm seeing "vain philosophy, traditions of men, and elementary principles" (Col. 2:8) here and I am desperate to avoid captivity.