the emerging church

 

Over the past few weeks, I have been reading about the critiques and concerns (discussed at length 2/20 & 2/21 on pomomusings) regarding the emerging church/movement and the emergentYS Convention i am compelled to try and make some sense of them...bear with me as the order may not be seen till the end, if at all... as a newcomer to the 'organized movement,' but not the ideology, i have only a limited understanding of the issues to date.  i am continuing to learn but want to address what i understand to date.

The current arguments that I want to address seem to center around these themes:

A question of conversation vs. application:

Before we can apply anything, there is first conversation about it.  The nice thing is the willingness to even have conversation instead of the top down authoritative way we have received much of the doctrine and the church practices.  Conversation invites, includes and hopefully is willing to tolerate differences in the application..  conversation does not imply conclusion, and maybe that is the issue that  so many are taking with the ‘emerging culture’  which by definition is still in process…and not able to concretize programs or methodologies, as in the past movement.  Is this a good thing,  yes, but a threatening one, none the less.  This is a beautiful part of postmodernism; it allows an ongoing interaction of different voices and a willingness to respect the other that will influence the current and thus lead it to further emergence. 

Is there room for critique, sure…there is a need to do something amidst all the conversation…

An unfounded fear of contemplative practices:

Contemplative practices precede the organized church as we know it today, and were not excluded when the Reformation took place.  We have become so afraid of what we do not understand, that we condemn it.  We are committed to our own understanding and thus we often miss the mystery of the Incomprehensible Eternal One.  I believe that this is one of most  arrogant postures  of the modern mindset, that the created one can wrap his/her mind around the One Who Created our minds.  While we have been granted some understanding of the Mystery, it is a limited understanding.  Contemplative practices can usher us into the unseen, spiritual realm where the Shekinah reveals more of the Infinite and intangible.  Why do we fear these practices, probably ones that  even Jesus participated in?  He went off to a quiet place to pray, He lingered long into the night in the garden, I am sure he ate many meals and had many ‘worship services’ by candlelight.  He walked the paths of his forefathers to remember, to redeem…

An timeworn argument between established and the unfolding (emerging):

Renewal is part of life, as is change, growth , shedding old skin and allowing new to have breath and take form.  We do not need to condemn the old ways of doing church, but we must be aware of their relevance to the changing culture.  We are called to be in the world…which means aware of its milieu.  Jesus walked, lived, ate, taught, and engaged in a specific culture during a specific historical timeframe, and his ministry was in sync with that culture.  He spoke their language, lived in their midst, that is the beauty of the Incarnation, Jesus the Christ pitched his tent among us.  If we are to incarnate Christ to those around us, we too must be aware of their cultural milieu and engage accordingly.  What has ‘always worked before’ may no longer be effective.  This is especially true given the huge and significant shift from a modern mindset/worldview to a postmodern one.

A rift between modern and post modern Christians:

               This rift saddens me, and at one level I hesitate to even address it.  We are moving past this issue because postmodernism is “an is.”  My children have been raised in a postmodern world and that changes their worldview as well as how they view faith, spirituality and G-d.  Just as the Enlightenment had pervasive influence on the world, so and radically changed lifestyles, vision and knowledge, so has postmodernism.  There is no longer a debate in many arenas.  There is a global community, with many differences that are to be invited, respected, engaged with and listened to.  We can no longer live an individual focused life with an individually focused faith.  The world has changed. 

The other reality is that we are moving into a post-colonial, post-imperial age, when the damage done by these two oppressive forces has to be addressed.  We have left behind the debate about postmodernism and moved on to deeper and broader issues that are global in scope and deal with issues of human dignity.  Surely the church must move with the world and not lag behind. 

In my humble opinion, postmodernism has offered many things to the church and we can embrace what is good and not embrace that which is fundamentally contrary to our belief that Jesus is the Truth.  That there is a truth, and a right and wrong,  but we must be very careful to say that we know unequivocally know what is always right and what is wrong.  Postmodernism, along with post colonialism invites us to see the human dignity, the person involved in every conversation, every decision…and this was surely the way of Jesus.  Postmodernism invites different voices to the text, allows different cultures to read and bring understanding to the Living and Active Word.  We have to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal truth, and abandon the demand that there is one meaning to each verse.   This is not to excuse sloppy isogesis or diminish proper exegesis, which is necessary.  It does however, require us to listen to voices and meanings that may differ from ours and make us uncomfortable.  It means that we must become people who listen and question and wonder and seek, rather than people who know for sure.

I am new to the ‘organized emerging movement,” but not new to emerging.  Emerging is another word for coming forth, growing, expanding…it is not finished, it is in process, it is becoming.  I don’t ever want to stop becoming the woman g-d has called me to be, I have been and continue to be ‘in process,’ maturing in my faith, expanding my vision, growing in my humility and awe of the Incomprehensible Eternal One.  I wonder is there not room to allow this emerging or becoming, as we learn more of who we are created to Be in this sojourn through the temporal world.

Comments

[Jason Clark]

great summary and post susie, thank you. Jason

[tammy]

'Just as the Enlightenment had pervasive influence on the world, so and radically changed lifestyles, vision and knowledge, so has postmodernism.'

true. it's just another philosophy, with both good and bad aspects. it isn't up to the church to debate. the church's role is to relate to postmodern culture, as Paul related to the gentiles. that was a huge culture shift for the Jewish believers, who hadn't expected to include gentiles in their group.

[susie]

At times, it feels like the fighting between Peter and Paul over including the gentiles, or accepting them and their differences, when we struggle through this huge philosophical and cultural shift from modernism to postmodernism...what would happen if we began to listen and accept and include...in the way of Jesus

[Delia]

This forum needed sahknig up and you’ve just done that. Great post!