RE: the coming evangelical collapse (facebook thread)

The following is a reply to a thread begun on Facebook, regarding an article entitled, "The Coming Evangelical Collapse."


"...wholeheartedly bound to the culture and relativism."

I strongly disagree with this description. Emergent doesn't bind itself to culture- it recognizes the diversity and fluidity of culture and recognizes that a genuine expression of the kingdom of God in the world has always been, and will always be, filtered through the lens of one's culture. This has been the case all the way back to Jesus himself. Any honest study of the gospel accounts will yield a recognition of this fact. Jesus' entire ministry was inundated with parable and metaphor- borrowing images and ideas that were prominently first century Jewish- in order to explain realities that transcend the culture. The entire history of the church is the same story- the story of God's people expressing the kingdom of God in ways that make sense in the context of their time and place in history. Presently, the church is as multifaceted and diverse as the world itself. Even within the more narrow category of Evangelical, a church in urban America does not (and should not) look the same as a church in a remote hill tribe of Northern India. The way they frame the story of Jesus and its continuation through them will be categorically different. Its not a choice to deviate from a standard. it’s a reality of the world that we must contend with.

This brings us to the point of relativism. Emergent does not bind itself to relativism. We consider ourselves the people of God, just as Evangelicals. We consider our story to be built upon the Scriptures, just as Evangelicals. We recognize the centrality of Jesus to our story and our lives and seek to carry his legacy to the world, just as Evangelicals. We recognize the value of our history and employ ancient prayers, creeds and hymns into our worship, just as Evangelicals. We practice the Lord’s Supper as a remembrance of the body and blood of Jesus, just as Evangelicals.

There is, of course, a great degree of diversity among those who consider themselves Emergent, and many view the lack of coherency as a negative. What I’ve described above is a summary of what I have discovered to be the core of Emergent as I have personally experienced. Many people point fingers at specific churches or specific men/women within Emergent with whom they find “serious” fault, and then they assume that anyone associated with Emergent must be as “off base” as that individual or church. But the real beauty of Emergent is, in fact, its diversity. The fact that we are not bound to any individual, any church, any council, any statement of doctrine. Perhaps this could be viewed as theological relativism, but I prefer to see it as a unique opportunity for each of us, individually and collectively, to form our own theological identity without being told what we can or cannot believe in order to be “in the club.” The result, as I’ve observed, is a community of some of the most spiritually healthy people I’ve ever known or interacted with.

You say, “The world and we sometimes fail to recognize that evangelicalism was not simply a movement or a transitory form of the church it was the church.” Really? I have to ask in return, What is this Evangelicalism are you referring to? Acts 2? 3rd or 4th century? The desert fathers of the Dark Ages? The Inquisitors or Crusaders? Reformation? Mennonite? Baptist? Anabaptist? Reformed Baptist? Methodist? Presbyterian? Lutheran? Pentecostal? On and on and on…

You say, “The church is never meant to emulate or conform the greater culture but rather to transform the culture to the message of Jesus.” Again, Jesus himself borrowed incessantly from first century Jewish culture in order to speak back into that culture in a way that made sense to them, in order to formulate a relevant vision of the kingdom of God breaking into the world. We continue that legacy, communicating the good news of God’s kingdom to people, not as annals from the dusty books of history, but as a living, breathing, ongoing story of hope and redemption to a world in desperate need.