emergent skeptic

warning - the following is a incomplete thougt to be fleshed out later - feel free to help me

i am so skeptical of the whole "emergent" thing. the very need to be reminded that "emergent" is not "emerging" before understanding the relationships in the current conversation seems to be a hefty entry fee into that conversation. add to that the sponsored "friends, cohorts, etc" along with the loudest voice syndrome on the web and you have a system ripe for becoming our next denomination - no different than the others out there, in the main.

i belive not only that the church will emerge into a culture that continues to shift into postmodernism (did we really think that modernism was the end of it all?...), but that it will emerge from the people that just "do church" in a way that is consistent with the way they are naturally informed by their core cultural understandings.

the last is mouthful saying that the leaders of a movement (self or otherwise proclaimed) are not nearly so important to the future of the church as the people who are just going about their business of being a christian.

i also recognize that my skepticism is not necessarily based on their hopes and plans. but i still believe they are headed down a dangerous road.

thankful...

Thanksgiving at Ann & John’s 2006

Preambles

Feta Stuffed Olives

Hot Garlicky Pickles

Cheese Selection

Abbruzzese

Feta Panino

Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio

Dinner

Roast Capon with Herb Stuffing

Cider Baked Ham with Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin’

Mom’s Burnt Green Beans

Queen Anne’s Mashed Potatoes

Savory Gravy

Cider Gravy

Zucchini with Roasted Walnuts and Edible Flowers

Georges DeBoeuf Beaujolais Nouveau

Afters

Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream

Hot Buttered Rum

Digestives

Korean Rice Wine

Taylor Fladgate Porto 2000

…a selection of Unibroue ales is available throughout…

So much to be Thankful for…

evidence that demands respect

i will scream if one more christian nincompoop tries to take a whack at modern scientific theory armed with no more that a vague understanding of the concepts involved.

reading a book (or even 2,or 3, or 4!) by a man without a science degree doesn't make you any better than ill informed.

Be happy with your faith. Don't make it look silly by arguing what you don't know.

church on

i am leading a conversation on the book of romans. not really sure if i agreed out of a sincere desire to help us all grow in our understanding, or if i just like the spotlight (damn arrogance!).

it continues to strike me how unwilling even those of us who claim to be "emergent" are in examing our resonse to those who disagree with us over the definition of sin. to me, this is the work of the emerging church, but we seldom see an honest effort.

we are completely willing to accept the lost in their sin - letting them belong before believing.
we are completely willing to accept those who agree with us - sharing our burdens together.

we fail when faced with the dilemma of a procalimed christian who sins in our eyes, but not their own - forcing them into fight or flight.

it is this unwillingness to trust the Holy Spirit and our relationships to change hearts and spirits that cocnerns me. if i must agree with you on all points of your doctrine before fellowship, aren't you a new god to me?

do you need a laptop?

one of my concerns with the emergent crowd is our willingness to hold the conversation in places that are not accessible or friendly to the rest of the world.

starbucks as an example:

• in almost every starbucks location, there is a local coffee house struggling to make ends meet - can we justify conversations on economic justice while ignoring local entrepreneurs?
• starbucks offers a very limited selection of fair trade coffee's (and then, only as a sop to the fair trade lobby) - is the cost of our coffee so important that we can ignore the plight of the farmers of the third world?
• even without fair trade coffee, starbucks is not a place where people short on cash hang out - is this how we get to be "relational" when most of the world cannot afford a evening hanging out at starbucks?

the fear that "emergent" conversations are reserved for the white upper middle class takes on an edge when we look at the location of the conversations.

is it possible to have these conversations on porches, stoops, greasy spoons, street corners, dives, or the hood of an '83 ford pick-up? or do the conversations really require trendy music, modern art, high end coffee, lap top computers, high speed internet, and angst?

the church will emerge in a postmodern culture, but i don't think it will require us to create it. "where two or more are gathered..."

burnt offerings

We need to learn to feel awe again. To look up at our Father with eyes full of wonder and love.

Because God just isn't that excited about our great burnt offerings layed at the altar of the church.

missionary position

alex wonders what happens to the pagan who gets an incompetent missionary.

when we demand that words fill every gap in our understanding, the words become more important than the message.

ann's paradox

ann describes a great paradox in the chuch today on her blog treereach.

"If you want to lay claim to a faith that is proveable through the techniques of rationality and logic, then be true to the techniques to make your point. Otherwise, you paint yourself a fool to the very people you are trying to reach.

The educated aren't scornful of religion because it's unproveable. Rather, they're scornful of people who try to use tools they don't understand to explain a concept not bounded by the scope and limitations of human reason. "

We so want knowledge beyond our faith that it often makes us look foolish. To salve our pride, we take refuge in laying claim to "the foolishness of preaching". Unfortunately, this foolishness is not from God and will never be the source of salvation to those who are looking.

take up your cross

what did Jesus mean when he told his disciples to take up their cross and follow Him? It seems to make sense looking back, but not looking forward.

living

most of us are lost in a world focused on the past and the future.

we become more alive when we learn to live in the now and in eternity.

moths

the modern church and its structure functions superbly as a screen to keep us from the pure light of God. perhaps its "for our own good" to keep us from being consumed in His flame.

follow

what if we followed those with the greatest faith instead of those with the greatest knowledge?

what if we followed those with the greatest hope instead of those with the greatest knowledge?

what if we followed those with the greatest love instead of those with the greatest knowledge?

God

if all we know of God is from the bible, then he is a small god indeed.

emergence

just for the record, i believe that the "emergent" church is too often only a modern manifestation of church playing in the shallows of a strong swift turbulent river that is a looming cultural paradigm shift to postmodernism.

sooner or later, the flood will wash us all away and if we will never again see the safe, comfortable shores of our current churches and will have to learn how to find God in an alien land.

i wonder how many will survive the journey?