emerging church?

Recently some friends of mine wanted to make sure that I read this book. I will do so soon.

In the meantime, the reviews are interesting reading all by themselves.

I liked this part of William Muehlenberg’s review of the book:

“Consistent with postmodernism, the emerging church folk have a strong dislike of rationality, theology, and propositional truth. They look down on dogma, rules, teaching, preaching, boundaries and doctrine. While they reject some things we should reject – legalism, unloving judgmentalism, head over heart, and so on – they have a tendency of throwing the baby out with the bath water. In reacting to one extreme, they go way over to another extreme. What is needed is biblical balance, not wild pendulum swings.”

Myself, by contrast: I love love love rationality, theology and propositional truth. I believe dogma (a limited universe of things for which I will die, to be sure), teaching, preaching and doctrine are essential. (I am not sure what he means by boundaries, and I probably disagree with including that one on this list.) And my life for the last 20 years has been a never ending quest for balance.

But foundationally, I believe God’s nature is rational, theological and propositional. I believe this because I have spent time with what He breathed for us to have in order to know Him. To me theopneustos is one of the best words in the Bible. Without it, we wouldn’t have any other words at all.

I do also believe that God is relational in the fullest meaning of that word. He walked in Eden with Adam and Eve. Before the foundation of the world he chose us for the praise of his glorious grace. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus spent three years building relationships with men and women so that they would learn and do the same when he left.

We need to relate to people where they are. We can’t expect them to join us where we gather. We can present propositional, theological, rational truth to our neighbors in the context of shared life experiences. Lives on mission is what I am on about.  I don’t think that is “emerging”, I think it is our assigned task as ministers of reconciliation as well as our joy and opportunity.