An Overview of the Emerging Church Defining the Emerging Church

The Emerging Church is extremely fluid. Most adherents prefer to use the terms

“conversation and friendships,” rather than movement. They “have said that there is no

single theologian or spokesperson for the emergent conversation.” They also

acknowledge that there is “neither . . . unanimity – nor even necessarily consensus – of

opinion” among them.

Aaron Flores writes, “There is currently no clear, distinct definition or descriptive label

for the emerging church” (“An Exploration of the Emerging Church in the United States:

The Missiological Intent and Potential Implications of the Future,” M.A. thesis,

Vanguard University, 2005, 7). Yet, Gerald K. Webber describes the emerging church as

“essentially a Generation-X happening, a reaction to the seeker-driven approach of the

Baby Boomers and many who preceded them” (“The Emerging Church: Emerging from

What to Where?” Baptist Bulletin Online, October 2005, p. 1).

Generally, the Emerging Church appears to be Evangelicalism’s effort to move away

from the thinking and methods of Modernism in order to reach those who have embraced

a Postmodern world view. It is difficult to call the Emerging Church a movement

because it is in a state of flux. While there are similarities between groups and leaders,

their differences can vary greatly. In essence, it presents a struggle in “how to effectively

do church” during a Postmodern age.

While wide variety exists among emergents, their major theme appears to be a reaction to

previous generations. Webber writes, “At heart the emerging church is a protest

movement, deeply disillusioned with the previous three or four generations. They have a

great respect for ancient forms and traditions but feel that their ‘modern’ forbears [sic]

have failed them. Emergents are turned off by the traditional worship patterns of the

Builder generation and by their absolutism. They reject what they describe as ‘rational’

preaching, dogmatic teaching and confrontational evangelism. They are even more

appalled at the commercialism of Baby Boomers and are determined to replace

‘programs’ with ‘relationships,’ ‘excellence’ with ‘realism.’ They refer to this as the

‘rebooting of . . . church’” (p. 2).

In his helpful critique of emergents, John Greening accurately describes its emphasis:

“An emerging church . . . recognizes the transition in worldviews taking place in our

culture.” “The transition demands that the church rethink its approach. Without

recognizing the changes in worldviews, the church will increasingly close itself off to

ministry influence” (“A New Trend Emerging in the Church,” Baptist Bulletin Online,

October, 2005).

Emergents appear to focus upon Postmodernism’s reaction to Modernism. Rick Shrader

writes, “The primary tenet of the Emerging Church has been that we must a) recognize

that our culture has become postmodern and b) we must immerse our churches much

more into this postmodernism if we are to reach this generation with the gospel” (“The

Emerging Church, Part 2,” in Aletheia, October 2005). D.A. Carson, in his work entitled

Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church, also sees this movement as a protest

movement against modernism. He writes, “The reforms that the movement encourages

mirror the protests of the lives of many of its leaders” (p. 14). Carson believes “the

fundamental issue in the move from modernism to postmodernism is epistemology—i.e.,

how we know things, or think we know things.” Carson summarizes the thinking of

emergents when he writes, “Modernism is often pictured as pursuing truth, absolutism,

linear thinking, rationalism, certainty, the cerebral as opposed to the affective—which in

turn breeds arrogance, inflexibility, a lust to be right, the desire to control.

Postmodernism, by contrast recognizes how much of what we ‘know’ is shaped by the

culture in which we live, is controlled by emotions and aesthetics and heritage.”

“Modernism tries to find unquestioned foundations on which to build the edifice of

knowledge and then proceeds with methodological rigor; postmodernism denies that such

foundations exists . . . and insists that we come to ‘know’ things in many ways.”

“Modernism is hard-edged and, in the domain of religion, focuses on truth versus error,

right belief, confessionalism; postmodernism is gentle and, in the domain of religion,

focuses on relationships, love, shared tradition, integrity in discussion” (p. 27).

Understanding the Emerging Church

Jimmy Long, a proponent of the emergent church writes, “We can choose the

unchanging-tradition road and face cultural extinction. We can take the developmental-

phase road and wake up one day to see that the culture has passed us by. We can take the

generation-transition road and see that we might make a difference in people around us

but have no chance of changing the culture. If we take the fortress-mentality road, we

might save ourselves but will have lost any chance to save people in the world. If we

take the prophetic-voice road, we might end up only critiquing the church or the world

but not making any change in either church or culture. Or we can take the missional road

and provide hope for people in the emerging culture” (Emerging Hope, p. 35).

Like Long, many emergents are motivated by sincere desires to reach the emergent

generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Dan Kimball, one its chief proponents, writes,

“I believe with all my heart that this discussion about the fast-changing culture and the

emerging church must take place. While many of us have been preparing sermons and

keeping busy with the internal affairs of our churches, something alarming has been

happening on the outside. What once was a Christian nation with a Judeo-Christian

worldview is quickly becoming a post-Christian, unchurched, unreached nation. Tom

Clegg and Warren Bird in their book Lost in America claim that the unchurched

population of the United States is now the largest mission field in the English-speaking

world, and the fifth largest globally. New generations are arising all around us without

any Christian influence. So we must rethink virtually everything we are doing in our

ministries” (The Emerging Church, pp. 13-14).

Jimmy Long provides a stimulating philosophical discussion of change in our culture. He

believes “the church is at a critical juncture in regard to two major societal changes. The

first societal change is the generation transition from the Baby Boom generation to

Generation X and the Millennial generation.” “The second change is a cultural shift that

is occurring in Western society as the prevailing culture moves from the

Enlightenment/modern era to the emerging/postmodern era” (p. 21). Long writes, “In the

Western world there have been four major cultural paradigm shifts (transitions) since the

death of Christ. The last two transitions have not only impacted the Western world but

also have influenced cultures in the Two-Thirds World. Due to increasing globalization,

this emerging culture will have even more of an impact throughout the world.” “While

we call these phenomena ‘paradigm shifts,’ we should probably call them ‘paradigm

changes’ because instead of occurring rapidly (like the shifting of car gears), they take

place over the course of years (like changes in climate). These paradigm changes have

their own distinctives. The Hellenistic/Roman period was characterized by evangelistic

zeal on the part of Christians. During the years of medieval paradigm, the church was in

survival mode and was drawing people into the Christian community. Then the

Enlightenment/modern paradigm shifted from faith in God to faith in human reasoning.

In the current transition to the postmodern world, the emphasis is changing self and

reason to community and feeling” (pp. 63-64).

Jimmy Long contrasts four parallel traits of the Enlightenment with Postmodernism’s

thinking. He also provides a helpful chart (p. 73).

Enlightenment Postmodernism

Objective truth Subject truth (Preferences)

Individual Community

Scientific discovery Virtual reality

Metanarrative (Societal progress)

Micronarrative (Societal cynicism)

He writes, “Instead of human reason that leads to truth, postmodernism posits multiple

truths that lead only to preferences. The search to find the central theme of life or to

distinguish the grand narrative has given way to multiple alternatives and competing

viewpoints. Richard Rorty, a prominent postmodern thinker, defines objectivity as an

agreement among everyone who is in the room at the present time. Truth is not so much

found as created. What is true is what one believes to be true. The saying ‘To each his

own’ could be the motto of postmodern culture.” “Deconstruction is the uncentering of

modern life that leaves us with multiple possibilities and the equal validity of all

interpretations. MTV is an excellent example of deconstruction. The images in any

given video are constantly changing and redefining reality.” “There is no grand theme to

life. We are left with fleeting images, and it is up to us to define reality as we choose”

(pp. 74-75). Long is a proponent of the emerging church whose insights are quite helpful

in understanding the postmodern generation.

Classifying the Emerging Church

Because the proponents of the emergent emphasis have such broad views, it is difficult to

understand the movement. Ed Stetzer classifies emergents into three categories. First, he

terms the most theologically conservative emergents as “Relevants.” According to

Stetzer, these individuals “are just trying to make their worship, music and outreach

more contextual to emerging culture.” “They are simply trying to explain the message of

Christ in a way their generation can understand.” Stetzer gives the second group the

name “Reconstructionists.” They “think that the current form of church is frequently

irrelevant and the structure is unhelpful.” They “reject certain organizational models,

embracing what are often called ‘incarnational’ or ‘house’ models.” They “want to think

in new ways about the forms (the construct) of church.” Stetzer gives the third group the

name “Revisionists.” They “are questioning (and in some case denying) issues like the

nature of the substitutionary atonement, the reality of hell, the complementarian nature of

gender, and the nature of the Gospel itself.”

Leaders of the Emerging Church

Rather than taking the time to describe some of the key leaders, allow me to simply list

their names along with titles of their writings and web sites to search if you have greater

interest. The emerging church movement is worldwide. In fact, Dan Kimball, in his

work entitled Emerging Worship, sees strong parallels between the contemporary culture

in England and the postmoderns of the United States. He writes, “So, in terms of church

methodology and the Christian subculture, there’s a vast difference between American

and British churches. And while the churches in England may seldom have embraced

seeker and contemporary methodology, those who never experienced church there are

similar to those [who] haven’t experienced church here yet” (p. 210).

Key writers include at least the following. Some of these works have multiple authors.

Dan Kimball – The Emerging Church; Emerging Worship: Creating Worship

Gatherings for New Generations

Brian D. McLaren – A Generous Orthodoxy; The Secret Message of Jesus; The

Last Word and the Word After That; A New Kind of Christian, The Story We Find

Ourselves In; Adventure in Missing Point; More Ready Than You Realize;

Church on the Other Side

Tony Jones – The Sacred Way; Postmodern Youth Ministry; Read, Think, Pray,

Live (Think); Soul Shaper; Pray (Think)

Doug Pagitt – Preaching Re-Imagined; Church Re-Imagined; Body Prayer;

Reimagining Spiritual Formation

Spencer Burke – Making Sense of Church: Eavesdropping on Emerging

Conversations about God, Community, and Culture

Chris Seay – Faith of My Fathers; The Dust of Their Feet; Stories of Emergence;

The Gospel Reloaded; To Become One; The Tao of Enron; The Gospel According

to Tony Soprano; The Voice Revealed; The Gospel According to Tony Soprano

Display; The Last Eye Witness

Leonard Sweet – Post-Modern Pilgrims; First Century Passion for the 21st

Century World; Church in the Emerging Culture; Postmodern Pilgrims;

SoulTsunami; AquaChurch

Worship of the Emerging Church

Leonard Sweet, in his work entitled Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the

21st Century World, outlines the objectives of worship in the Emerging Community (p.

xvii). The acrostic EPIC delineates that worship should be experiential, participatory,

image-driven, and connected.

This workshop seeks to explain what is meant by the acrostic EPIC and illustrate each

segment by examples which occur in emergent “gatherings.” The nature of emergent

worship is fluid. It is ever developing and transitioning. There is no set format for

emergent “gatherings.” Dan Kimball, in his work entitled Emerging Worship, provides

helpful information to understand the thinking and practice of emergent gatherings. He

writes, “There is no model of an emerging worship gathering because each one is unique

to its local church context, community, people, and specific leaders of the church” (p.

73).

Experiential – Emergents emphasize experience. Sweet writes, “Postmoderns

don’t want their information straight. They want it laced with experience.” “The

more extreme the better” (p. 33). Sweet also writes, “Total Experience is the new

watchword in postmodern worship. New World preachers don’t ‘write sermons.’

They create total experiences” (p. 43).

The Postmodern world believes “experience is the new currency of our culture.

In the past we gained knowledge of a subject or issue and then later validated that

knowledge. Today, people have an experience that is later validated by

knowledge.” “This shift has implications in the way we learn, communicate and

interact. For churches it impacts the design of worship, liturgy, and the shape of

and content of educational ministries, the process of spiritual formation, the

design of sacred space, and programming” (Online Leadership Network, Explorer

no. 57, March 11, 2002).

Emergents see Modern church services as boring and lacking experience. They

view them as lacking the means to engage people in worship. They lack the

multi-sensory aspects of worship that allow the teachings of the Scriptures to

impact people’s lives. Postmoderns react to a striving for “excellence” in the

Modern church. Dan Kimball writes, “‘Excellence’ is not a core value in the

emerging church. If it lacks authenticity or is too perfect and polished,

‘excellence’ can actually go against the grain of emerging church values” (p. 69).

For emergents, a gathering might include the hauling in of large amounts of sand

and large heaters to create a desert environment that provides an experience to

underscore the difficulty of Israel’s wilderness sojourn. Participants will remove

their shoes to feel the sand between their toes. Passages indicating the weariness

of nomadic life would be read. Passages revealing the grumblings of the people

of Israel might be read. People do not simply want to hear what God says, they

want to experience it. They believe experiencing Scriptures, rather than just

proclaiming it, creates authentic Christianity. They usually react to a

propositional presentation of truth. They want experience.

Participatory – By participatory, Postmoderns mean that two-way

communication occurs. Emergents view Modern church services as one-way.

Congregations tend to have little involvement. Most, if not all of the

involvement, outside of congregational singing or the offering, involves the

pastor, the music leader, and the band. Attendants are passive in their worship of

God. Emergents desire to be active. Leonard Sweet calls the Postmodern world

the “Karaoke Culture.” He believes they do not simply desire to listen to music,

they want to participate in the music.

Dan Kimball writes, “Many emerging worship gatherings seek to be nonlinear.

They don’t want to be so pre-planned that the Spirit isn’t allowed to work in

people or change things. Emerging generations have grown uncomfortable with

the boxed-in feel of many contemporary worship services. Instead of a linear

design of five songs, a sermon, closing song and dismissal—emerging worship

moves in an organic flow.” “Organic means a weaving of many things

throughout a meeting that people can participate in.” He further writes, “Being

organic is not being unorganized and chaotic.” “It means thinking through

creative ways for more interaction, more involvement than just a sermon and

some songs” (pp. 76-77).

Room layouts are usually arranged to avoid a theater feel. Designated places

called “prayer stations” are established in which participants may move to

throughout their “gathering.” Kimball writes, “In most emerging worship

gatherings, people aren’t forced to remain stationary in their seat for the whole

meeting.” “During . . . reflective worship, people are allowed to leave their seats

and go to prayer stations around the room. Prayer stations are spaces created in

the room for people to use to help guide them in prayer and many times have

interactive elements as part of them. They usually have Scriptures written out to

guide people in prayer about various things that may tie into what was taught in

the sermon. During these times of contemplative musical worship, people feel the

freedom to leave their seats and go kneel down or lie on their faces to pray and

communicate to God. They have freedom to leave their seats and go to

community journals at prayer stations set up for people to write out prayers and

thoughts. There might be places where they can paint and or artistically express

worship using other materials.” “Having the freedom to move about at appropriate

times during the worship gathering is a very freeing and beautiful thing in

emerging worship. People are free to pray on their own, pray with others, or go to

a prayer, art, or journaling stations while musical worship plays” (pp. 89-90).

Image-Driven – Sweet writes, “Postmodern culture is image-driven. The

modern world was word-based. Its theologians tried to create an intellectual faith,

placing reason and order at the heart of religion.” “The lesson for the church is

simple: images generate emotions, and people will respond to their feelings” (p.

86). Rather than emphasizing “propositions,” emergents emphasize metaphors,

similes, and parables.

Kimball writes, “Emerging generations are very visual. They crave a sense of

mystery and wonder of God as they worship. They desire a spiritual environment

for worship. That is why in most emerging church gatherings you will see crosses

set up on tables or hung or propped up in various other places in the room. In

many contemporary and modern churches a large simplistic cross may be

displayed behind the pulpit. But emerging churches use crosses that usually look

ancient. Some use Celtic crosses, and some use crosses normally seen in

Orthodox churches” (p. 78).

This image-driven emphasis will appear through art. Such artwork might include

murals, artistic prayer stations, Bible verses written in creative ways, a variety of

lighting and draperies, paintings, etc. Gatherings often begin with various ancient

visual images projected on screens. These expressions seek to assist in creating a

sense of religious mysticism that moves one emotionally to what some term raw

or authentic Christianity.

Emergent gatherings view preaching differently. They move away from a

propositional approach. Leith Anderson, in his work entitled A Church for the

Twenty-First Century, writes “The old paradigm taught that if you had the right

teaching, you will experience God. The new paradigm says that if you experience

God, you will have the right teaching” (p. 46). Emergents, as a whole, believe

that most Modern churches focus too much upon the pastor or the music leader.

They believe more emphasis should be placed upon the Scriptures and Christ.

Connected – Sweet writes, “The web is less an information source than a social

medium.” Amazon.com and eBay “are becoming the new town squares for the

global village” (p. 109). This strong desire for connectivity appears to come from

the disjointedness of postmodern society. Because of the breakdown of the

traditional family, people need a place to belong and connect with others.

Jimmy Long, a proponent of the Emerging Church, writes in his work entitled

Emerging Hope, “Essentially, aloneness is a state of the soul. We can be

surrounded by people but still be alone. Aloneness can only be healed by being

part of a community—ultimately the community of God. Without consciously

realizing it, many young people today are adapting to their aloneness by seeking

community.” “For them, community replaces the vacuum left by their family’s

abandonment of them” (p. 51).

“The preaching usually does not occur from an elevated stage.” “There is a

plurality of people in the church involved in reading Scripture passages, sharing

poems, and participating in other ways so the focus is not always on one person.”

“Communicating with visuals is very much part of emerging worship gatherings.

Even if there is one primary teacher in a local church, the speaking is shared as

much as possible. The desire is to avoid developing a dependency upon one

person in the worship gathering (or a dependency on a certain personality or style

of teaching).” “The preacher is not seen as above or separate from the

congregation, but among them” (pp. 90-91).

There appears to be an attempt to parallel what occurred in the Jewish synagogue

or early church home churches. Kimball writes, “In emerging church worship

gatherings, the teaching and preaching spring from the community. Jesus is the

centerpiece, not the preacher. This also applies to musical leaders and worship

bands. Emerging worship is not a pop concert and the leader of musical worship

needs to reflect this in his or her approach to leading. We are moving away from

flashy colored lights focusing upon the band. Instead, the musical worship leader

and the band are trying to disappear rather than be staring out at everyone.” “The

communal reading of creeds, prayers, and Scriptures also enhance the sense of

community” (pp. 91-92).

Emergent worship gatherings obviously appeal to a Postmodern world. Experience plays

a large role in today’s society. People’s emotions often become the guiding rule of the

day. Interest in objective truth pales in importance compared to feelings about truth. In

fact, what is true to one person is not necessarily true to someone else. Participation is

very important. To passively sit back and be entertained is not appealing to Postmoderns.

They want to actively participate. Since we live in such an iconic day, images have

become a major part of society. Entire companies are known by a symbol. Symbols

have meaning. They communicate powerful messages. Lastly, society desires to be

connected. We live in a global world in which many people feel disconnected. Lack of

family connectivity increases the need for Postmoderns to be connected.

While every missionary understands the need for contextualization on the foreign field,

Bible-based missionaries also realize the need for the Bible to shape a culture, rather than

the culture to shape one’s understanding or presentation of the Bible. Most emergents

believe that if Christians are going to reach effectively the Postmodern world they must

adapt to what today’s culture desires. Bible-based believers daily face the challenge of

being true to Christ’s teachings yet relevant to today’s culture.

Theological Analysis of the Emerging Church

Opinions differ widely regarding the emerging church. Those supporting the emphasis

believe it is the hope for reaching the postmoderns. Jimmy Long writes, “Though the

gospel does not change, the world does, and the strategies that we use to reach the world

must change over time. As we move into the twenty-first century, many Christians

continue to minister as if they were living in the nineteenth century, convinced that they

are ministering as Jesus did” (p. 80). He further writes, “I am convinced that God is

preparing the people of this postmodern culture to hear God in new ways” (p. 83). Long

believes that “although the culture around us may be decaying, the church, instead of

being on the brink of extinction may be on the verge of a great revival” (p. 30).

Others call for a more measured response. Stetzer writes, “To be in this conversation, we

need to think biblically and critically. We should journey and partner with the

‘relevants,’ seeking to make the Gospel understandable in emerging culture. We can and

should enter into dialogue with reconstructionists – learning, discussing and applying

together what Scripture teaches about church. But, we can and must speak prophetically

to revisionists that, yes, we know the current system is not impacting the culture as it

should – but the change we need is more Bible, more maturity, more discernment and

more missional engagement, not an abandonment of the teachings of scripture about

church, theology and practice. Every group that left these basics has ended up walking

away from the faith and then, in a great twist of irony, is soon seen as irrelevant to the

world they tried to reach” (p. 2).

Many express great concern regarding the emerging emphasis. Webber writes,

“Contextualization of a message can be a valuable tool in communicating across cultures;

but when the context is allowed to determine the message, no good will come of it” (p.

3). He believes “the answer to the unveiling of people’s hearts is regeneration—not an

adaptation of the message to pander to a culture that denies absolutes and embraces

contradiction, but the unambiguous preaching of that message in the power of God,

resulting in a lifting of the veil and an expression of true faith” (p. 4). John Greening

provides two helpful points of analysis. He astutely comments, “A culture-focused

church will repeatedly need to redefine itself. The need for the redefinition is obvious:

culture is constantly changing. That is why there is a constant turnover in church-

ministry approaches. According to this new church-growth book, the seeker-sensitive

model that has been promoted for the last several years will not work with younger

generations. The book states that the previously revered technology for worship services

requiring the use of lighting, sound, PowerPoint, and video to capture the attention of the

TV/computer generation is no longer desired. The newer generations are looking for a

mystical experience—preferring stained glass, a darker atmosphere, candles, and icons.

Platforms that had the appearance of an entertainment venue for the MTV generation are

now to be designed with crosses and other symbols to promote spiritual reverence.” He

ends by asking, “Did God really intend for His church to change with the frequency of

styles in the fashion industry? Did He want His church to be the pawn of culture’s fickle

tastes?” (p. 1).

Greening’s second point is that “A culture-driven church puts itself at risk. The emerging

church emphasizes the recognition of pluralism and multiculturalism in society. In an

attempt to relate to this cultural diversity, many are encouraging dialogue with different

religious traditions for better understanding among groups. To make unbelievers or new

believers more comfortable, they are invited to continue practicing their former religious

rituals. I read of a Native American who believed the ritual of the Indian sweat house for

tribal men had been a helpful way for him to connect with the Great Spirit, so he

continued that practice after his ‘conversion.’” “The recognition of pluralism can even

lead to evangelical churches working with non-evangelical churches. Recently I received

a brochure from a large church in our area of Chicago that was hosting Purpose-Driven

Life and Church Seminars. The seminars were led by a staff member of Saddleback

Church, the parent church of the Purpose-Driven movement. To my dismay, the church

that was hosting the seminars was a Roman Catholic Church.” He concludes his article

by writing “God spent considerable time in His law warning the Children of Israel not to

absorb the religious and lifestyle culture of the Canaanite nations that surrounded them.

If they absorbed the local culture, disaster was sure to follow. It has always amazed me

that the people of Israel could shift from allegiance to the one true God to embrace the

religions of their neighbors in the space of only a generation or two. Is it possible we

could witness a similar shift in the church in our generation, all in the name of cultural

relevance? While we do want to be culturally aware, we must determine to always look

to God’s Word as the final authority for church faith and practice, not to the world around

us” (pp. 1-2).

John S. Hammett, a Professor of Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Society,

provides a helpful analysis of the emerging church. After attempting to define the

movement, he asks the question “Must All Churches Respond to Postmodernism?” to

which he provides four answers. “First, as Ed Stetzer helpfully notes, ‘the shift to

postmodernism has not happened everywhere

. . . . There are still large pockets in North America where people live out their lives in

much the same manner as their parents before them.’ In other words, the influences of

postmodern culture and thus the need for churches to adapt to postmodern culture may be

limited. There still seems to be a place for traditional churches.” “Second, even in areas

that are strongly affected by postmodernism, there are churches that are effectively

reaching their communities who are decidedly not part of the emerging church

movement.” “A third line of evidence questioning the central premise of the emerging

church movement is the continuing influence of parents on the spiritual lives of their

children.” Hammett quotes Christian Smith who indicates “’the vast majority of

American teenagers’ as ‘exceedingly conventional in their religious identity and

practices.’” “A fourth issue that questions the necessity or advisability of responding to

postmodern culture is the suspicion on the part of some that the influence of postmodern

culture itself is already waning.” Hammett concludes, “To insist that all churches must

change their methods and message in the light of postmodern culture to reach the next

generation seems simply to be an inaccurate overstatement.” He further states, “For

those most deeply and profoundly affected by those changes, emerging churches may

provide a helpful ministry, though I do not think there is either empirical evidence or

theological reason to believe only emerging churches can reach postmodern young

people. And, ironically, the more emerging churches target the postmodern generation,

the more they risk becoming what they oppose, a religious reflection of our consumer

culture. The church always faces the twin dangers of cultural captivity and cultural

irrelevance. The emerging church charges evangelicalism as a whole with being captive

to modern culture and irrelevant to postmodern culture. These charges are not without

merit. However, the emerging church itself also runs the risk of being captive to culture,

only to postmodern culture” (“An Ecclesiastical Assessment of the Emerging Church

Movement,” found at

http://ateam.blogware.com/AnEcclesiologicalAssessment.Hammett.pdf).

R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,

Kentucky, in his critique of Brian D. McLaren’s book entitled A Generous Orthodoxy,

writes “This author’s purpose is transparent and consistent. Embracing the worldview of

the postmodern age, he embraces relativism at the cost of clarity in matter of truth and

intends to redefine Christianity for this new age, largely in terms of an eccentric mixture

of elements he would take from virtually every theological position and variant.”

“McLaren effectively ransacks the Christian tradition, picking and choosing among

theological options without any particular concern for consistency. He rejects the

traditional understanding of doctrine as statements of biblical truth and instead presents a

variant of postmodernism—effectively arguing that doctrines form a language that is

meaningful to Christians, even if not objectively true. He claims to be arguing for a

‘generous third way beyond the conservative and liberal versions of Christianity so

dominant in the Western world.’” Mohler concludes, “The Emergent movement

represents a significant challenge to biblical Christianity. Unwilling to affirm that the

Bible contains propositional truths that form the framework for Christian belief, this

movement argues that we can have Christian symbolism and substance without those

thorny questions of truthfulness that have so vexed the modern mind. The worldview of

postmodernism—complete with an epistemology that denies the possibility of or need for

propositional truth—affords the movement an opportunity to hop, skip and jump

throughout the Bible and the history of Christian thought in order to take whatever pieces

they want from one theology and attach them, like doctrinal post-it notes, to whatever

picture they would want to draw.” “The problem with A Generous Orthodoxy, as the

author must surely recognize, is that this orthodoxy bears virtually no resemblance to

orthodoxy as it has been known and affirmed by the church throughout the centuries.

Honest Christians know that disagreements over issues of biblical truth are inevitable.

But we owe each other at least the honesty of taking a position, arguing for that position

from Scripture, and facing the consequences of our theological convictions.”

One of the most thorough critiques comes from D.A. Carson. Carson writes, “From these

opening pages—the summaries of the stories of many of the leaders of the emerging

movement, and the survey of some of their publications—one point stands out rather

dramatically. To grasp it succinctly, it is worth comparing the emerging church

movement with the Reformation, which was, after all, another movement that claimed it

wanted to reform the church. What drove the Reformation was the conviction, among all

its leaders, that the Roman Catholic Church had departed from Scriptures and had

introduced theology and practices that were inimical to genuine Christian faith. In other

words, they wanted things to change, not because they perceived that new developments

had taken place in the culture so that the church was called to adapt its approach to the

new cultural profile, but because they perceived that new theology and practices had

developed in the church that contravened Scripture, and therefore that things needed to be

reformed by the Word of God. By contrast, although the emerging church movement

challenges, on biblical grounds, some of the belief and practices of evangelicalism, by

and large it insists it is preserving traditional confessionalism but changing the emphasis

because the culture has changed, and so inevitably those who are culturally sensitive see

things in a fresh perspective. In other words, at the heart of the emerging reformation lies

a perception of a major change in culture.” Carson concludes his chapter by calling for

three points of consideration. “First, the emerging church movement must be evaluated

as to its reading of contemporary culture. Most of its pleas for reform are tightly tied to

its understanding of postmodernism.” “Second, as readers will have already observed

from the survey provided by this chapter, the appeals to Scripture in the emerging church

literature are generally of two kinds. On the one hand, some emerging leaders claim that

changing times demand that fresh questions be asked of Scripture, and then fresh answers

will be heard. What was an appropriate use of Scripture under modernism is no longer an

appropriate use of Scripture under postmodernism. On this gentler reading of

evangelicalism’s history, traditional evangelicals are not accused of being deeply

mistaken for their own times, but of being rather out of date now, not least in their

handling of the Bible. On the other hand, the emerging church’s critique of modernism,

and of the evangelicalism that modernism has produced, is sometimes (not always) so

bitter that evangelicalism’s handling of Scripture can be mocked in stinging terms.”

“Third, granted that the emerging church movement is driven by its perception of

widespread cultural changes, its own proposals for the way ahead must be assessed for

their biblical fidelity. In other words, we must not only try to evaluate the accuracy of

the emerging church’s cultural analysis, but also the extent to which its proposals spring

from, or can at least be squared with, the Scriptures. To put the matter differently: Is

there at least some danger that what is being advocated is not so much a new kind of

Christian in a new emerging church, but a church that is so submerging itself in the

culture that it risks hopeless compromise?” He summarizes his concern by writing “If the

four subsequent chapters are more critical, it is partly because my ‘take’ on contemporary

culture is a bit removed from theirs, partly because the solutions I think are required are

somewhat different from theirs, partly because I worry about (unwitting) drift from

Scripture, and partly because this movement feels like an exercise in pendulum swinging,

where the law of unintended consequences can do a lot of damage before the pendulum

comes to rest” (pp. 41-44).

Because of the Emerging Church’s constant evolving development, it is impossible to

cover adequately all of its aspects. While it is difficult to fault believers who desire to see

the unsaved come to Christ, both our beliefs and our methods must come under the

authority of Christ. Culture is constantly changing. It is a challenge for God’s people to

be both relevant and biblically-based. Many of the emergents’ insights into the

Postmodern culture are helpful. However, their solutions appear to be short-sighted and

problematic overall.