Concerns over the "emergent church"
Adrian Warnock's UK Evangelical Blog: "Our understandings of the gospel constantly change" Brian McLaren
Any non-Christian readers of this blog may find this post especially uninteresting, but for those who are involved with the church, especially the "emergent church" movement, this should be of particular interest.
Regarding the movement in which many of us have been previously interested and/or involved to one degree or another, Adrian Warnock eloquently voices our concern about the direction the movement is going. In an honest attempt to move back to the heart of the Gospel and to differentiate between church tradition and biblical mandate, there is the fear that many proponents of the emergent church movement are coming close to (if they have not already done so) "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." It appears that the message of the Gospel is becoming very open to changing with the cultural times. What started out as an attempt to speak to and reach out to a postmodern culture is itself becoming postmodern in which Truth, including the Truth of Scripture, has become relative. (quick disclaimer: obviously, this does not apply to everyone who is involved with the movement)
Warnock points out a quote by Brian McLaren (if you're at all familiar with the movement, you know who I'm talking about) as an example of the dangerous grounds upon which this movement treads:
Any non-Christian readers of this blog may find this post especially uninteresting, but for those who are involved with the church, especially the "emergent church" movement, this should be of particular interest.
Regarding the movement in which many of us have been previously interested and/or involved to one degree or another, Adrian Warnock eloquently voices our concern about the direction the movement is going. In an honest attempt to move back to the heart of the Gospel and to differentiate between church tradition and biblical mandate, there is the fear that many proponents of the emergent church movement are coming close to (if they have not already done so) "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." It appears that the message of the Gospel is becoming very open to changing with the cultural times. What started out as an attempt to speak to and reach out to a postmodern culture is itself becoming postmodern in which Truth, including the Truth of Scripture, has become relative. (quick disclaimer: obviously, this does not apply to everyone who is involved with the movement)
Warnock points out a quote by Brian McLaren (if you're at all familiar with the movement, you know who I'm talking about) as an example of the dangerous grounds upon which this movement treads:
Our understandings of the gospel constantly change as we engage in mission in our complex dynamic world, as we discover that the gospel has a rich kalaidoscope [sic] of meaning to offer, yielding unexplored layers of depth, revealing uncounted facets of insight and relevance. No doubt as we look back and see ways in which our modern understandings of the gospel were limited or flawed.Whereas I agree that we must make sure that our modern interpretations of the Scripture are correct, much of what I have read in many of the emergent church blogs and other materials has been a widespread abandonment of some of the bedrock principles of Scripture (and historical Christianity) that have been embraced since the first Century church. In so doing, most any lifestyle or action can be justified and embraced since "we're not exactly sure what Scripture meant by that" or "what Scripture teaches about that." In my opinion, that is a dangerous step to take. Read Adrian's commentary here.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 1/06/2005 11:00:00 AM
|
1 Comments:
It has long been my intent to blog on the emerging church. One of these days I'll actually do it I suppose. Suffice to say I share these concerns, and also think that there is a strong tendency towards narcissism in it also.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home