All these people drinking lovers' spit...
I use to think I was suppose to become somebody... somebody special. I haven't told many people this, but at one time I thought I was going to play a key role in the apocalypse... some kind of martyr... like one of the guys in Stephen King's The Stand who got strung up on a neon cross on the Las Vegas strip. Somewhere along the way I gave up on being an exemplary Christian. I stopped dreaming. Nowadays I just want redemption. I will be eternally grateful to God if when I reach my deathbed I am still availing myself of the cross of Christ. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.
I saw a film by a guy named Rob Bell this weekend... It was entitled "Sunday". He's the pastor of a church in Michigan or Minnesota... I don't know. Whereever it is, the place starts with an "M". Rob is part of the emergent church movement. I don't much care for "movements"... especially popular ones.
The video scared me.
I really don't understand everything that Rob is trying to do... or everything that the emergent church is trying to accomplish, but my gut (which can't always be trusted) says something's amiss.
Why was I scared? Two reasons I guess... At the end of the 12-minute short, I felt like Rob was saying (though not directly) "Come on... We can do it... You and I can really love God like we're suppose to!" If I asked Rob, I'm sure he would agree that we can't do anything, including love God, on our own... but this wasn't the least bit clear to me in what he said. It also troubled me that Rob never said anything during his film about sin... not a word. I always have a hard time listening to sermons about sin. They hurt. But it's a good hurt.
Rob's church is apparenlty growing faster than any church in American history. Seems to me that this could be for one of two reasons... Either one, Rob is really doing something right or, two his approach to Christianity is so thoroughly post-modern that it is palatable to our post-modern culture.
Is the Gospel suppose to be palatable? Maybe sheer numbers and rate of growth aren't the measure of a successful church. Then again, growth (or the lack thereof) says something... I'm just not sure that it tells us as much as we suppose it does.
My interpretation of scripture, the church and college ministry I choose to affiliate with, the kinds of prayers I pray... all of these things are colored by my personality, my past experiences, my life story. I can't escape these things. Every time I open my Bible, I bring myself along for the ride... it's inevitable. If your interpretation of scripture is equally as valid as mine and mine is just as tenable as yours, then we really have no grounds for discussing our faith do we? How do we believe in capital "T" Truth if we're all painting our own picture of what Christianity is suppose to look like? At what point do we submit to scripture and to the cherished doctrines and creeds of the faith, letting them define Christianity for us rather than redefine it for ourselves? You may say, "Well those creeds were authored by humans... they're subject to err, are they not?" Yes, I suppose they are... but some of these doctrines have stood for a dozen or more centuries. That says something doesn't it? Our forefathers believed these things... I'm not ready or willing to walk away from that and start my own movement. I don't trust myself that much. Why? Because I'm thoroughly fallen... and broken. I need all the help I can get.
I've heard it said by emergent church-goers that we should "ask big questions of a big God." I ask a lot of questions. I desperately desire answers... I have a hard time with ambiguity. I've posed countless questions to our Heavenly Father... but at some point we have to stop asking questions... or else our questions will become our god. C. E. M. Joad once said, "So much I can understand; so much, indeed, I accept." I like that quote.
Job asked a lot of questions. God was patient with him, but there came a point when God challenged Job... He asked Job where he was when He created the world. If I remember right, Job proceeded to cover his mouth and hide his face when God put His foot down. I think we could all learn something from Job.
It's good to ask questions... but there's also a time to stop questoining and believe.
Whatever problems the emergent church thinks it's solving by starting a new movement, I think there's one big problem they're forgetting about... themselves. The emergent church may thrive for a time... but eventually they will deal with the same hardships and complications every body of believers faces. We're all sinners... I know that my emergent brothers and sisters wouldn't deny this... but let's try to remember that wherever we go, there we are... We take our sin with us.
I saw a film by a guy named Rob Bell this weekend... It was entitled "Sunday". He's the pastor of a church in Michigan or Minnesota... I don't know. Whereever it is, the place starts with an "M". Rob is part of the emergent church movement. I don't much care for "movements"... especially popular ones.
The video scared me.
I really don't understand everything that Rob is trying to do... or everything that the emergent church is trying to accomplish, but my gut (which can't always be trusted) says something's amiss.
Why was I scared? Two reasons I guess... At the end of the 12-minute short, I felt like Rob was saying (though not directly) "Come on... We can do it... You and I can really love God like we're suppose to!" If I asked Rob, I'm sure he would agree that we can't do anything, including love God, on our own... but this wasn't the least bit clear to me in what he said. It also troubled me that Rob never said anything during his film about sin... not a word. I always have a hard time listening to sermons about sin. They hurt. But it's a good hurt.
Rob's church is apparenlty growing faster than any church in American history. Seems to me that this could be for one of two reasons... Either one, Rob is really doing something right or, two his approach to Christianity is so thoroughly post-modern that it is palatable to our post-modern culture.
Is the Gospel suppose to be palatable? Maybe sheer numbers and rate of growth aren't the measure of a successful church. Then again, growth (or the lack thereof) says something... I'm just not sure that it tells us as much as we suppose it does.
My interpretation of scripture, the church and college ministry I choose to affiliate with, the kinds of prayers I pray... all of these things are colored by my personality, my past experiences, my life story. I can't escape these things. Every time I open my Bible, I bring myself along for the ride... it's inevitable. If your interpretation of scripture is equally as valid as mine and mine is just as tenable as yours, then we really have no grounds for discussing our faith do we? How do we believe in capital "T" Truth if we're all painting our own picture of what Christianity is suppose to look like? At what point do we submit to scripture and to the cherished doctrines and creeds of the faith, letting them define Christianity for us rather than redefine it for ourselves? You may say, "Well those creeds were authored by humans... they're subject to err, are they not?" Yes, I suppose they are... but some of these doctrines have stood for a dozen or more centuries. That says something doesn't it? Our forefathers believed these things... I'm not ready or willing to walk away from that and start my own movement. I don't trust myself that much. Why? Because I'm thoroughly fallen... and broken. I need all the help I can get.
I've heard it said by emergent church-goers that we should "ask big questions of a big God." I ask a lot of questions. I desperately desire answers... I have a hard time with ambiguity. I've posed countless questions to our Heavenly Father... but at some point we have to stop asking questions... or else our questions will become our god. C. E. M. Joad once said, "So much I can understand; so much, indeed, I accept." I like that quote.
Job asked a lot of questions. God was patient with him, but there came a point when God challenged Job... He asked Job where he was when He created the world. If I remember right, Job proceeded to cover his mouth and hide his face when God put His foot down. I think we could all learn something from Job.
It's good to ask questions... but there's also a time to stop questoining and believe.
Whatever problems the emergent church thinks it's solving by starting a new movement, I think there's one big problem they're forgetting about... themselves. The emergent church may thrive for a time... but eventually they will deal with the same hardships and complications every body of believers faces. We're all sinners... I know that my emergent brothers and sisters wouldn't deny this... but let's try to remember that wherever we go, there we are... We take our sin with us.
posted by cb at 4:11 PM
3 Comments:
Good post.
One note: Rob Bell affirms the ancient creeds. In fact, he could probably teach them to most Christians.
Great post, Collin.
Good to hear your thoughts.
Do you think of Rob Bell and emergents as brothers? Is it possible that God would work through people to reach a post-modern culture? Do you go to tent revivals often? Have modern brothers and sisters taught you..and used their giftings through a modern context to lead you closer to God? Have you gained other insights and points of view from those from the 17th century?Were there shortcomings...and are there? yet..I ask to many questions...Do I think emergent has it all figured out? Do I think those who consider themselves as part of this movement are superior or sinless? Do I think they have something to offer the body of Christ? Do I believe the best..yet test the spirits?
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