Emerging Church

One of the things that's amazed me in my short 17 years as a Christian is how many goofy unbiblical trends that come sweeping through the church. In those 17 years I've seen the church growth movement, the name it claim it, the third wave/Toronto (so-called) Blessing, and now the latest man-centered movement...The Emerging Church. What's the Emerging church you ask? Well let me give you a brief synopsis and then check out the link at the bottom of this post for a satirical view of this movement.

About five years ago while on staff with my home church back in Pa., my pastor and I were encouraged by our conference leader to go see a guy by the name of Brian McLaren give a seminar on postmodernism. I went with an eagerness thinking he was going to enlighten us as to reach out more effectively with the gospel to this postmodern culture. What he ended up teaching was that we need to become more postmodern in our thinking and stop thinking there are such things as absolutes.

During the question and answer period, someone asked him what he thought of the authority of scripture. He paused for a moment, laughed condescendingly and said, "I'd rather not comment on that right now". I was completely gobsmacked as they say here in the UK but what astonished me was that many others in the room were laughing as well. I left the meeting that day feeling as though someone had kicked me in the stomach.

Now what do you think happens when you remove the authority of scripture from the church? You get a smorgasbord of spiritual beliefs and practices that are in some cases heretical and downright dangerous. McLaren has stated recently, ""Frankly, many of us don't know what we should think about homosexuality. We've heard all sides, but no position has yet won our confidence so that we can say "it seems good to the Holy Spirit and us."... If we think that there may actually be a legitimate context for some homosexual relationships, we know that the biblical arguments are nuanced and multilayered, and the pastoral ramifications are staggeringly complex.""Perhaps we need a five-year moratorium on making pronouncements [about homosexuality]. In the meantime, we'll practice prayerful Christian dialogue, listening respectfully, disagreeing agreeably. When decisions need to be made, they'll be admittedly provisional. We'll keep our ears attuned to scholars in biblical studies, theology, ethics, psychology, genetics, sociology, and related fields. Then in five years, if we have clarity, we'll speak; if not, we'll set another five years for ongoing reflection. After all, many important issues in church history took centuries to figure out.Maybe this moratorium would help us resist the "winds of doctrine" blowing furiously from the left and right, so we can patiently wait for the wind of the Spirit to set our course."

How about just reading your bible, it can't get any clearer!

There are many more aspects to this movement that are freightening to say the least. I'll have more soon but I thought I'd post this as an intro. for those that are not familiar with the emerging church movement. Sooner or later you will become more aware of it as it is creeping into the church in some subtle and not so subtle ways.

For now, check out this link: http://thekingdomcome.com/the_emergent_elijah

Test all things!!!