I picked up "Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)" from the library and have just gotten into the introduction. The authors are honest, humble, and well-informed. They do a great job outlining their purpose and are not offensive at all. There is an interesting section right at the beginning that attempts to describe what emergent "is" and since I know this is a question we often ask, I thought I'd post their (very long) description. It's kinda funny, but not far off at all. So, read the description in the comments field, and answer the question for yourself, once and for all: Are You Emergent? :)
Christian Identity and the Hegemony of Mammon
2 years ago
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5 comments:
"After reading nearly five thousand pages of emerging-church literature.: no doubt that the emerging church, while loosely defined and far fror: form, can be described and critiqued as a diverse, but recognizable, movement. You might be an emergent Christian: if you listen to U2, Mob:. Johnny Cash's Hurt (sometimes in church), use sermon illustration, The Sopranos, drink lattes in the afternoon and Guinness in the evening' always use a Mac; if your reading list consists primarily of Stanley Hauerwas, Henri Nouwen, N. T. Wright, Stan Grenz, Dallas Willard, Brennan Manning, Jim Wallis, Frederick Buechner, David Bosch, John Howard Yoder, Wendell Berry, Nancy Murphy, John Franke, Walter Winks and Lesslie Newbigin (not to mention McLaren, pagitt, Bell, etc.) and your sparring partners include D. A. Carson, John Calvin, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and Wayne Grudem; if your idea of a quintessential Christian discipleship is Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, or Desmond Tutu; if you don't like George W. Bush or institujons or big business or capitalism or Left Behind Christianity; if your political ~ncems are poverty, AIDS, imperialism, war-mongering, CEO salaries, con;umerism, global warming, racism, and oppression and not so much abortion and gay marriage; if you are into bohemian, goth, rave, or indie; if you talk about the myth of redemptive violence and the myth of certainry; if you lie awake at night having nightmares about all the ways modernism has ruined your life; if you love the Bible as a beautiful, inspiring collection of works that lead us into the mystery of God but is not inerrant; if you search for truth but aren't sure it can be found; if you've ever been to a church with prayer labyrinths, candles, Play-Doh, chalk-drawings, couches, or beanbags (your youth group doesn't count); if you loathe words like linear, propositionaL, rational, machine, and hierarchy and use words like ancient-future, jazz, mosaic, matrix, missional, vintage, and dance; if you grew up in a very conservative Christian home that in retrospect seems legalistic, miive, and rigid; if you support women in all levels of ministry, prioritize urban over suburban, and like your theology narrative instead of systematic; if you disbelieve in any sacred-secular divide; if you want to be the church and not just go to church; if you long for a communiry that is relational, tribal, and primal like a river or a garden; if you believe doctrine gets in the way of an interactive relationship with Jesus; if you believe who goes to hell is no one's business and no one may be there anyway; if you believe salvation has a little to do with atoning for guilt and a lot to do with bringing the whole creation back into shalom with its Maker; if you believe following Jesus is not believing the right things but living the right way; if it really bother you when people talk about going to haven instead of heaven coming to us: if you disdain monological, didactic preaching; if you use the word "story" in all your propositions about postmodernism - if all or most of this tortuously long sentence describes you, then you might be an emergent Christian."
Apparently I am emergent... =)
Good to know.
Dan Kimball recently posted a blog entry about this book. If you'd like to check it out, do so here: http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2008/03/interesting-and.html
Hey Jesse, thanks for posting this. I think I fit most of this, although I hate macs with a passion (they seem to be based too much on image for my tastes, I prefer a humble, lower quality computer) does that mean I have to leave?
Well, Nick - Macs are the absolute best computer for all people in all places at all times. But I'm sure you'll realize that truth sooner or later. For now, since you do such a good job planning the discussion meetings, we'll count you "officially emergent." :)
I don't know, Jesse...I think this matter needs more discussion. I mean, Nick's nice and all--but this really sets him apart. :)
Seriously, I'm really excited to hear what these guys have to say. From only this cursory example, it's clear the writers understand much more about the conversation than so many others.
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