sustain:if:able kiwi

emerging church on air

Updated: Thanks to Rhema and wikiupload, the interview (6 mins long) is here and click “download”. I was most pleased with my line: “beware a bunnyhoping approach to church history” 🙂

I’ve been asked to be on air – Radio Rhema – tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Some person called Roger Oakland is touring New Zealand trashing the emerging church and they want a response from me at 7:40 am. I have just finished listening to an hour of one of his online videos re emerging church.

Personally, I don’t think it does Rhema any favours have this sort of stuff on air.

1 – He’s so extreme. When a person rejects those who read Purpose Driven Church or Richard Foster, those who listen to The Message, people shaped by the charismatic renewal, those interested in spiritual formation, then that’s a lot of evangelical church being dismissed, yet alone the Catholic church. (Vision New Zealand has had Catholic Archbishop John Dew speak twice at their Congress.)

2 – At heart this is a question of discernment. How do you know whether what is emerging is of God? Roger quotes the book of Jude for the need to discern. What is important is that Jude writes to a community. So discerment belongs in community. (Who is Roger’s community?) The Bible offers another models for discernment. In Acts 3, Gamaliel suggests fruit over time. In Acts 15 the church gives freedom, as long as the poor are remembered. Jesus suggests we love our enemies. What might happen if Roger applied these to the emerging church – give time, give freedom as long as they love the poor, love them?

3 – The way he constructs his argument makes him impossible to argue with
a) if you disagree with him, then you are deceived
b) if your criticise him, then you are a persecuter of the righteous remnant

4 – He asks the question “What Jesus will emerge from the emerging church?” Now that’s a good question and based on my reading and study, I’d suggest
(a) Jesus that takes Incarnation seriously
(b) a Jesus gospel that applies to whole of life
(c) a following of a Jesus who is the way, the truth, the life – Christian faith is not about an intellectual understanding of doctrine, but about a relationship with Triune God.

5 – And if I was to be critical of the emerging church movement, I’d offer some different critiques to those offered by Mr Oakland. I’d be challenging it to
– place a moratorium on US books and speakers
– take the absent voices (poor, women, ethnic) more seriously
– spend less time blog-ologising and more time discipling among real people in real communities