My EC Discussions Landed at
EMERGENT NO
I discovered Carla Rolfe the other day over at Emergent No. Many great things to read there, other than the post she made about me today.
She and the others who post there are feisty in their criticisms! Their content is worthy, and the temperature is hot. Perhaps a little less hot sauce would go a longer way in helping the EC'ers work through these issues with us. (I think it's burning their mouths and putting such a bad taste in their mouths that they are running away from us rather than talking to us.)
Anyway, thanks for the link Carla and friends! Keep up the hard work!
8 comments:
at: 6/24/2005 03:34:00 PM said...
I see the EC as a rebuke to the dead and consumer-oriented Evangelicalism that seems to be everywhere these days.
The problem is that Evangelicalism doesn't want to hear the rebuke. They can rebuke the EC (and rightfully so for doctrinal shenanigans the EC tries to pull here and there), but rather than examine what the EC is criticizing, all stalwart Evangelicals want to do is point out the faults of the EC instead of saying, "You know, we DO need to think more about justice issues, feeding the poor, cultivating an ecstatic love for God that is infectious to non-believers, and so on."
That's the real shame of this. No side is listening to the other; they're just playing defense.
at: 6/24/2005 04:03:00 PM said...
Well Dan... it may be the case in the majority that "no one side is listening to the other" but I assure you it's not the case with me.
I've read everything I could get my hands on coming from the ECM and I fully understand what they're critiquing. And rightfully, critiquing, in many cases.
The problem with the ECM lies not in what they critique, it lies in so much of what they reject, for the sake of unity.
Namely, the final authority of Scripture, the unity of true believers, God's holy standard of acceptable worship, lifestyle, language and conduct.
These are not trivial matters. When you've got a growing number of professing believers, joining together to endorse eastern mysticism (not so cleverly whitewashed with a Jesus label), when "being authentic" means cursing and swearing and being just as vulgar and profane as you please, and when these same people begin to "deconstruct" everything from the gender of the Holy Spirit, to women in the pulpit - these things tend to overshadow the legit gripe that is present with modern evangelicism.
So yeah - the critique of the ECM will continue, as long as the Lord permits, and by His grace, with the truth from Scripture.
SDG - Carla
at: 6/24/2005 04:41:00 PM said...
I don't think it's coincidence that much of what I hear from the ECM I heard from the JPM thirty years ago. I was just a kid then, but I vividly remember the same criticisms of "dead" churches and churches that segregate. It was cultural back then and it was cultural today. I'm pretty sure JPM thought they were going to plant churches in their own image -- they did, in fact, start communal churches that died as the movement faded. Their lasting impact was the ultimate reception of their criticisms and a move back towards the middle for much of mainstream Evangelicals. They remain, of course, the heart of the Third Wave movement.
I will be very curious to see if the ECM has any lasting impact, and what exactly that will be. If it moderates dogma and helps reunite a focus a balance of Word and Spirit, I'm all for that.
at: 6/24/2005 04:56:00 PM said...
Thanks for the comments guys. Very helpful interchanges here.
at: 6/24/2005 10:42:00 PM said...
Um, whats a JPM? Just curious.
Rob, you have grace and openness to you; thank you for being a good conversation partner with we EC-ers. I will add you to my blogs listing if you don't mind; my website, zoecarnate, is generally regarded as a definitive collection of links (nearly 4,000 and counting) of the emerging church conversation.
It will be good to grow nearer the mystery of God in Christ as we engage one another in brotherly dialogue!
at: 6/25/2005 08:10:00 AM said...
Mike Morrell,
JPM is Jesus People Movement.
at: 6/25/2005 07:01:00 PM said...
Mike,
I just check out Zoecarnate.Com and that is simply amazing! It would take me about a week at a steady pace to digest what you have there. And the list of links to the EC movement is especially helpful. I've got more there to digest than I ever will be able to. Thanks again guys for such an incredible effort!
at: 6/27/2005 12:20:00 PM said...
Hi Paul--thanks for the clarification! I'm a big fan of the Jesus People Movement--it had its shortcomings, to be sure, but an indigenous spiritual awakening and church planting movement is always up there in my book.
And thanks for the kind words, Rob. Its our labor of love, and I'll be interested to hear your input in the months and years to come.
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