"Emergent Church" leader Brian McLaren was recently in Grand Rapids for a seminar on "the movement" or "the conversation" or whatever they're calling it - at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.
I'm certainly no theologian and I sure don't have a Ph.D. hanging on my wall - I'm just a guy from a blue-collar family who reads and understands his Bible, but critiquing something like this seems almost unfair; like shooting fish in a barrel. The Grand Rapids Press article on this matter can be found here.
What follow are some quotes from the story, followed by a little commentary by yours truly.
"But for an emerging group of postmodern Jesus followers, the heart of the faith lies in things such as racial reconcilliation, poverty eradication and environmental preservation."
This is nothing but old-fashioned liberalism. It's a primary reason why my wife and I left the Reformed Church in America. Their web site was chock-full of extraneous matters regarding left-wing politics, the Palestinians, and of course that centerpiece of political liberalism, The Environment. Funny, but I can find no references to these tangential matters in Christ's Great Commission. Perhaps Christ wasn't purpose-driven or conversational about such things. Or, just maybe, He knew these matters were of little significance when placed against the backdrop of matters like man's sin and salvation.
"'Is Christianity a way of life or is it a system of belief?' asked McLaren, a church founder and author. 'A lot of us are asking questions about a lot of things that haven't been asked about.'"
Everything we need regarding our salvation is clearly put forth in Scripture. To think that people today are finally asking questions that have never been asked in the past is, in my opinion, the height of both arrogance and foolishness.
"They are sick of being spectators at high-octane church services, longing instead for ancient forms of participatory worship."
Two wrongs certainly do not add up to a right. If McLaren's answer to the increasingly-ridiculous antics that megachurches across this nation are employing to attract consumers is to throw out some 2000 years of Christian history and practice and trade it in for a whole lot of questions that have already been answered, then he's gonna be sorely disappointed when this movement collapses under the weight of its own idiocy. One of the "ancient forms of participatory worship" that these emergent churches like to employ is the labyrinth. I see the labyrinth as the perfect embodiment of this movement - people walking around lost, knowing neither where they came from nor where they're going. And all of this on purpose.
"They are disengaged from a faith defined primarily by belief, desiring a faith that calls for action. They are withdrawn from a book-centered base of knowledge, captivated by multisensory communication with God and other people."
Wow, where to begin with this one. Being withdrawn from a book-centered base of knowledge can be translated like this: "We emergent-types think the Bible has value but our experiences, our conversations trump that old collection of doctrine. We're free, doggone it!" When you jettison the Bible and Sola Scriptura, well, let's just say it opens a wide door for publishers like Zondervan and Multnomah.
"They are more open to mystery and are eager to enter conversations where there is a 'diversity of opinion' on theological matters, such as homosexuality and the salvation of non-Christians, McLaren said."
There are certain fixed truths in Christianity that are not open to a diversity of opinion. These fundamentals are what make orthodox Christianity orthodox. I'll skip commenting on homosexuality because Paul, as well as the Old Testament are more than clear on that one. But as to the "salvation of non-Christians" there is no such thing. In Acts 4:12 we read that, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." This is where McLaren is at his most dangerous, because he uses his teachings to lead consumers everywhere to believe that they can hang on to their Buddhism, their Hinduism, add a little Jesus and still somehow avoid eternal damnation. The Bible says otherwise.
"If it's going to be an honest faith, (emergent Christians) have to be able to ask questions. I think that the life and message of Jesus is the best news in the world. It's a shame if that message gets locked in a box that everybody's ignoring."
To sum things up, when I read statements like the ones above and I hear others in the emergent movement speak of questions and never-ending conversation, I am reminded of 2 Timothy 3:7:
"...always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth."
R.J.
A living, loving,
gospel sermon, however unlearned in matter and uncouth in style, is
better than the finest discourse devoid of unction and power. A living
dog keeps better watch than a dead lion, and is of more service to his
master; and so the poorest spiritual preacher is infinitely to be
preferred to the exquisite orator who has no wisdom but that of words,
no energy but that of sound. The like holds good of our prayers and
other religious exercises; if we are quickened in them by the Holy
Spirit, they are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, though we may
think them to be worthless things; while our grand performances in
which our hearts were absent, like dead lions, are mere carrion in the
sight of the living God. O for living groans, living sighs, living
despondencies, rather than lifeless songs and dead calms. Better
anything than death. The snarlings of the dog of hell will at least
keep us awake, but dead faith and dead profession, what greater curses
can a man have? Quicken us, quicken us, O Lord!
Media Fast - See You Next Week!
Friends and Family,
Several times this summer I have taken what I call media fasts. I've found them to be a way of cleansing my mind and spirit of all the noise that can bombard me from week to week.
From my teen years I have been something of a media junkie. My typical day has me reading many Christian and news websites, listening to conservative talk radio between 3 and 6 hours per day (while doing other things), reading the Grand Rapids Press, and watching at least one hour of cable news almost every day. Quite often watching the news on TV leads to me watching something I would never have planned to watch.
Having never been through it thoroughly, I have printed out the Heidelberg Catechism and plan to spend the next days studying that. As one who considers himself "Reformed" I should have at least a rudimentary understanding of that document, the Belgic Confession and the Canons of Dordt. Surely that will be of more benefit to me than a rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond.
I've done this twice this past summer with limited success. Usually by Wednesday the radio goes back on and I'm once again all over the net. It really takes discipline and it's tough, but I have found that on those days when I find other things to occupy my mind, it is refreshing and even has a calming effect. I believe the reason for all the noise in our day is created to drown out that still, small voice of God. Most people today are afraid to be left alone with their own thoughts.
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:13
I'll post again on Saturday, September 24.
R.J.
06:19 PM in Commentary | Permalink