The Emergent Church Movement

This is the 5th part in the series “Exposed But Not Infected”

I’m going to let you in on a secret –  I am not nearly as smart as those who have written the books that both promote and critique the Emerging / Emergent Church. So rather than pretend to be smarter than I am, I’ll just attempt to give you my take on it. If you’ve been tracking with me in this series, you’ll know that the angle I am taking is that of someone who has been exposed to, and at times even taken in by each of these “infections”, but have now distanced myself from each one in some way – avoiding “infection” by them, if you will.

I have struggled with how to handle this part of this series, partly because it is hard to explain my exposure to this in a concise manner, and partly because I am sure that many of my readers may not even be familiar with what the Emergent Church Movement is. So in light of that, as I have done with a couple of the other topics in this series, I have decided to cover this in 2 posts.

Speaking of books by people smarter than me, a very readable and excellent book that gives a solid biblical critique of the Emergent Church is Why We’re Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be , by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. This is not a polemic written by some old-school Fundamentalist, but a voice being sounded from within the very generation that is being captivated by this movement. And the best thing about it is that it’s not over the heads of most people, so I can recommend it with a clear conscience.

In this first post, I want to give you some information that will help you better understand what the Emerging / Emergent Church is. If you were to Google the term “Emerging or Emergent Church” your computer may blow up, but it is still hard to find a clear definition of what exactly it is. In fact to really get a handle on what it is and how to explain it is kinda like nailing Jell-O to a wall. However, in the next paragraph I will take a whack at it by giving multiple descriptions (adapted from Kevin DeYoung).  

The Emergent / Emerging Church is a diverse but recognizable movement. To some, “emergent” means nothing more than a new style and approach to worship (couches, statues, paintings, candles, and coffee). To others it signals an appreciation for postmodernism. To yet others, it means a return to a more ancient, primitive, and pristine form of Christianity. At a popular level, the term “emerging church” has been applied to high-profile, youth-oriented congregations that have gained attention on account of their rapid numerical growth; their ability to attract (and retain) 20-somethings; their contemporary worship, which draws from popular music styles; their ability to promote themselves to the Christian subculture as the “cool way to do church”, through websites, books, conferences, and word of mouth.

Some of the most notable writers and speakers in the movement are: Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Rob Bell, Spencer Burke, Donald Miller, and Leonard Sweet. While I am calling these guys by name, I am not labeling them heretics, although in my opinion, some of them walk dangerously close to that line. Each may have some good things to say, but you must be real careful to keep the meat and throw away the bone. Besides not having an official creed or statement of faith, they also have no official spokesman. There are many voices from within this movement, but none of them claim to be the “official spokesman” and, it seems that no one person is willing to be held responsible for what the others who claim to be “emergent” might say. In other words, those who are the voices of the movement seem exempt from “guilt by association”, as they can easily say “I may be an emergent Christian, but what he (some other emergent) says does not represent my views”. 

All in all, the whole movement and the concept it represents is hard to explain because its only statement of faith seems to be that they don’t believe in statements of faith. The next post in this series will get into some of the reasons I was convicted of the need to distance myself from this camp. But I will also point out some of the positive aspects of the Emerging Church movement as well.