I want to make a statement about the world that we live in. I am thrilled to live here and now. As a sometimes student of history, I can imagine life in a lot of other eras in a lot of other places. Movies help with the mind pictures. No time or place appeals to me like the 21st century in the good old USA. I could elaborate for quite some time on my reasons for thinking thus. Above all, I find the interconnectivity of our global culture fascinating. The sharing of ideas…the expansion of human rights…the opportunity to engage other perspectives in meaningful conversation all get my blood pumping. Sadly, my doctor tell me that this leads to high blood pressure…I find it strange that so many are afraid of new cultural perspectives. They fear the change that inevitably comes with globalization. Of course, they find my view of things equally confusing. They see my willingness to consider other viewpoints as a challenge to the loyalty I have to my own nation or heritage. I am not saying this from a negative standpoint. It is the obvious result of transition. Some are on one side of a cultural bridge. Some are on the other. Most of us are somewhere in the middle, moving slowly out of fear that we may fall into the chasm of uncertainty that yawns below us.
The Church is highly affected by these opposing perspectives. On one side of the chasm stands the stalwart bastion of traditional Evangelicalism, with its historical connections to Fundamentalism. Its foundations are made of solid stone…the “objective truth” mined from the quarries of Scripture through literal, grammatical, historical exegesis. Its presence is reminiscent of the castles of old; it seems to protect its adherents while offering certainty and stability. When one encounters its walls, it radiates permanence. But a closer inspection may reveal crumbling and a subtle whiff of decay.
On the other side, the bridge leads to a flowing and meandering river. Its very fluidity forces those wading in its currents to abandon permanence. This is the Emerging church. Ideas and conversations fluctuate, governed only by the “banks” known as “language games”. The concept of stability is washed away in the ever-changing experience of the individual’s moment. The concept of “objective truth” stifles the rush of water. Why dam up the energy and creativity of God’s people? It is par for the course that those who bathe in this brook’s depths are often confronted by the raw sewage that finds its way into the eddy. After all, how can one keep the river “pure” when “purity” is merely the construct of the individual who desires to define it?
Clearly, something has changed in the basic assumptions of Christians these days. The Emerging Church hopes to re-articulate orthodox theology in terms that are culturally relevant to those who are already on the far side of the bridge. Terms like postmodern, relativistic, pluralistic, multicultural, post-liberal and post-Christian are more important than language that represents a typical Evangelical Sunday morning sermon. If we start with the idea that our cultural mentality is changing, then it is sensible to change our focus as Christians.
Prior to delving in to the particulars of the Emerging church and its detractors, do we believe that a general cultural shift of the magnitude described above is taking place, especially among our younger generations? If not, what caused this tension in the first place? Many in the Evangelical camp are content to write off the Emerging church as a childish response to fundamentalist conservatism. Are there deeper issues at stake? Will the church remain relevant and evangelistic if the culture changes around it but it remains rigid?
