The Emergent Next Door?
— Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 —
There’s a lot of reasons why I was glad to see Adam Greenway and Bill Henard’s new volume Evangelicals Engaging Emergent: A Discussion of the Emergent Church Movement (B&H). First, it’s an important topic. Second, the book is edited by two friends, both faculty members here at Southern. Third, the book contains essays by some friends and folks I like to read such as Chuck Lawless, Jim Shaddix, Ed Stetzer, Mark Devine, etc. (Jim Shaddix, along with Argile Smith, taught me to preach; they signed a legal waiver so they can’t be held liable for it). Fifth, the book contains the first published essay by my assistant and doctoral student Robert Sagers, and I’m really proud of him.
Sagers’s chapter is on salvation in the emerging church, and he hits just the right tone. There’s a lot in the so-called “emerging” churches that are right on target, reclaiming, for instance, the importance of narrative and mystery and so forth. On the other hand, there’s some faddishness, immaturity, and retread liberalism in some wings of the movement too. Sagers’s chapter takes a balanced, humble, theologically convictional look at the movement’s view of salvation, while recognizing the “conversation” is diverse and complex. He’s a careful thinker and a good writer.
Here’s how Sagers concludes his chapter:
There are those within the emerging church the Scripture would categorize as false teachers. Where that is the case, evangelicals must put priority on the gospel over other considerations. The exclusivity of Christ, penal substitutionary atonement, and biblical eschatology must not be traded away for anyone’s mess of pottage. On the other hand, there are also some voices within the emerging church movement who are pointing out real deficiencies with the way evangelicals have understood the doctrine of salvation. Where these voices are consonant with that of the Spirit of Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, we should listen humbly.
I agree. The emerging church probably won’t last long (at least not in the “movement” incarnation in which we now know it), but the issues raised by it, for good and for ill, will be with us for years. Buy this book and read all about it.
Interesting. I have a very good friend that is jumping on the emergent train. He’s even about halfway finished writing a book in which he will entitle “The new 95″ where he hopes to point in the direction of reformation.
I’ve spent several hours on the phone with him though just sorting through why he calls himself emergent and it seems that every issue (save two or three) that he raises are issues that I’ve prayed would change as well.
My friend sounds nothing like an emergent (the ones I’ve heard and read), but there is something about change that is getting people excited. Christians and false converts both are wanting something to change within the church and it looks like both of them are looking toward the emergent movement to provide that change.
I suppose the only thing that can help us to reform the entire congregation is to get rid of those branches that are dead… That will happen when the storm comes (as we saw last winter). All the weak and dead branches will fall to the ground when the storm (persecution) come. How long will it take? Will the true Christians be grateful when it happens?
Reply