I understand that the title can be seen as an oxymoron, but I have been struggling with the notion of the "Emerging" church vs. the "Evangelical" church.
Depending on the audience, both of these names have a negative meaning. The word "Emerging" has been made synonymous with "post-modernism" "Seeker-sensitive" "Purpose-Driven" etc., and the word "Evangelical" has been made synonymous with "fundamental" "Traditional" "Institutional" etc..
On the other side of the same coin, these can both be viewed in very positive lights as well. The "Emerging" church is "community" "service" & "fresh." Similarly, the "Evangelical" church is "bold" "grounded" & "secure." I understand that these opinions are strictly my own, but nonetheless, they seem somewhat accurate in the minds of most.
So, the debate rages between others; however, this debate is being fought inside me.
I wrestle with "right" or "wrong." My fear is that we forfeit one for the other, so currently I am curious to know if we can have both. We forfeit the "secure community." We eliminate the "grounded" theology for "fresh" ideas that have no basis in the scripture. Similarly, we surrender the ability to reach others in a "fresh" way because it shakes the "secure" understanding of how things have been done in the past.
So, I will wrestle with this simple question, "Can we have an Emerging Evangelism?"
4 comments:
what we need is a total revolution in the way church is done...
evangelism must be a PRIORITY..
from the time of CONSTANTINTE, when churches went from underground, radical, subversive gatherings of beleivers, to an institution, the church has been torn away from it's biblical model.....
i propose all the churches shut their doors, and we as christians meet in basements and closets, and share christ over the water cooler and coffee.. and heaven forbid.. beer..
and WATCH what happens to the world then...
by the way.,. miss you michael.. it's been a long time since we debated anything... (is it "BIT- ter" cold or "bidder" cold...)
Hey Josh, great to read your words. I agree, it is much easier to talk and just be a part of community over a nice cold glass or bottle of beer (especially Shiner Bock).
By the way, good word choice with "subversive."
My guess would be "BIT-ter" cold.
Debate is good for the mind and soul.
our church leadership is all required to read the book "The Shaping of Things To Come"... the book definitely challeges...
what's happend recently is a movement of church growth that still focuses on "attractional" evangelism...
while that worked for awhile... we are in a "post Christian" era.. there are people in our own Communities who have never (and WILL never) set foot in a "church" building....
instead of getting them to come to church.. we should quit trying to make Jesus look cool, and sound like green day or ryan cabrera, and focus on living out the christian life in the real world.
so many greek and roman ideas have sunk into our christian identity that it really robs us of the beauty of christianity.. some of that is the "temple" mode of worship.. which was not what the new testament church had..
and some of that is the simple LINE we draw between "sacred" and "profane"
God is omnipresent. (if i descend into HELL YOU are there...) so why not go where He is? and reach the people He loves..
anyway.. i just like spouting off to help my thought's make sense..
i do miss you griggs, and your wife.. hope to meet your kids someday! the pictures on your family blog are beautiful..
here's some of mine:
http://go.to/joshuakhatcher.com
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