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So I finished up the book today while my students were finishing up a quiz. The negative tone faded towards the end of the book as the authors began to point out some areas of traditional church that the Emergent crowd rightly points out need to be addressed. One point was that Christians need to demonstrate love to others more than they do. A church body that is introverted and argues over secondary issues bears no more fruit than an emergent church who may be too liberal in their theology for some tastes. Both may bear fruit, but perhaps not fruit that remains. Perhaps they plant seed that will spring up and be scorched and wither in the sun, or weeds will choke it out, or it will fall on rocky soil and not take root.
Many, perhaps most, of the complaints the Emergent church lodges in the direction of north american christianity are warranted, the pendulum seems to have swung too far in the opposite direction, which is equally dangerous and unbiblical. The authors used the illustration of the letters to the 7 churches of revelation to depict that churches have a variety of problems and strengths. In the end, it is as silly for non emergent thinkers to cast aside all contributions of the emergent church despite differences we have as it is for Emergents to dismiss core traditions and theologies of the orthodox faith because of shortcomings of the North American Church.
All in all, I would recommend this book to those who are leery of the emergent movement but cannot articulate why. With that said, that is also a reason why you and I should read some literature from Emergent leaders to have a balanced perspective. I am going to begin with Shane Claiborne and "The Irresistible Revolution."
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| | Posted 5/6/2008 7:59 PM - 44 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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