Upfront Disclaimer: I do not speak for anyone on the board at Emergent Village, nor am I assuming the position of spokesperson. I speak from a position of proximity and friendship with emergent. And if you want to put a label on it (something I will hopefully make a point about), then by God, you can consider me emergent. I recognize up front and am fully aware that as with any group, the possibility for mistakes exist. So I am in no way in favor of giving Emergent “a get out of jail free card” from receiving criticism. I simply hope to push back against the criticism and remind everyone (myself?) of the spirit of emergent, instead of taking pot shots. I also will be careful of how exactly I capitalize e/Emergent, so please pay attention to my attempted nuance.
1 – An Introduction, 2 – A White Man’s World, 3 – Trend/Denomination, 4- A Public Service Announcement on Friendship, 5 – We Hate Scripture
I’ve lost all kinds of momentum with this deal if you haven’t noticed. Some people just know how to suck the fun out of things. I really only intended to write the first 3. But some of the commenters in the first post asked if I would respond to this criticism . . .
Emergent is the bastard child of Evangelicalism and doesn’t actually have any positive effect in spreading the gospel.
I’ll admit that I’ve only heard this criticism a couple of times and it mostly comes from those ultra-fundies standing on the outside lobbing grenades over the fence, so I don’t want to spend too much time on this one either. Even those who aren’t fans of Emergent but who still have some sort of intelligence don’t even think this.
I think what people mean when they say this is that we’re it’s just a rehashing of the Protestant liberalism of the late 20th century. That we’re all just a bunch of liberal hippies who don’t want to believe in miracles or anything supernatural so we have to deconstruct everything. Again, I think this has to do more with misinformation and fear. So it becomes easier to just dismiss Emergent as some bastardized version of christianity. Meaning it’s a lot of fluff but not a lot of substance.
I couldn’t disagree more.
I suppose the majority of this criticism comes because it’s so hard to exactly pin down what emergents believe. In the case of politics, most of us all over the map. In the case of economics, we’re even more diverse. And don’t even get us talking about theology. Emergent is just such an extremely diverse group.
For example, my best friend and the better half of our podcast, Nick is all about some Jesus Seminar stuff. He loves Spong, Borg, Campbell, and Ehrman. He doesn’t jive with miracles or the supernatural. He’s a skeptical un/believer. He thinks of himself an agnostic. But between us girls, I think that part is just for shock value. 
Just kidding.
But Nick is really interested in historical and textual criticisms. By most people’s account (not mine) . . . he plays pretty loose and liberal with his interpretations and approach to the bible.
I couldn’t ask for a better friend. Nor do I know of a nicer person. Or someone who believes and practices making the world a better place in the here and now. Nick is about as “christian” as it gets.
Me on the other hand, the Jesus Seminar kind of makes my stomach turn. I think it’s built off of the same absolute, foundationalist approach that the religious right use, only on the other extreme. I still believe in the possibility of the supernatural and miracles.
But the beautiful thing about us and our friendship, is that we’re both “emergent” in the sense that we believe strongly in friendship and believe that living into the way of Jesus is one of the most provocative ways of living in the here and now, and in any possibility of the future.
We are emergent. By all popular definitions of standards. But we are pretty different in theology and practice.
So I think what rubs most people the wrong way about emergent is that because we’re not clearly defined, nor do we have a black and white, concise doctrinal statement . . . that somehow we must all be raging, flag burning, bastard children of the evangelical church. The natural consequence or progression of what got spit out of the seeker-sensitive/megachurch movements of the 80s and 90s. While there may be some merit to that history influencing where we are . . . I think it’s a gross overstatement to think that we’re all just some homogeneous group that you can pigeonhole.
And furthermore . . . that because we’re not some homogenized group that the logical conclusion must then be that we’re some deformed, stunted, reject movement.
The problem is that many critics jump to that conclusion. That because there is no doctrinal statement, and because we’re all pretty diverse . . . that we must be some deformed, stunted, rejects. And if we’re deformed, stunted, rejects then obviously we don’t play a positive role in the advancement of the gospel.
That last phrase could take me forever to unpack, but just a quick side note, I wonder what some one means when they say advancement and what they mean when they say gospel. That’s part of the problem there is that we have different starting and working definitions of that idea.
I think to assume that it’s a bad thing to be a diverse group is a faulty premise. And to assume that Emergent must then be some sort of “bastard child” or deformed, theologically stunted group is a faulty premise. And to assume from that we play no role in the gospel (God’s hopes and dreams for the world) is a faulty premise.
In the end, most of these critics have never been to a church with an emergent flavor. Or have met an emergent-type person. Or have ever really deeply considered influences on an emergent theology. It’s no wonder that they come to such faulty conclusions.
If you met Tim Keel and went to Jacob’s well, you’d be hard pressed to not see the gospel being realized in it’s community. If you went to Freemont and visited with Karen Ward and her friends, you’d find it difficult to ignore the gospel coming to life in it’s midst. If you were at a cohort in Chicago or Boston, you wouldn’t be able to ignore the possibilities that are being awakened by the imagination of the gospel. If were at a conference in St. Petersburg, you would see the gospel taking shape in late night conversations and gracious hospitality.
But you’d have to get involved to know this. You’d have to get your hands dirty.
It’s much easier to stand on the sidelines reading a few blogs here and there. Or turning Doug or Tony or Phylis or Brian or Spencer or Diana into caricatures. But if you got to know the people, if you got to be a part of the communities being shaped by the conversation, if you got to be a practitioner alongside some people . . . you wouldn’t find it such an easy thing to gripe and moan.
Listening: American Idiot by Green Day
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4 Comments
As someone who remains largely on the side-lines right now … I’d want to remark that it would be pretty amazing if late 20th Century Evangelicalism turned out to be the ultimate and final perfected form of Christian faith in the present age.
Change and refinement is inevitable, and church history tends to suggest that this may be substantial and disruptive from time to time.
Hello Josh,
I come from the far off waters of Northern Ireland – I enjoying following the emerging church conversation on the net.
As your posts and the subsequent comments are about the American scene I do not know the people involved personally but I take your point about the diversity within emergent and the living out of the gospel message – it is so easy to sterotype.
I have however been deeply involved in IKON which is postmodern community praised by Caputo in his book WWJD and made famous by its leader P Rollins in his book ‘How not to speak of God.’ This community has been cited by many in the blogoshere as an ideal way to do church.
My experience of Ikon is so different to what I have read that it makes me cringe. It has no collective social action program/ involvement in the community or pastoral work – it is essentially a theology debating club for middle class 20/30 something intellectuals who are mainly disillusioned evangelicals. There is also a superior elitist attitude in some Ikon members who are very dismissive of their evangelical contemporaries.
I appreciate these comments are only my limited experience in a very local context and I in no way wish to paint the entire movement in these terms. This only only my opinion from a tiny cultural backwater!
Rodney
Rodney–being on the sideline for only a short time but reading a lot on several different blogs I think the thread of an experience you have had is also a thread that runs through the movement here. But, as you already acknowledged, one thread does not make an entire tapistry–keep looking if IKON doesn’t fit or keep encouraging outward looking if for some reason most of it does fit.
whooo . . . . for a second there . . . i thought the bastard children had found all the answers. thank god for imperfections and the conversations that surround, enter, and come out of such a place – from such a people.
in my context – in my little corner of the south – its the imperfections and one’s definition of an imperfection, that seem to cause a lot of the problems. and if anyone embraces and welcomes “certain” imperfections (as in allowing them to exist as they are) – well then – you’re either liberal, not a christian, unenlightened, a universalist, or maybe even a bastard child. again – this is just my neighborhood – where there’s a lot of energy put forth to protect one’s identity as baptist, methodist, presby, catholic, etc. an identity (for some around here) that is static, defined, solid, and only needs to be recieved – NOT explored, questioned, or changed.
so i’m not surprised to look around me and see people looking out from their structures and systems – desiring to understand emergent in the same way they understand themselves.
my hope is that emergent will always be open for criticism – and will be able to continue creating a place where all people can land safely – regardless of where the criticism, the discussion, the conversations takes them.
this is a most dificult task.
thanks josh and all – who continue to be creators of such places.
peace out
mj
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