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Emerging Madness
10/08/2006
“It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
2 Timothy 4:3,4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth
This is not some rare cult hiding in the fruity corners of Christianity but a fast growing school of thought which is becoming mainstream and influencing our seminaries, churches, and our children. In fact, I regret to say that it has even crept into my own community. I used to love to hear our former youth pastor preach. However, after having left our church for about a year, he returned and started up an “emerging” sort of gathering. After attending a couple of his meetings, I sadly decided that I could not support his new theology and methodology. He is a gifted teacher and I have no doubt of his sincerity and love of the Lord. However, I am deeply grieved that this mere shadow of Christianity has ensnared another brother.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Luke 11:37 “Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.”
Luke 13:3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
John 4:22 “You worship what you do not know”
Hebrews 13:15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
1 Samuel 15:22 …to obey is better than sacrifice…
To put it in a nutshell, Emerging Theology (an oxymoron if there ever was one) says that we are all brothers and we are all seeking God in different but equally valid ways. The Bible and Jesus can be a guide but what they mean to you may not be what they mean to me. We are all seeking truth but truth is not absolute so there is no clear way on knowing if/ when you have found the truth. To focus on absolutes and doctrine is to miss the point and the point is the mystery…the journey…the experience. And since we’re all on the same journey let’s help each other when we can and avoid anything negative which might spoil the vibe that your brother is cultivating. As one brother put it in his foundational theology, the only absolutes in life are “God is real” and “life hurts.”
As Keanu Reeves might say “whoah…” Well, let’s just break out the crystals and the incense and make it complete!
How in the world can someone read the Bible and emerge with that framework for who God is and what life is all about? Without the measuring rod of God’s Word, people can define Jesus, God, and morality as anything that justifies their lifestyle. We must remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, but the Holy Spirit will never contradict Himself and His Word! Three In One, remember?
John 14:23,24 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.”
The underlying impetus for aberrations of Christianity such as the Emerging Church Movement is the focus on pleasing men. As long as we believe that our primary purpose is to get as many people as possible to listen to us and accept at least the appearance of Christianity, then the further we will drift from the truth of God’s Word. God’s Word has never been popular and never will be and those who truly follow after Christ will always be persecuted and opposed by the world. However, if we change our focus to pleasing God by preaching the whole Gospel as revealed through His Word and leaving the results to Him, then we will grow in the true knowledge of Him, share in His sufferings, and avoid the adulteration of His purposes.
We are NOT called to engage and transform our culture, but to preach the gospel in its entirety in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results to God. The path of destruction for the majority of the world is clearly foretold in the scriptures and only a few will find the narrow way.
2 Corinthians 4:2-5 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord
Psalm 23:4 Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
1 Corinthians 11:31,32 31But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.
Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”
We are truly on the other side of the Looking Glass…the question is how far down the rabbit hole are we? For those of you not familiar with it, the Emerging Church Movement is not a single well-defined entity but a group of churches or gatherings whose only commonalities are their postmodern perspective, their lack of definition, their distaste for propositional / absolute truth, and a desire to reach young people (with what I have no idea). It is loosely categorized as “Christian” in that the names Jesus and God are used and teachings often include references to the Bible. Their emphasis is on the mystery of God and on helping each other with our pragmatic needs. You will rarely find a statement of doctrine (i.e., a clear stand on sin, judgment, repentance, heaven, hell, why Jesus died and rose from the grave, sanctification, the inerrancy of Scripture, etc.) because there is no consensus on these issues within their church nor do they consider them essential to being a Christian. As I said, there is no clear organization to this group but their defacto spokesman has become an author named Brian McLaren.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”
As I mentioned, Jesus and God are discussed and music is played where people are moved emotionally. However, just using the name “Jesus” or saying “God” doesn’t automatically mean that what you say, believe, or do has anything to do with the true and living Jesus and God of the Bible. You can’t just take some vague ambiguous post-modern notion and slap the tag “Jesus” or “God” on it and then expect Yahweh to smile upon it. For those names to have any connection to the reality they are intended to represent, they have to be defined by God’s Word. How are God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit described in the Bible? What is their character…their WHOLE character? What did they say concerning what is true and what is false? What did they say concerning man’s condition and fate? What did they say are the fundamental facts of man’s existence? What percentage of the Bible had to do with sin, judgment, the need for repentance, God’s love, tolerance, being accepted by our fellow man, and speaking the truth? Did God EVER call us to downplay or ignore the truth of His Word in order to get more people to listen to us? Throughout the Bible were the great men of God more concerned with the integrity of the message that God gave them or the reaction of those to whom they gave the message? If we are to say that we are truly seeking God (much less saying that we speak for God) shouldn’t our message reflect the same priorities as His Word?
March Hare: See all the trouble you started?
It isn’t shadows and shades of grey that drive out the darkness…it’s the Light. Hiding the truth from people doesn’t set them free. The Emerging approach to God is a result of one of two things. Either you don’t know the truth about who God is and His message to mankind (in which case you shouldn’t be trying to lead others because you don’t know where you’re going…the blind leading the blind) or you know the truth but you are intentionally hiding it from those you seek to lead.
Alice: But I didn't think...
March Hare: Ah, that's just it. If you don't think, then you shouldn't talk.
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Caterpillar: Who... are... you?
The most common reason for the latter is the notion that people have to slowly learn the truth on their own else you’ll offend them and drive them away. The hope is that if you can get people to start a conversation with those who know something about God, then they will at least be exposed to an environment where people are seeking God and it might rub off. The unspoken hope is that the Holy Spirit (but you can’t use that name because it freaks people out) will work on them while those around them are worshipping Jesus through music. Also, the message will be designed to be practical and pragmatic (with a dash of ambiguous wonder) but rest assured that it will carefully avoid anything which might offend.
Alice: Why, I hardly know, sir. I've changed so much since this morning, you see...
Caterpillar: I do not see. Explain yourself.
Alice: I'm afraid I can't explain myself, you see, because I'm not myself, you know.
Caterpillar: I do not know.
Alice: I can't put it any more clearly, sir, because it isn't clear to me.
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
Of course, one problem that becomes immediately apparent is that no one is real sure who this Jesus is and what He had to say to us and how it should apply to our lives. If they do know, they carefully edit the scriptures that have to do with sin, judgment, and the need for repentance (you know, those pesky little things that are necessary for salvation). The question is, how much of the gospel can you leave out before it stops being the gospel?
Ezekiel 3:18 “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.”
Another problem is that what often passes for worship is nothing more than emotionalism devoid of any understanding of God. How can you worship what you don’t know? I’ve seen the same sort of behavior at Pink Floyd concerts. Doesn’t true worship begin with an understanding of who God is and a repentant heart?
“I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.”
With the Emerging approach to God, you might as well just take the whole Bible and put it on a shelf somewhere because none of it really means what it says. Just trust what your “heart” tells you is true and be nice.
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
There is no avoiding the fact that the Bible is literally filled with absolute truths! They are not complicated and they do not require education of any kind to ascertain or be certain of. They are consistent, ubiquitous, and obvious unless your intent when approaching them is to twist them to justify your sin. Here are a few foundational absolutes (not meant to be all inclusive) without which it is absurd to claim that you’re are a Christian or that the group of people you are gathering together believe in Christ:
How can you reject ANY of these foundational beliefs and still claim to be spreading or practicing Christianity? If you DO accept these beliefs, why try and convince the world that you don’t in the hopes of seducing them into your group?
Matthew 7:13,14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Those who advocate the cloudy Emerging approach, also fail to consider the long-term effect of their actions. By immediately discarding the fundamentals of sound doctrine which their ancestors in the faith died for, they sow the seeds of carnality and unbelief for future generations. Can you imagine what the beliefs will be like for the SECOND generation of the Emerging Church? How about the THIRD? I’d be surprised if the name of Jesus will even be used or the Bible not totally discarded by then. Those who became martyrs for these essentials of the faith from Stephen to Martin Luther to those in other nations today would shudder at this abandonment of the truth.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
However, having said all this, there are many of my brethren which have adopted this philosophy of “ministry.” Granted, many of those within the movement are false brethren who have never known repentance or the infilling of the Holy Spirit. But there are those who I am confident know the Lord but have simply been drawn away by the pragmatism of attracting this generation of young people. They continue to be in my prayers and I know that just as God has not abandoned me when I have denied the truth, He will mercifully bring His other wayward children back to Him by His rod and His staff. My prayer is that it will not take too long or cost too high a price.
1 John 2:21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.