SoapBox

Rambling thoughts on a tough question

What is the emerging Church? Why do we need it? These are questions that have been bouncing around my head for the last few days, so I will take a stab at what I think the answers are. I think before I can define the Emergent Church, I must first define what the Church is. In Galatians 3:26-29 it states "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus, And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise." To me this is the description of who makes up the Church. Through faith in Christ Jesus we become sons of God. Through baptism into Christ, we become part of the body of Christ. If we belong to Christ we then have complete access to the promises given to the heirs of Abraham. In 'The Cost of Discipleship' Dietrich Bonhoeffer laid out the clear and simple description of what constitutes the Church, when he wrote "The Church is one man. All who are baptized are "one in Christ". The Church is "Man", the "New Man". The Church is created as the new man through Christ's death on the cross.......Adam was the first man to be created after the image of the creator, but he forfeited that image at the fall. Now a second man, a last Adam, is created after the divine image - Jesus Christ. Hence the man is both Christ and the Church. Christ is the new humanity in the new man. Christ is the New Church." So with that rather long explanation, we come to the conclusion, that the Church is Christ and those who are part of the body Christ become one through Christ, and form the Church. So now having defined the Church as Christ, I will approach the question of what is the emerging Church and why do we need it. I see the Emergent Church as a group of Post Moderns, who have decided to become Christ-like, and are pursuing him with a crazy passion. Since they are part of the body of Christ, then the Emergent Church should be viewed as Christ emerging. That, I think should be the object of every Church movement around the world, to create an environment where Christ emerges to the world. I am not going to use this forum as an opportunity to bash main stream religion but I will leave you with a quote from Bono that I think sums up what the Emergent movement is not. He was quoted in a interview with the Toledo Blade as saying "Religion, to me, is almost like when God leaves and people devise a set of rules to fill the space,". Hang in there and keep emerging.

Big Pappa

...and why do we need it?

I believe that every generation of believers comes to a point of "making the faith of our fathers, OUR faith". We see that in youth ministry all the time, as adolescents who have been raised in church settings come to a point as emerging adults where they realize that depending on the faith (church) they've been raised in isn't enough -- it has to be THEIR choice to believe, trust in, and follow Jesus Christ.

How many times do youth pastors (I've been involved in youth ministry in some capacity for over 20 years now) hear testimonies about "accepting Jesus when I was little, but recently it just became more 'real' and I had to choose to follow God as an adult"? I've lost track, personally, because this is a very, very common experience for youth who were raised in the church, when they hit junior and senior high school.

The emerging church, let me be clear, should not be viewed as adolescent (immature); but it is a growing percentage of Christians who are wondering if contemporary Christianity has bought too much into culture, and allowed culture to influence the Gospel message. The emergent church is hard to pin down for any cohesive doctrinal statement simply because there are people in almost every denomination going through this same sifting process of trying to weed out cultural Christianity from the real, raw Gospel that Jesus (and the later apostles who wrote Scripture, like Paul) preached.

Many of these "emergent" people are not leaving their denominations, so the expression of what is "emerging" can be quite different in various settings; Darryl Dash pastors a Baptist Church in Toronto (http://www.richview.org/), Pernell Goodyear leads The Freeway (http://www.frwy.ca/) which is part of the Salvation Army, Gerry Milchalski pastors Soul Sanctuary (http://www.soulsanctuary.ca/) as part of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, Frank Emmanuel is pastor of Freedom Vineyard (http://www3.sympatico.ca/femanuel/freedom/index.html) which is part of the Association of Vineyard Churches of Canada, and Jordon Cooper is pastor of Lakeland Community Church (http://lakelandchurch.blogspot.com/) which is a Free Methodist congregation. And that's just some of my fellow Canadians that I'm personally aware of. The list is, of course, much larger worldwide.

Why do we need an "emerging church"? The same reason that every generation has to "own" the faith of their fathers. The same reason that there has been a constant historical cycle of renewal-consolidation-complacency-renewal since the early church. The same reason why Jesus was having to call people back to a pure faith as early as the writing to the seven churches of Revelation (chapters 2 & 3). The Church is constantly in need of Renewal -- a touch from the Spirit, definitely, but also a renewal of our understanding of the Faith and also the expression for Faith that our church structures allow (or disallow).

Robbymac

What is the emergent church?

What is the emergent church?

First off I need to give some definitions of words I use and how they may be a bit different from what others may use.

I view the church as never once been intended to be an institution. On a personal level, I believe, about the time of Constantine, the Nicolaitans somehow corrupted the “church” (used in a generic form here). Their corruption came about by setting up a hierarchical and authoritarian institution.

This set up a separation of priests and laity. In Hebrews it talks of Jesus being our high priest and believers being part of the priesthood of Melchizedek. There is to be no one between a believer and Jesus for only He is our mediator.

In all this I am not anti Catholic nor do I see that believers involved in what I would consider an institution as less my brothers and sisters in Christ. I believe the faithful have served God in many capacities, from kings to slaves. We are called to be priests wherever God has sent us.

Now, when broken down from the Greek, the word Church means (I wont go into all the techy stuff here), “The Called out ones” or “The chosen ones called out to perfection”. In the Book of Revelation Jesus sends letters to believers at 7 different churches, which would read, “To the Called out Ones who gather in…” I beleive this is true even today. For example, I am “One of the called out ones to perfection who gather in Billings.” I would add my ministry’s name to be more specific as to the location.

Many modern churches under the traditional authority and institutional model say this is what they believe, which they may; yet I do not see it in practice.

Now, I am finally to the question. “What is the emergent church?”

Again, as you read each person’s posts we will have a little different idea and approach to this question. Many people, as big papa pointed out to me, have never even heard of the catch phrase we have put on ourselves. It is associated with being Postmodern, which by the way is another topic altogether. Suffice it to say for me personally I am a postmodern only because I live in the postmodern age. Yet, as a believer I hold to the truth as taught in the Bible.

Emergence is defined as “Newly formed or just coming into prominence; emergent: emerging markets; the emerging states of Africa.”

To be emerging is defined as: NOUN: 

1. The act or process of emerging.

2. A superficial outgrowth of plant tissue, such as the prickle of a rose.

So in a way, we are something coming into prominence that is in the process of emerging.

Or let me use this illustration:

Jesus is the vine and we are the branches… as we take in the Life of Christ in us, we bear fruit. Yet, without the Life of Christ flowing in us we are not a true living thing. The fruit emerges only if the Life is in the branch, which is attached to the Vine.

This leads me to what I believe the church really is. The church is a living organism. It is the literal Body of the Living Jesus. We are placed into this body, as we become believers, much as God placed Adam in the Garden after God formed Adam. We are a new creation in Christ. We are all connected as One in the Body of Christ here on earth. We are the literal Body of Jesus Himself on this Planet.

I see that as the modern churches age has ended, whether moderns accept it or not, changes are coming. People are less responsive to institutions and authority. They are looking for what I call The Real, who is the person of Jesus.

When people seek The Real they will find authentic and true worship that is by the power of the Holy Spirit and Truth.

The emergent church is a budding flower that has risen out to the carnage of modern thought. In case one thinks I am being a bit strong, I also believe we of emergent thought will leave our own carnage if we are not careful. Yet we have the advantage of being young as an age. With this we can move forward and make mistakes and experiment, grow and change things as we hear the Spirit guide us.

I believe we are God’s Garden, to use an illustration. He has planted a new generation who is seeking The Real. Most do not even know His Name nor that this is even a person. We of emergent thought are not out to change things, but rather to start afresh like a budding plant in God’s Garden. The Bible points out that one may plant, another water, yet it is God who makes things grow. God is planting, now, visions in the heart of believers to reach this postmodern/post church generation. If we listen, I believe many will come to Jesus. As we grow, I believe God will guide and help us in His Way. I know some weeds will spout out, yet that is God’s problem and He will deal with it.

I see that the new churches will have an organic and natural feel and style to them. It will not be easily marketed. The Fellowship that I am part of developing in Billings does not have a traditional Sunday sermon, for the people are the sermon. We gather to fellowship, worship, and study and discuss the Bible. We are not afraid of discussing anything and I personally enjoy people who challenge the norm in thought.

There was a time when the Eucharist table was in the front of the building. When the protestants came about they moved the table and set in its place an alter. I see that it is time to move the table not in front but in the center of our fellowship. We gather for that reason… to fellowship and break bread together as a symbol of being the Body of Christ Jesus on Earth.

Blessings,

iggy

What is the emerging church and why do we need it?

The first topic for the SoapBox is "What is the emerging church and why do we need it." There are 14 authors from all over the world that will be the weighing in on a wide array of topics in the coming weeks. Please join in the discussion via comments, and please feel free to ask the group any questions that you might have.