I don’t mind naysaying; in fact, on occasion, I engage in it. There is certainly plenty of it going on and in this series of three posts I want to (1) examine how it works, (2) make some observations about  the “anti-book”, and then (3) offer some principles or rules of engagement for dealing with books and authors that fall into banned or naysay status.

Part 1 : How It Works

Naysaying is not inherently bad, but second-hand naysaying is. This unique breed of herd mentality causes those who engage in it to buy into the following line of reasoning when asked about certain books: “Someone I trust has read this and they say it’s bad so I don’t need to waste my time reading it. I can say it’s bad with confidence. I can even quote the bad parts of it in order to deter others from reading it.”

An entire culture has grown around this mentality with it’s own industry of blogs and books and speakers.

Here’s how it works:

1. Send a Scout

One or more trusted scouts read the source material. These are sometimes seen as heroically risking their sanity and spiritual well-being in the process. They return as heralds to report their findings. If as expected in the view of the scouts, the book contains some error, then everyone else is warned not to read it – which may indeed, it must be said, be very good advice.

This has some authority when the scout is a rank-and-file blogger or Pastor, but near absolute authority when he is one of the mini-popes of today’s evangelical culture.

Caveat: Scouts are important. You can’t read every book that’s published and sometimes must rely on reviews to shorten your stack of “must read” books. (Caveat 2: Some of today’s mini-popes achieve that status despite their efforts against it.)

2. Inform the Shepherds

These mini-popes are usually more than willing to take up the task, claiming to be “protecting the flock” or doing the hard work of discernment. They may in fact be doing this, but too often it is an effort to create a system of reliance in which they acquire more power and influence from Pastors and other church leaders who are increasingly willing to forsake their own study and thinking; they make disciples, but whether these disciples are their own or belong to Jesus is sometimes in dispute.

Caveat: Informing other shepherds is necessary. Being a Pastor can be a solitary experience, but surely in some way we are in this together and should assist each other in avoiding error whenever possible.

3. Inform the Flock

Usually the scout will publish his findings on a blog and that writing is passed around among the second-hand naysayers as damning proof against an author they themselves have never read.  It is also passed around as a sort of gospel tract, ensuring the recipient that reading the scout’s report will correct their misguided theology. A chorus of condemnation soon follows comprised mostly of people who haven’t read the book but want to appear as if they have.

Caveat: Informing the flock is also necessary, but I do question how much influence a remote shepherd should have over a local flock. Rather than co-opting the criticisms as your own, at least point people toward the review of the trusted scout, if not to the source material itself.

4. Publish a Book

In the next step of naysaying evolution a book  appears (like this one for example) – a scrapbook of sorts – that claims to be authoritative on all matters relating to the one(s) who have been issued “nay” status. I call this the “anti” book. This book is seen as “the One Book to rule them all” and is used to surgically dissect current candidates for heresy.

The problem is, the book contains only the most inflammatory quotes from the other books and arranges them in such a way that all context is lost.

Caveat: Keep the book to yourself. It’s a cheap way of profiting off the work of others and is, in too many cases, outright deception.

Implications

I’m not buying into this practice. If you’re going to tell me about the content of a book and then tell me not to read it, two things will happen: (1) I will ask you if you have read the work itself. If you haven’t, come back and talk to me once you have. If you have read it, and you’ve given trustworthy advice in the past, I might just not bother reading the book.  However, even if that is the case, (2) I will not affirm or pass along your observations until/unless I have read the book for myself. I may point others to your review but I will not co-opt your objections.

Fair enough?

Granted, this is difficult to do. It is also hazardous if you are determined to continue as a member in good standing of a second-hand naysayers club. The moment you begin to read source materials instead relying solely on the scout’s report your friends begin to murmur, wondering why the word of the trusted scout is good enough for them but not for you.

You may hear whispers in the foyer at church: “Does he doubt his faith? Why is he playing with fire? Is he still a Christian?”

This is uncomfortable enough, but when you return from the source material reading excursion and draw attention to numerous good points in the source material that the scout neglected to mention… well, it’s enough to get a man’s soul prayed for quite earnestly.

Tomorrow: (click here to read)—> Dealing With the “Anti-Book”

Related posts:

1. Naysaying (Part 3): Rules of Engagement Let’s review: In Part 1 Naysaying and the Naysaying Naysayers Who Naysay we looked at the practice of naysaying and second-hand naysaying and examined how...
2. Naysaying (Part 2): The “Anti-Book” In yesterday’s post I focused on the common practice of second-hand naysaying. I also mentioned something that serves as a the naysayer’s source book: the...
3. 5 Things About My Dad (4) – Having 1000+ Books is Normal. Right?!?! I’ve written about my dad before and someday, when it’s time to write my memoirs, there will be a lot more. Here’s the 4th of...
4. More Thoughts on “The Shack” **These are some additional thoughts on my review of the book found here.** I don’t agree with the entire book but at many places I...
5. A Detailed History of the Future 1 – McLuhan, Postman, and Source Material            In the scope of things, Neil Postman is the layman’s version, or an interpreter of Marshall McLuhan. He is more...

Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt:

The EC leaders John Piper has met are, most likely, upper-middle-class people with Seminary degrees and salaries and mortgages and new cars so I can see why he would say that. But in fact the opposite is true, esp. when you look at the global movement, and I find the statement quite insulting to the many EC leaders who have given up their comfortable salaried pastoral positions in the traditional church (like I did) for the downwardly mobile lifestyle of ministry among the postmodern generation and in new forms of church where a salary is unheard of and probably not even considered. Most EC leaders cannot afford to attend Seminary, and nor can they get time off from their job at Starbucks to attend Christian conferences where people like John Piper and the upper-middle-class tiny minority of EC hang out.

Has the emerging church movement, as popularized by the American publishing industry and Christian conference business, degenerated from a grass-roots renewal movement, reforming voice, missional conscience and sustainable church planting movement to a theological discussion for an upper-middle-class Seminary grads with too much time? Well, thats another question.

You can read the rest of Andrew’s post here and join the conversation or jump into the conversation already underway on my post here.

Related posts:

1. John Piper: the Emerging Church was “an upper-middle-class, white, departure from orthodoxy…” ***UPDATE – Andrew Jones responds to this post*** Piper’s new definition of the Emerging Church: an “upper-middle-class, white, departure from orthodoxy…” Some highlights from the...
2. John Piper on “Emerging”, “Emergent”, and “Missional” John Piper has a handle on what these terms mean, and shows it in this post. I’m not in total agreement with his analysis but...
3. What is the Emerging Church? The “EC” (Emerging Church) is not a denomination. It has no creed or doctrinal statement. It has no charter or by-laws. It has no president...
4. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
5. McKnight: “McLaren Emerging” Scot McKnight provides more of his trademark clarity in a recent article in Christianity Today: I maintain a crucial distinction between two related streams: emergent...

***UPDATE – Andrew Jones responds to this post***

Piper’s new definition of the Emerging Church: an “upper-middle-class, white, departure from orthodoxy…”

Some highlights from the video:

- “The Emerging Church is a very loose designation for a constellation of people, churches, and movements that are resistant to and rebelling against the excesses of mega-churches and how artificial, plastic, and non-relational they feel.

And they want to have relationships be everything and therefore they minimize doctrine, because doctrine divides and relationships pull together. And there’s all kinds of experimental ways of doing church and all kinds of experimental ways of doing spirituality.”

He’s throwing a bit too much into the pot here – for example, we SHOULD be rebelling against the excesses of the modern mega-church.

- The EC is a fading reality that has seen its best days. I think you will not even hear the term “Emerging Church” in 10 years – I think it will be over and gone.

Agreed. I think a consensus has been established over the last few months, even among those who are recognized as leaders in the movement. (See Andrew Jones and Dan Kimball)

- It’s leadership is in shambles (Piper could give “horrible specifics” from personal lives that aren’t public yet). Immorality is rampant.

I could comment here as well, but I won’t.

- Mentions McLaren’s latest book and that even Scot McKnight – the Anabaptist professor, Jesus Creed writer, and former supporter of Emergent Village – has thrown the towel in on McLaren.

- Prioritizing relationships over truth leads to heresy, whereas if truth is prioritized you get relationships thrown in. If relationships are prioritized and truth doesn’t get thrown in, it’s lost, and then the relationships are ruined.

Generally true, but the nature of the prioritization is important. If the “prioritization of truth” takes the form of judgment and immediate exclusion for non-conformity, then it’s no better than the opposite. He would have done better to say “prioritize truth WITH love”.  Simply yelling the truth at someone isn’t going to foster relationship.

At any rate, it’s quite an inflammatory video. What do you think?

Related posts:

1. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
2. Emerging Church Ceases to be “Radical and Controversial” Andrew Jones, a long-time leader and historian of the Emerging Church Movement gives it the R.I.P. treatment in his recent post “Emerging Church Movement –...
3. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
4. “Emerging” – The Alternative Music of the Modern Church In the early 90’s we had an explosion of what we called “alternative music”. This was music that was either on the fringes of or...
5. John Piper on “Emerging”, “Emergent”, and “Missional” John Piper has a handle on what these terms mean, and shows it in this post. I’m not in total agreement with his analysis but...

In yesterday’s post I focused on the common practice of second-hand naysaying. I also mentioned something that serves as a the naysayer’s source book: the “anti-book”. This book (an example here) is a scrapbook of sorts that claims to be authoritative on all matters relating to the one(s) who have been issued “nay” status. It is seen as “the One Book to rule them all” and is used to surgically dissect current candidates for heresy.

Part 2 : Dealing with the “Anti-Book”

Here’s a rule of thumb when encountering such a book: if you haven’t heard of or read anything by half of the authors you’re reading about, STOP READING, PUT DOWN THE BOOK, and most certainly do not distribute the book to others with an encouragement to read it.

Reading this type of book can lead to the type of heresy hunting that causes us to reject biblical ideas because those we accuse of being heretics have adopted them. For an (unfortunately real-life) example: Rick Warren uses the word “reconciliation”, therefore reconciliation is part of the heretic agenda, and therefore we shouldn’t speak of it.

Some folks are so naively over-protective of their doctrine that they occasionally reject what they actually believe because it is taught by one they consider a heretic. This is usually evidence that the person is spending more time reading anti-books than the Good Book they claim to be protecting.

You Can’t Quote That…

Another attack mode is source assassination. In this practice, the truthfulness of a quote is judged not on its own merit, but on its source. This is done in an effort to expose the sin of association. Regardless of the length or content of the quote – it could be the most biblical statement this side of scripture – if the messenger is on the naysay list, the quote is rejected outright and you get closer to making the naysay list yourself.

The general idea here is to make you mindful of whom you quote, regardless of the content of the quote. You may get away with the quote if you leave it unattributed, but attributed to a certain name, it will be rejected simply on the basis of its source.

I once sent a very conservative friend a great quote about the mission of the church, which he wholeheartedly endorsed and agreed with. He was not pleased to learn shortly thereafter that the words were actually uttered by the newly minted Pope Benedict XVI.

As I remember it, he accused me of trickery, and I confess that he was half right.

Tomorrow: (click here to read)—>Rules of Engagement – what should you do with naysayed materials?

Related posts:

1. Naysaying (Part 3): Rules of Engagement Let’s review: In Part 1 Naysaying and the Naysaying Naysayers Who Naysay we looked at the practice of naysaying and second-hand naysaying and examined how...
2. Naysaying and the Naysaying Naysayers Who Naysay I don’t mind naysaying; in fact, on occasion, I engage in it. There is certainly plenty of it going on and in this series of...
3. The Shack – a review For a week or so I carried around this book called “The Shack”. It’s one of those books that “everyone” is reading. At the time...
4. More Thoughts on “The Shack” **These are some additional thoughts on my review of the book found here.** I don’t agree with the entire book but at many places I...
5. 5 Things About My Dad (4) – Having 1000+ Books is Normal. Right?!?! I’ve written about my dad before and someday, when it’s time to write my memoirs, there will be a lot more. Here’s the 4th of...

Thanks to TSK, the Emerging Church is now dead. TSK says that it was like that when he got there, but the investigation is still underway.

But move on we must, and we now enter the era of reflecting on the good and bad of the movement… like Dan Kimball does here as he reflects on 10 good things that came about as a result of the movement:

1. Friendships developed amongst many who thought they were alone and going crazy.

2. A recognition the church is not connecting with emerging generations and a shared urgency developed to do something about it.

3. Safe places to ask questions were formed – and a strong interest in theology not just methodology developed.

4. The contemporary church has made changes to where it often looks like what was being done in young adult ministry 10 years earlier.

5. There has been a refreshing reevaluation of how tight we held onto certain minor theological or denominational differences and ceasing what we used to argue about. But at the same time, all the more solidifying our historical orthodox Christian faith and core doctrines and unifying together on those.

6. There has been a correction made to the reductionist form of the gospel we were using that focused only about the afterlife and making a “decision” -  and not about mission, justice and compassion in this life. But as much as we now focus on justice and compassion in this life – we still cannot ever forget about the reality of eternal heaven/hell.

7.  There has been a healthy rise of attention for having both orthodoxy and orthopraxy in the life of a disciple of Jesus.

8.  There has been an interest in exploring why we do what we do in the church and if the origins are from Scripture or from tradition. Tradition for tradition-sake must never get in the way of mission.

9.  Youth pastors stopped wearing mullets. Goatees were adopted, but at least they were better than mullets.

10.  There has been a healthy rise of the church “being the church” instead of “going to church” – and that the church is seeing itself more as being sent into the world on mission.

Speaking of the Emerging Church like a dead relative may be difficult for some, but the time has come to say farewell.

Related posts:

1. Emerging Church Ceases to be “Radical and Controversial” Andrew Jones, a long-time leader and historian of the Emerging Church Movement gives it the R.I.P. treatment in his recent post “Emerging Church Movement –...
2. John Piper on “Emerging”, “Emergent”, and “Missional” John Piper has a handle on what these terms mean, and shows it in this post. I’m not in total agreement with his analysis but...
3. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
4. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
5. Michael Kruse : Emerging Church and Obama Read the rest of the article here… Kruse makes a keen observation about emerging Evangelicals: One of the most ironic things I’ve seen in this...

Is bigger always better?

Two questions:

1. Can you list one biblical and one practical reason why we keep trying to make our current churches larger?

2. How can we communicate the importance of  ”one to one” and “one to few” ministry?

The conference/denomination in which I am a Pastor is having a conversation about who we are and why we matter. Since the comments at that site are restricted to members of the churches in the conference, I thought I would cross-post this topic.

Over the course of the recent Renov8 church planting congress in Calgary, the clear emphasis was on building authentic community. There was nothing said about gathering many people and building a big church – quite the opposite in fact. Almost all of the sessions were about “one to one” and “one to few” ministry. There was no emphasis on “one to many”.

“One to many” is NOT an invalid model, but I will say that we as a North American church have failed miserably at “one to one” and “one to few” ministry. I am saying that we seem to have put most of our eggs in that basket for a long time and it is an imbalance. Because of this imbalance people are prone to “bring a friend to church” so they can hear the gospel/get saved/hear about Jesus from the Pastor rather than being able to proclaim the gospel/assist in conversion/tell people about Jesus themselves.

It is this fundamental issue that I see as problematic in the modern mega-church. Its focal point is Pastor so-and-so who is often seen as a super-hero, cure-all, miracle-worker. Most Pastor so-and-so types gladly welcome this exaltation – or thrive on it. Not that that can’t happen in a small church, but the larger the fanbase (usually), the larger the ego.

Of course, there is a certain irony in this… I work at a large church, but to be clear I am not interested in whatever option extends the duration of my “occupation”. I am not a protectionist.

I am interested in whatever accomplishes the goals of (1) making new disciples and (2) encouraging and strengthening those who already are. In my experience, larger churches struggle with disciple-making while they excel at churning out dormant, comfortable attendees whose lives look 98% the same as most of their non-believing neighbors. I know – I was one of them. (That may not be the case at your church, and if it’s not, great!)

The Renov8 conference, like every conference dealing with emerging issues, is a reaction to the dormant, domesticated church of recent generations. Do they go too far? Yep – I think my notes on the conference reflect that. I thought some of it was pretty flakey. But I understand why the reaction is happening, and I’m on board with the sentiment, if not all the ways it plays out.

I don’t see how starting with the Gospel in our own neighborhoods is “re-inventing the wheel”. In fact, it seems like a thoroughly biblical course of action that obviously very few of us are pursuing. This much is true (as my friend Stephen in Leamington said) “Big or small we must as churches engage the culture and the neighbourhoods around us”.

We talk about it a lot. I don’t believe we’re succeeding.

_________________________

If you would like to see the robust conversation in the comments section of the post on the EMMC site, go here. (FYI – you need to read bottom up)

Let’s have our own discussion below in the comments section below. Have at at… I’m not totally decided either way so take your best shot.

Related posts:

1. D. A. Carson: Five Trends in the Church Today  D. A. Carson in a talk before last week’s Desiring God national conference: 4. There is a trend in our churches to be consumed by...
2. “We need a martyr to wake up the church. I am willing to be that martyr.” – Wagdi Iskander (Renov8 #rv8) (All of my posts from Renov8 can be found here) The impact of Wagdi’s talk has been immense.. here are a few more details about...
3. How To Follow Renov8 (#rv8) There are a number of people tweeting and blogging the conference. Here are some ways you can follow: Follow everyone tweeting the conference with the...
4. Glenn Smith – “Key Indicators of a Transformed City” (Renov8 #rv8) (All of my posts from Renov8 can be found here) Glenn Smith’s site is http://www.direction.ca/ First priority is always to discern where God is at...
5. Paid Professionals on Pedestals (a.k.a. Pastors) Rick Warren describes a church ministry philosophy that I’ve been privileged to learn about first-hand since coming on staff at AEMMC. This article is right...

This brings a (satirical) tear to my eye. The money quote:

She is survived by her parents, the Seeker Church, and Sojourners; her paternal grandmother, the former Deconstructionism, now Postmodernity; her maternal grandmother, French Nihilism and her paternal great-grandparents, the Social Gospel and Fundamentalism. Her paternal grandfather, the Jesus Movement died months before her birth. Her fraternal grandfather, Evangelicalism died in 2009. She is also survived by sister House Church movement and brother New Monastacism. She is also survived by two sons, Presbymergent and Something-in-Europe People Say is Relevant; and 10 grandchildren (that won’t scare your grandparents), along with ex-husbands Mark Driscoll and the Origins Movement.

Go read the whole thing here.

Other posts you might enjoy:

John MacArthur and Brian McLaren to Co-Author New Book

Tony Jones Finds Audience, Loses “Religion”

Related posts:

1. Emerging Church Ceases to be “Radical and Controversial” Andrew Jones, a long-time leader and historian of the Emerging Church Movement gives it the R.I.P. treatment in his recent post “Emerging Church Movement –...
2. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
3. Mark Driscoll in the New York Times (NYT)   For those of you who don’t care to register at the NYT in order to see the article, you can get a PDF of...
4. Emerging Church Remembered Fondly by Dan Kimball Thanks to TSK, the Emerging Church is now dead. TSK says that it was like that when he got there, but the investigation is still...
5. Liveblogging the EMMC NatCon – 2 Yesterday’s afternoon session added some more moderate opinions to the mix.  The older pastors in attendance encouraged everyone to think of the Emerging Church as...

Andrew Jones, a long-time leader and historian of the Emerging Church Movement gives it the R.I.P. treatment in his recent post “Emerging Church Movement – (1989-2009)?“:

“2009 marks a turning point for the emerging church. Its difficult to make broad statements about a movement that hit each country at different times, in successive waves, and at different paces. But as someone who jumped into this funky controversial experimental movement in 1985 (if it could be called a movement back then) and has ridden the wave all the way through nearly 50 countries and many ups and downs, joys and sorrows, rewards and sacrifices, here is my take. For what its worth . ..

In my opinion, 2009 marks the year when the emerging church suddenly and decisively ceased to be a radical and controversial movement in global Christianity.”

Reinforcing my point in the post “Emerging – The Alternative Music of the Modern Church”, Andrew says this: “In 2009, the emerging church either grew up, stopped being offensive, switched gear from experimental to normal, became the new mainstream, or a bit of each.”

Read the whole thing here, and take a look at this follow-up post as well: “10 Types of Emerging Church That Will No Longer Upset Your Grandfather“

Related posts:

1. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
2. What is the Emerging Church? The “EC” (Emerging Church) is not a denomination. It has no creed or doctrinal statement. It has no charter or by-laws. It has no president...
3. “Emerging” – The Alternative Music of the Modern Church In the early 90’s we had an explosion of what we called “alternative music”. This was music that was either on the fringes of or...
4. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
5. John Piper: the Emerging Church was “an upper-middle-class, white, departure from orthodoxy…” ***UPDATE – Andrew Jones responds to this post*** Piper’s new definition of the Emerging Church: an “upper-middle-class, white, departure from orthodoxy…” Some highlights from the...

In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement:

The Emerging Church is not a denomination.

It has no recognized creed or doctrinal statement.

It has no charter or by-laws.

It has no president or board of directors.

“Emerging Church” is a term used to describe a largely uncoordinated movement within the (primarily) North American church. This lack of formal organization is the reason why it is easier to explain what the “Emerging Church” IS by first explaining what it is NOT.

The “Emerging Church”, in many ways, is a phenomenon with many similarities to the “Alternative Music” phenomenon of the early 1990′s. A case for that argument is made here: “Emerging – The Alternative Music of the Modern Church”

It is also important to make a distinction between two terms that seem interchangeable but are in fact not: “Emerging” and “Emergent”.These represent the two dominant streams within the “Emerging Church”. I realize this is somewhat confusing but this is how the two streams are distinguished:

“Emerging” is generally used to describe a proper reaction that is taking place against some of the negative things going on in the church, but a reaction that doesn’t stray very far from long-held doctrines. While this stream is not doctrinally radical, it is quite willing to experiment with different ways of doing and being the local church. Since this stream has not formed a coordinated organizational entity, it is difficult to give a clearly defined list of leaders who are “Emerging”, but widely recognized leaders who fit in this stream are Dan Kimball, Andrew Jones, and Matt Chandler.

“Emergent” is a more radical reaction to the same things. Within this movement however, there is more of a willingness to question long-held doctrines of the Christian faith. In addition, “Emergent” is centered around a specific site/organization called “Emergent Village”. Because of this it is easier to list the names of those who are acknowledged as its leaders. These would be Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt.

So it is important to be careful, when you’re talking “Emerging” or “Emergent”, to know which group you’re talking about.

What I have written above is a short summary of the movement. For a more extensive treatment of the subject, see Scot McKnight’s article called “Five Streams of the Emerging Church“.

Related posts:

1. Emerging Church Ceases to be “Radical and Controversial” Andrew Jones, a long-time leader and historian of the Emerging Church Movement gives it the R.I.P. treatment in his recent post “Emerging Church Movement –...
2. John Piper on “Emerging”, “Emergent”, and “Missional” John Piper has a handle on what these terms mean, and shows it in this post. I’m not in total agreement with his analysis but...
3. McKnight: “McLaren Emerging” Scot McKnight provides more of his trademark clarity in a recent article in Christianity Today: I maintain a crucial distinction between two related streams: emergent...
4. What is the Emerging Church? The “EC” (Emerging Church) is not a denomination. It has no creed or doctrinal statement. It has no charter or by-laws. It has no president...
5. John Piper: the Emerging Church was “an upper-middle-class, white, departure from orthodoxy…” ***UPDATE – Andrew Jones responds to this post*** Piper’s new definition of the Emerging Church: an “upper-middle-class, white, departure from orthodoxy…” Some highlights from the...

In the early 90’s we had an explosion of what we called “alternative music”. This was music that was either on the fringes of or completely different from the hit music of the time. We would have called this hit music “mainstream music” at the time. “Alternative music” came about and was able to flourish because of great dissatisfaction with the current state of the music industry. What “the industry” was producing was mostly lifeless, weak, and ineffectual music. Why? Because it had working formula for a long time and it was generating a lot of revenue.

Eventually “alternative music” became very popular. Because of this, it could no longer be called “alternative” because it had replaced that which it was an alternative to. “Alternative music” was now in fact part of the body of work that comprised “mainstream music”. The primary – and most important – effect of this was a widening of the musical variety in “mainstream music”.

In the same way, we are seeing an explosion of new expressions of Christianity called the “Emerging Church”. These expressions are either on the fringes of or completely different from the way most churches are expressing themselves. We would call these established churches the “mainstream” of Evangelicalism. The “Emerging Church” has come about and has been able to flourish because of great dissatisfaction with the current state of the North American church.

The North American church – like the music industry in the late 80’s – has become too weak, lifeless and ineffectual to capture the hearts and minds of the emerging generation of Christians. In some cases, it uses outdated formulas for evangelism that were once effective.

But these terms need to be transitory and flexible; once something is mainstream, it can no longer be the alternative to the mainstream; once the new generation (of people or churches) has emerged, it can no longer reasonably be called “emerging.”

The mistake we seem to be making is we’re trying to call something “emerging” after it has already emerged, just like we continued to call something “alternative” after it became that which it started out as the alternative to. “Alternative” mistakenly became a genre within the music industry. “Emerging” and “Emergent” are becoming genres of Christianity. This too is a mistake.

Related posts:

1. What is the Emerging Church? The “EC” (Emerging Church) is not a denomination. It has no creed or doctrinal statement. It has no charter or by-laws. It has no president...
2. Emerging Church Ceases to be “Radical and Controversial” Andrew Jones, a long-time leader and historian of the Emerging Church Movement gives it the R.I.P. treatment in his recent post “Emerging Church Movement –...
3. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
4. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
5. “Faith Undone”: A Tabloid Treatment of the Emerging Church I was given a book recently called “Faith Undone: The emerging church – a new reformation or an end-time deception” by Roger Oakland. This is...

Reading “A Million Miles…” is like talking to an old friend, one you used to love and spend a lot of time with but for whatever reason haven’t seen for a long time. This friend used to captivate you and you would enjoy being in their presence so much you wondered if you were smothering them (sometimes you probably were). But in the years between then and now you’ve forgotten just how warm and exciting being with them was.

When I sat down to read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life I had fond memories of Donald Miller’s surprise best-seller from a few years ago, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (see my blog posts about it here). By the time I was 20 pages in, I remembered BLJ as that old friend, one that I forgotten I loved so much. One that made me laugh out loud in public places, despite my best efforts to appear completely sane. One that had changed my life in a few ways.

And it makes sense that I was so reminded of BLJ because “A Million Miles…” is mostly about BLJ. It’s about the book, and how Miller’s life was changed by the success of the book and how – which is most exciting for an artist – his life was positively affected by his own art.

The best thing about this book and BLJ is that they throw you into a torrent of self-reflection with the strangest of motivation. There are no commands here, no guilt trips, just Don Miller taking a brutally honest look at his own life and writing about it. And somehow this inspires us to do the same. We see the character making progress, we see his life improving as he very intentionally crafts his own story and we know that this is also possible for us.

“Perhaps one of the reasons I’ve avoided having a clear ambition is that the second you stand up and point toward a horizon, you realize how much there is to lose.” – Donald Miller

Searching For God Knows What

Memoirs are such fun to read, and when Miller is writing in memoir mode he is among the greats.  When not in memoir mode, however, he can come across as simply another disgruntled Evangelical, as was clearly evident in Searching for God Knows What (blog post here).

In truth, the same theology runs through all of his writing, but in the form of a memoir it seems less agitating. Much like any other friend who has theology I disagree with, in conversational form it is so much more tolerable – actually, it’s enjoyable. It’s like we’re sitting in a room together discussing our differences, each willing to hear the other, each convincing the other on some points, and being convinced on others.

I was pleased to read on p222 Don say “I didn’t say these things, and I’m glad I didn’t, because those are the things people who have never been married say.” Another issue with “Searching For God…” was that he kept saying unwise things that were exactly what only an unmarried non-parent would say. In the margins of my copy of that book I wrote things like “Hey Don, get back to me once you have children and let me know if you still think this is true…”.

A Million Miles…

I digress… “A Million Miles…” is not just an entertaining read, it calls you to a brutal honestly about your life. In the language of the book itself, it calls you to write and then live a better story with your life, while acknowledging that there is a Writer above you also writing your story:

“So as I was writing my novel, and as my characters did what they wanted, I became more and more aware that somebody was writing me. So I started listening to the Voice, or rather, I started calling it the Voice and admitting there was a Writer. I admitted something other than me was showing a better way. And when I did this, I realized the Voice, the Writer who was not me, was trying to make a better story, a more meaningful series of experiences I could live through.” – Donald Miller

Fellow writers/authors will love this book because so much of it is about the process of writing. Others may find his analogies of God as a writer/literary being a bit of a stretch. They are a bit of a stretch, but often, as in this case, the stretch makes the art more powerful.

If you enjoy Miller’s writing and would like to read more in the same vein, his writing is reminiscent of authors like Anne Lamott (read: “Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith“) and Madeleine L’Engle (read: “Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage” or “The Irrational Season“) in all the best ways.

One other byproduct of reading Miller’s work: it inspires me to write, which is why this review is getting so long! Well, I reviewed BLJ in six lengthy posts, so one post for this book is actually pretty short.

Related posts:

1. Review – “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller Reading “A Million Miles…” is like talking to an old friend, one you used to love and spend a lot of time with but for...
2. (Re: Donald Miller) Quoted in the ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a journalist named Jessica Clark for a quote on Donald Miller’s new book. Here’s the piece...
3. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (6 of 6) – Don on: Love ***You might want to read part1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5 first*** “I wish Ani DiFranco wasn’t a Lesbian.”  So begins...
4. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (1) Wikipedia gives us a good start: Blue Like Jazz is the second book by Donald Miller. This semi-autobiographical work, subtitled “Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality,”...
5. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (5) – Confession is a Two Way Street ***You might want to read part1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 first*** I’m quite certain Don’s chapter on confession is unlike anything you’ve...

Mark Driscoll, the fearless and sometimes controversial founder and Pastor of Mars Hill church in Seattle, writes books the way he preaches: . In fact, his recent books are transcribed from earlier sermon series’. Sure, there’s some editing and polishing, but if you’re familiar with his preaching, the content of his books is no surprise.

In Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods, Driscoll attempts in each chapter to address a question about the church, including what it is and how and by whom it should be led. (see table of contents below).

In all, the book is a great resource for church leaders and planters. Aside from the bits of humor, the book reads very much like a course text, with Driscoll, who has “been there and done that” and lived (barely) to tell about it, as it’s narrator. He is also aware of his church’s status as a “megachurch”, which puts it in a vast minority of churches on the planet. Rather than focusing too much on “here’s how we do it”, he focuses on “here’s why we did it this way”. His insights and recommendations are based on principles more than particulars.

Driscoll’s penchant for humor usually works well live from the stage, but in print it serves more as an annoyance than a useful distraction. In addition, he uses the same humorous anecdotes too often. New comedic material is the lifeblood of a good comedian and since he has studied the great comedians, he should see that his current crop of quips needs a makeover. (For example, the joke about Mars Hill starting “at about the size of Mormon family” is getting difficult to chuckle at.)

At one point he relates a story about someone giving him a sermon on tape, even though, as he points out, he has not seen a tape player since “the days when Michael Jackson was male.” While Jackson’s recent passing (after the book was published) makes this seem extra offensive, it is still unwarranted. The Gospel is often offensive by nature; comments like this, I would argue, offend people for the wrong reasons.

In one sense, you could say that Driscoll is trying to augment the offense of the Gospel with his own form of offensiveness. It requires no such assistance.

Whether speaking or writing he delivers a lot of facts – straight up. Delivered without humor, they lack life; delivered with the same tired anecdotes he’s been using for years, these facts become tiresome opportunities to take a jab at an easy target.

Those who have Driscoll pegged as simply an old-school pastor with a new-school mouth will find a few surprises here. For example, he endorses the active participation of non-believers in the life of the church.

As someone who is quite familiar with his writing and preaching, I have watched him mature as a leader, teacher, and preacher, increasing in humility along the way. Here’s hoping that trajectory continues so that more people will be drawn to his teaching than are repelled by his sometimes necessary crudeness. (Yes, that means that I believe that some of what he says that is counted as “crude” is actually appropriate.) If you can get by the instances of unnecessary crudeness – and you should be able to – there is much to be learned. At heart he is a caring and, according to current demographic data, young Pastor who, like the rest of us, is seeking to grow in godly maturity.

Driscoll’s passion for the local church – yours, mine, and his – is undeniable. His ability to accept criticism and wisdom is surprising for a man of his personality type, and this makes him rare. I have benefited greatly from his teaching in my own journey as a Pastor.

Vintage Church is a good read, packed with resources and wisdom. You will not agree with it entirely, but that’s true of any book. If you are a church leader of any kind who is concerned with both relevance and unchanging truth, I recommend you read this book.

You can read a sample chapter of Vintage Church here.

You can find previous posts at The Ascent to Truth about Mark Driscoll here.

Related posts:

1. Review of Mark Driscoll’s “Death by Love” Tim Challies: What makes Death by Love so different from his other books is what makes it good. Driscoll holds his tongue, refusing to bring...
2. Question and Answer with Mark Driscoll via Resurgence featured audio On Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at the Resurgence National Conference, Pastor Mark Driscoll spent sometime answering questions from audience. Please listen...
3. Mark Driscoll on ABC’s Nightline A couple of weeks ago, Driscoll was in the New York Times, now it’s ABC’s Nightline. (*UPDATE: here is a direct link to the segment or...
4. Good Online Reading Here area few of the blogs I read regularly. John Piper / Desiring God The online home of Pastor John Piper, author of Desiring God...
5. Mark Driscoll on… Rick Warren A quote from Driscoll’s blog: “And, I learned a lot watching Rick Warren behind the scenes and over meals. Not being part of the Purpose...

Upsidedn (read: upside-down) is a book about community, honesty, humility, and authenticity. Considering the relative brevity of the book, author Tim Bailey manages to go deep with these ideas. He describes the book as “not a self-help book,” unless it “helps you fail miserably at being selfish.”

Throughout the book Bailey speaks in the voice of a caring and compassionate – and passionate – Pastor. But his is also the voice of a normal believer excited about the counter-cultural nature of the life of Jesus and the seemingly odd, upside-down promptings of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. This upside-down thinking is the theme of the book. “The upside-down kingdom where Jesus is Lord,” he says, “demands that we view others as better than ourselves…  This is a total rearrangement of the social system of the world.”

Bailey leads his readers to the truths he’s discovered with the excitement of a gold-digger who has stumbled upon a vast vein of new treasure. The difference here is that rather than hide and horde the wealth, he seeks to share with anyone who will come and take some of it, knowing that the source of this treasure is limitless.

The style of writing is at once reminiscent of Donald Miller, Rob Bell, and (in an odd twist of combination) John Piper. It’s a combination that somehow works and his balance of certainty, doubt, faith, and a love for mystery is refreshing. But above all, the tone of the book is an urgent compassion. He WANTS you to see what he’s seen and to taste what he’s tasted in Christ.

Like so much of the writing by Christians of this (my) generation, there is an undercurrent of pleading with people to take another look at Christian faith. Bailey doesn’t go as far as Donald Miller did in Blue Like Jazz (where Miller set up a confession booth to confess FOR the sins of Christians rather than accept confessions from sinners), but the same appropriate apologetic tone is there.

“There is a disturbing trend in the evangelical world,” he says, “of people who are more interested in feeling good about being right, rather than perpetually seeking truth. Their goal is to find conclusions to every question and answers for every confusion, rather than live in the mystery of NOT being God.”

We (Donald, Tim, and I) want you to know, dear readers, that not all Christians are ready grab, judge, and slap you into the kingdom. Authenticity, by Bailey’s definition is, “revealing the ‘you’ that God knows – mess and all… [it] isn’t avoiding hypocrisy – it is admitting it.”

Although there is not a weak chapter in the book, the chapter on worship stands above the rest. God is the center of our worship and, “the idea that we are the center of what is happening in creation has seriously warped our understanding of worship.” He continues, “Maybe we should be more interested in how God is experiencing His creation rather than being consumed by whether we are experiencing Him to our satisfaction.”

Due to its rather short length and the inclusion of discussion questions at the end of each chapter, the book is ideal for small groups and new believer discipleship. However, the content and presentation is compelling enough that the book would have been a joy to read at twice the length. Here’s hoping Bailey expands the content in subsequent printings.

You can order the book here or, if you’re local, drop in on the congregation that Bailey pastors in London, Ontario.

Related posts:

1. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (5) – Confession is a Two Way Street ***You might want to read part1, part 2, part 3, and part 4 first*** I’m quite certain Don’s chapter on confession is unlike anything you’ve...
2. “Our worship is what we do with our freedom.” Tim Bailey (@tim_____) from his excellent chapter on worship in his book “Upsidedown“: “Our worship is what we do with our freedom. Community and freedom...
3. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (1) Wikipedia gives us a good start: Blue Like Jazz is the second book by Donald Miller. This semi-autobiographical work, subtitled “Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality,”...
4. More Thoughts on “The Shack” **These are some additional thoughts on my review of the book found here.** I don’t agree with the entire book but at many places I...
5. Who said “Jesus looks like Osama Bin Laden”? Regarding the “conventional” view of eschatology: “What you end up with is a trajectory for telling the story where the afterlife becomes the point of...

(part 3 of a miniseries on the emerging church – see part 1 and part 2)

Unfortunately, both sides (Emerging and mainstream) suffer from rejecting the other. Some of the old guard resists new life, ensuring the continuation of their own slow death. The emerging generation discounts the contribution of the previous generation – largely on the basis how little life change it sees – and thereby denies itself access to a great repository of solid theology and a heritage of belief.

One side needs to talk more about global issues while the other side needs to guard their theology a bit more.

I had the wonderful opportunity about a year ago to be at Brian McLaren’s “Why Everything Must Change” conference one weekend and being in Minneapolis at John Piper’s “Desiring God” conference the next. There was something at both that wasn’t at the other; there was something missing at both that the other addressed.

At WEMC, belief in the gospel was either buried under a torrent of concern for global humanitarian issues, or redefined as being the concern for those issues. These are not inappropriate or unimportant concerns.

At Desiring God ‘08 there was no mention of a current global issue at all. It was all gospel, all theology, all talk. I left there with my theological beliefs strengthened, which is a good thing. But where is the concern for global suffering and injustice? Connect the dots for us: how does this theological clarity lead us into a biblical concern for the poor and the action that must follow?

In my opinion, the best thing an organization like DG can do to stem the flow of young people going to the theologically unsteady regions of the EC is to talk more about practical application of the great truths they teach. In Piper’s own words, he does not “aim to be immediately practical but eternally helpful.” I think he should reconsider this and try for both.

A full gospel is both theological and social; it is belief and action.

Related posts:

1. D. A. Carson: Five Trends in the Church Today  D. A. Carson in a talk before last week’s Desiring God national conference: 4. There is a trend in our churches to be consumed by...
2. Ed Stetzer on The Emerging Church Stetzer has just published a lengthy article in The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry.(go to page 62 to read the article) Among the more...
3. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
4. Liveblogging the EMMC NatCon – 3 A good day today. Dan Rempel and I delivered a talked entitled “clear.communication: Staying Relevant in a Changing World”.  The session went well, it was...
5. Church Size: Why Always “Bigger”? Is bigger always better? Two questions: 1. Can you list one biblical and one practical reason why we keep trying to make our current churches...

The “EC” (Emerging Church) is not a denomination. It has no creed or doctrinal statement. It has no charter or by-laws. It has no president or board of directors.

The “EC” is a term used to describe a movement that is already happening – or, in some cases, has already happened. The “EC” is the church that is rising (emerging) from the ashes of inaction. That’s too broad a brush of course, since not all churches can be successfully accused of inaction, but in general terms, the EC is comprised of people – some with doctrinal clarity, some not – who are not content with simply knowing – there must be doing as well.

 ”Emerging” and “Alternative”

An analogy from the music industry might be helpful. In the early 90’s we had an explosion of what we called “alternative” music. This was music that was either on the fringes or completely different than the hit music of the time – which would classified as the “mainstream”. Alternative music was created and then flourished because of great dissatisfaction with the current state of the music industry. What “the industry” was producing was mostly lifeless, weak, and ineffectual music. Eventually “alternative music” became very popular, and because of this fact it ceased to be “alternative” and became “mainstream”.

In the same way the “Emerging Church” is in large part a reaction to the “mainstream” of (mostly) the North American church. The North American church – like the music industry in the late 80’s – has become too weak, lifeless and ineffectual to capture the hearts and minds of the emerging generation of Christians. But these terms need to be transitory and flexible; once something is mainstream, it can no longer be the alternative to the mainstream; once the new generation has emerged, it can no longer reasonably be called “emerging.”

The mistake we seem to be making is we’re trying to call something “emerging” after it has already emerged, just like we continued to call something “alternative” after it became that which it started out as the alternative to. “Alternative” mistakenly became a genre within the music industry. “Emerging” and “Emergent” are becoming genres of Christianity. This too is a mistake.

Defining a Generation

The emerging generation is comfortable with the book of James: If works do not result from faith, then faith is dead. In James’ words – faith without works is like a body without a spirit.

We see lots of professed belief, but too little faith that results in, and is verified by works.

We see a lot of dead bodies, and we’re running away from them.

____________________

Other writing on the Emerging Church that you might find helpful:

Ed Stetzer on The Emerging Church

McKnight: “McLaren Emerging”

John Piper on “Emerging”, “Emergent”, and “Missional”

Related posts:

1. “Emerging” – The Alternative Music of the Modern Church In the early 90’s we had an explosion of what we called “alternative music”. This was music that was either on the fringes of or...
2. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
3. Emerging Church Ceases to be “Radical and Controversial” Andrew Jones, a long-time leader and historian of the Emerging Church Movement gives it the R.I.P. treatment in his recent post “Emerging Church Movement –...
4. John Piper on “Emerging”, “Emergent”, and “Missional” John Piper has a handle on what these terms mean, and shows it in this post. I’m not in total agreement with his analysis but...
5. The Way Forward   (part 3 of a miniseries on the emerging church – see part 1 and part 2) Unfortunately, both sides (Emerging and mainstream) suffer from...

I was given a book recently called “Faith Undone: The emerging church – a new reformation or an end-time deception” by Roger Oakland. This is an “anti” book. By that I mean its sole purpose is to tell you, with a good amount of hyperbole, about the many, many things the author is against.  In this case, all of those things are related to what the author sees as the “Emerging Church” (EC).

I have actually seen this book before, and I did a deep skimming of it and saw it for what it is: a tabloid-style, pick-and-choose hatchet job on people who, while not executing perfectly, are valuable leaders in today’s North American church.

Books like this are basically supermarket tabloid gossip rags without the pictures. To put it more bluntly:

This is a strange sort of theological pornography for people who see their calling as hunting heresy by identifying leaders with theological weaknesses (some perceived, some real) and telling others about what they’ve found.

That itself is not an unbiblical pursuit, but taken to the level of out-of-context tabloid journalism it becomes sin.

This is not to say there is no truth in Oakland’s book. I can agree with and affirm many of the things in the book; the problem is that there is page after page after page of short quotes followed by commentary. There are even quotes of reporters who say something about somebody and these are taken as damning evidence against the person who is the target.

Rick Warren in particular (not surprisingly) takes a beating throughout the book. As a side note, in the way that Oakland perceives the EC, grouping Rick Warren in with the EC  is a bit ridiculous, kind of like claiming that John Piper and Joel Osteen are kindred spirits and are going to be sharing a pulpit at some point in the near future.  Rick Warren does big; the EC is mostly about regionalized, contextualized solutions.  Rick Warren works on a global scale; the EC is about incarnational witness. The EC is (mostly) anti-megachurch; Rick Warren IS the megachurch.

But I’m with Ed Stetzer on this; we need both. We need big solutions and big churches and small solutions and small churches. Which is why in one sense the EC can be very broadly defined as every church that is not dying due to lack of activity.

Even Dan Kimball, who apparently committed the sin of asking non-believers what their perception of “church” is is mocked for daring to suggest that the American church might be able to have a more authentic testimony. Gasp. How can he say this?!?! I can’t think of any examples of American Christian leaders who have disgraced the name of Christ in very visible ways. This is the type of behavior, mostly on a smaller scale, that Kimball explores.

I’ll close with a quote from C.S. Lewis. In Mere Christianity (p. 118):

Suppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out.

Is one’s first feeling, ‘Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible?

If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything — God and our friends and ourselves included — as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.

I think that a book like this is exactly what the Lewis quote above is about.

Related posts:

1. Rick Warren on The Social Gospel The more I hear, the more I like: Click Here...
2. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
3. Mark Driscoll on… Rick Warren A quote from Driscoll’s blog: “And, I learned a lot watching Rick Warren behind the scenes and over meals. Not being part of the Purpose...
4. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
5. Rick Warren – “You probably want to find another church…” Rick Warren: “I love my congregation and so this past weekend I told them I needed to be honest: ‘If you just want to sit...

John Piper has a handle on what these terms mean, and shows it in this post. I’m not in total agreement with his analysis but pretty close. The point is, he has taken the time to investigate and, as usual, comes out ahead of guys like MacArthur in showing some balance and compassion where its due.

Highlights:
Emergent seems to be a reaction—among younger believers primarily, 20- and 30-somethings—to several things. In my judgment it’s not a very healthy reaction, though I can understand why it might happen. [MK - in addition, Emergent is centered around a specific site/organization]

Emerging might be used by some people—like Mark Driscoll—to describe a proper reaction that is taking place against some of the negative things going on in the church, but a reaction that doesn’t throw away the doctrines.

So be careful, when you’re talking emerging or emergent, to know which group you’re talking about.

The word “missional” is kind of the “in” word today. And a church that is missional tends to be a church where everything is thought about in terms of making an impact on people around the church who are not Christians. You design everything to think that way. And I think that is a good thing.
___________________________________

I’m working on a longer post of my own thoughts about this that I will try to get up later today.

Piper is not the only one defining the terms this way. I could have used various other modern church figures to make my point, but part of my current mission is to tear down people’s perceptions of Piper as cog in the old world who is interchangeable with the current crop of strident hyper-fundamentalists (not to mention any names – oops, I already did in the opening paragraph).

In my experience, having watched, engaged in, and written about the movement, this is the way the terms are defined and understood by others who have done the same.

Defined this way, I think we can all comfortably call ourselves emerging. Yes?

***You might find this post about a book being co-authored by Brian McLaren and John MacArthur of some interest as well. :-0

Related posts:

1. Andrew Jones responds: “John Piper and an ‘upper-middle-class’ emerging church” Andrew Jones (Twitter), a recognized long-time leader in Emerging Church circles responds to my post from earlier this week. Here is an excerpt: The EC...
2. What is the “Emerging Church”? In my experience, having observed, engaged in, and written about it, the following are some important and often misunderstood facts about the movement: The Emerging...
3. What is the Emerging Church? The “EC” (Emerging Church) is not a denomination. It has no creed or doctrinal statement. It has no charter or by-laws. It has no president...
4. Emerging / Emergent Roundup for January 2008 I plan on doing a lot of reading and writing about the Emerging Church this year. It seems there has been an ubundance of posts...
5. John MacArthur and Brian McLaren to Co-Author New Book The winds of reconciliation are blowing through the stratum of Christendom of late. First, Steve “Shake Me to Wake Me” Camp made a heartfelt apology...

I think Donald is one of, if not THE brightest of “our” writers. Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality deserves a place on the highest shelf of that genre… I’m thinking of Madeleine L’engle and Anne Lamott here… and maybe a bit of P.J. O’Rourke. Honestly, Blue Like Jazz changed a few parts of my life, and that ain’t hyperbole.

However, I was equally disappointed with Searching for God Knows What. You know how musicians who are Christians are saying things like “Hey, I’m not an authority on stuff. I just write and sing about living my life as a Christian. Don’t hold me up to be higher that you.”? I feel like Don turned that around in SFGKW. He’s a great writer, but in that book he tried to be a theologian and the effect was just the opposite of BLJ. He came off as an arrogant, left-of-liberal theologian instead of the regular guy reflecting on life experiences he was in BLJ.

I can tolerate a lot of theology that doesn’t match my own in a work like BLJ, or Lamott’s Traveling Mercies, or any number of L’Engle’s books. What I find hard to stomach is a writer like Don trying to be definitive on matters in which he is not an expert. I’m not either, BTW.

“Write what you know”, right? Either that or explore what you don’t know humbly and with an open mind.  Don repeatedly uses analogies about marriage, raising kids, and to a lesser extent sports to make his theological points. In those first two categories he has no experience on which to draw – which isn’t to say those categories are completely off-limits for him.

So I found myself writing in the columns of the book a number times – writing things like “Hey Don, try this line of reasoning again after you’re married and see if it still rings true to you” and “Hey Don, get back to me once you have some kids and have thought through this in real time.”

I guess the annoyance was exacerbated by the fact that I loved BLJ so much.

Sorry for riffing on Don so much. Its been a blog post sort of waiting to happen so I guess this was my rough draft.

Related posts:

1. (Re: Donald Miller) Quoted in the ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a journalist named Jessica Clark for a quote on Donald Miller’s new book. Here’s the piece...
2. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (1) Wikipedia gives us a good start: Blue Like Jazz is the second book by Donald Miller. This semi-autobiographical work, subtitled “Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality,”...
3. Review – “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller Reading “A Million Miles…” is like talking to an old friend, one you used to love and spend a lot of time with but for...
4. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (6 of 6) – Don on: Love ***You might want to read part1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5 first*** “I wish Ani DiFranco wasn’t a Lesbian.”  So begins...
5. Review – “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller Reading “A Million Miles…” is like talking to an old friend, one you used to love and spend a lot of time with but for...

In The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible, Scot McKnight explores, explains, defends, and rebukes the various ways Christians read the Bible.

He spends the early pages of the book unfolding his hyper-conservative upbringing – the type that basks in phrases like “God said, I believe it, that settles it for me!” He, like many of us, was eventually shocked to discover that we all pick and choose some parts of the bible to believe literally and others that we don’t.

“What I discovered,” McKnight says, “is that we all pick and choose. I must confess this discovery did not discourage me as much as it disturbed me, and then it made me intensely curious… The discoveries and disturbances converged onto one big question: How, then, are we to live out the Bible today?”

After recounting his journey from a hyper- (and hypocritical) literalism to an admitted pick-and-choose method, McKnight explores the questions: – What is the Bible? What do I do with the Bible? and How do I benefit from the Bible? He then proceeds in the last third of the book to examine the issue of women in church ministries today using the methods of Biblical learning and perspective described in the first two-thirds of the book.

McKnight’s purpose in writing the book is well described in the following quotation:

“I believe there is an inner logic to our picking and choosing, but I believe we need to become aware of what it is.  Until we do, we will be open to accusations of hypocrisy. It’s that simple, and it’s that lethal. If you tell me you believe the Bible and seek to live every bit of it, and if I can find one spot that you don’t – especially if that spot is sensitive or politically incorrect or offensive – then we’ve all got a problem.”

I have challenged a few Christians this way myself over the years, the type whose logic is so skewed that – if followed to it’s logical end – would require them to stone a homosexual to death.  This is the type of dilema we create for ourselves if we claim that we don’t pick and choose.

If you’re a dedicated complimentarian, you’ll reject McKnight’s egalitarianism.
If you’re already convinced, this might add a bit of clarity.
If you’re on the fence, I’ll venture to say that McKnight will convince you of his position.

This is after all who the book is aimed at: the undecided.

I highly recommend this book. Even if you disagree with the application of McKnight’s ideas, the first 2/3 of the book should be required reading for anyone wishing to be thought of as an intelligent and informed Christian. I recommend putting this book into the hands of the youngest person you can find who will read it. Many an over-zealous, judgment –launching attitude may be changed by McKnight’s thesis.

Scot McKnight is a professor of religious studies at North Park College in Chicago, Illinois and the source of one of the most widely-read Christian blogs, The Jesus Creed.

Other book reviews on this site:

Tim Challies – The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment

William P. Young – The Shack

Rob Bell – Jesus Wants to Save Christians

Related posts:

1. Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” (1) Wikipedia gives us a good start: Blue Like Jazz is the second book by Donald Miller. This semi-autobiographical work, subtitled “Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality,”...
2. More Thoughts on “The Shack” **These are some additional thoughts on my review of the book found here.** I don’t agree with the entire book but at many places I...
3. Scot McKinght on "What The Movements Fear" Scot McKnight is a voice I have come to trust on matters relating to the emerging/emergent church movement. He has a talent for being part...
4. Bible Study Basics 1 – Word Study   1. Always start with scripture, I prefer the ESV online (http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/) 2. Type the word or topic you want to study into the search...
5. Rob Bell – “Jesus Wants to Save Christians” To be honest, I have tried to like Rob Bell’s work many times without much luck.  That’s probably a bad way to start a review....

The winds of reconciliation are blowing through the stratum of Christendom of late.

First, Steve “Shake Me to Wake Me” Camp made a heartfelt apology to long-time nemesis and current All-American Calvinist poster boy Mark Driscoll.

Then, in an equally heartfelt – though expletive peppered – post,  Chief Executive Senior Pastor of New Spring Church, Perry Noble, admits that he actually likes John Piper.

Now, it’s being reported that John MacArthur and Brian McLaren will co-author a book together to be released on the new Tony Jones/Emergent Village approved Baker imprint Fundamergent.

“With the winds of reconciliation blowing so hard,” MacArthur said when reached at his home this afternoon, “I felt led to approach Brian in a spirit of correction significantly less stringent than I had previously experienced. There was a moment there, as we were posing for our picture together, that I almost caught myself saying – out loud – that he might be a Christian, but cooler heads prevailed.”

In response, McLaren was equally effusive in his praise of MacArthur. “John is not such a bad guy,” McLaren said, “He and his kind really do have something to add to the conversation, even if it is just to tell the rest of us how wrong we are.”

The book, currently being written with a working title of “The War on Velvet Heterodoxy”, will feature alternating chapters written by McLaren and MacArthur, with McLaren writing first and then MacArthur picking apart verb tenses and voice intonations, and keeping and eye on McLaren’s particular word order.

The book is slated for release April 1, 2010.

***SEE ALSO: Tony Jones Finds Audience, Loses “Religion”

Related posts:

1. Brian McLaren – Dave Ramsey Scandal Revealed!  When I was at Baker Books in Grand Rapids on the weekend I saw this interesting juxtaposition of book covers (click on image for larger...
2. OBITUARY: Emerging Church (1989-2009) This brings a (satirical) tear to my eye. The money quote: She is survived by her parents, the Seeker Church, and Sojourners; her paternal grandmother,...
3. John Piper on “Emerging”, “Emergent”, and “Missional” John Piper has a handle on what these terms mean, and shows it in this post. I’m not in total agreement with his analysis but...
4. McKnight: “McLaren Emerging” Scot McKnight provides more of his trademark clarity in a recent article in Christianity Today: I maintain a crucial distinction between two related streams: emergent...
5. Willow Creek + Brain McLaren = (???) Willow Creek is inviting Brian McLaren to speak at their upcoming Shift conference. This post will be very odd because I love what I hear...