Yesterday was Rob Bell's farewell service at Mars Hill in Western MI. I thought it was fitting, since he has been one of the poster-children of the emergent movement, to reflect on what we may have learned from him and others like him. I really appreciate the idea of the emergent movement as an entity that is no more, but a movement we can reflect back on and learn from.
Assuming that the downfall of Emergent Village, the slide of Mars Hill and the publishing of A New Kind of Christianity and Love Wins have sounded the death knell for the emergent movement, it is appropriate for us to start this "conversation." Inside joke.
I think its funny that the emergent movement has left us with more answers than questions, and the conclusion is more telling than the journey. This movement may well have been the most influential piece of church history over the last 500 years. I'm comfortable with that. I want to hear your thoughts on this, but here are just a few things that i am sure will go down in the history books as aspects of living the Christian faith which the emergent movement has helped us see, both for better and for worse:
- There is less of a gap between orthodoxy and orthopraxy than we think. Faith and action are almost inseperable.
- We learned how to engage postmodernism as a church (whatever your definition of postmodernism is).
- People are not actually looking to be entertained at a worship service.
-People seek Truth (even today) and don't need it sugar coated. Answers to questions are still important.
- There are certain aspects of the gospel, God's Kingdom, and soteriology that have been given too little attention for the past 500 years (call me a heretic).
-The visible, militant church must be "ever-reforming." Not perfect, not static, not finished. Always learning from our past and our present, we must stay open to new possibilities and potential.
What do you think?
I would say that we, as a culture, are just coming out of the Grace Movement. I truly believe that we will see a renewed sense of deep hunger for pragmatic knowledge and a reclaiming of the word "Christian." It seems to me that people are wanting more knowledge in teaching, but I believe that it is because now our college-educated generation is just starting to reach the adult age where they can participate in church.
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