Last week I plugged a video featuring Brian McLaren, which I thought was great, but it did get me thinking about the direction of the emerging church. In America it seems to be going in the direction of Saddleback and Willow Creek, in that although it is much smaller it has those key marks of a company; the rockstar, the numbers, the labels, the strucutre... in the UK it all seems so much more fluid and i hope it stays that way; i like the fact that i can belong to a movement where people don't always agree but they do accept, i'm glad i don't feel pressured to commit more or to buy anything and i love the relax feel of the whole thing. but maybe sometime, there will need to be some formality.
I read this article along similar lines by john o'keefe, where he discourages becoming a movement because of the mechanical, focused, structured, profit orientated operations that often go with such things, but i'm a bit dubious... although i like the informality that o'keefe's encourages i'm concerned by the dangers that are (somewhat accidentally) highlighted in the article. In particular i am wary about slipping from pluralism to relativism, from a position where truth is sought to where it is deemed unobtainable. O'Keefe writes,
"in a movement, everyone needs to be on the same page, have the same focus, hold the same beliefs, follow the founder. all must follow the same direction and dictions of "the powers" that be. if, one questions the direction of the movement, they are "outside" the main stream and are seen as "anti-the movement." but in an emerging conversation there can be no "decent" because all views are seen as equal. views are encouraged and discussed and no "answer" is found, because the question has more value then the answer. we are currently the spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions, and feelings; we are "talk." besides, if we "come to a conclusion" in the emerging, it could change the next time we talk. if we become a movement, we must maintain the reality that some will not follow, and some will speak against - and do so loudly."
I'm all for staying fluid in our operations and i agree that everything should be up for discussion but if the emerging church conversation is to continue there needs to be some position for truth and some belief that there are answer and they are worth us pursuing in communion with one another. There must be some possibility of decent...
Thoughts anyone???
Comments