Clearing Up 'Emerging' Confusion
Sunday night, our theology study group had a great discussion about the diverse (and sometimes dangerous) perspectives in emerging church circles. On Monday, a friend sent me a video clip that really clears up a lot of the confusion and bad information about the different 'lanes' in the emerging church.
Mark Driscoll (who is really becoming a hero of mine) clarifies the differences in these four lanes. Mark is the founder of
Mars Hill Churchand one of the men God used to really mold and shape the emerging church movement. It is the clearest explanation I have heard of to date (having taught on the Emerging Church for the last five years). Driscoll breaks the emerging church down as follows:
1) Emerging Evangelicals
2) Emerging House Churches
3) Emerging Reformers
4) Emergent Liberals
If I had to put Valley Christian Church in one of these lanes it would fit in the 'Emerging Reformers'lane. All of this is quite helpful, as some of the leaders in our church were recently told by a well-intentioned but confused person that Valley could not be considered an 'emerging church' because we emphasize the importance of studying Systematic Theology in our leadership training. What in the world?!?!
Because I believe it is so important to really understand what's going on in the church today, I've pasted the clip on the homepage of GWM. You can view it here.
Libbe
Thanks for all the help in explaining the emerging church Dr. G (and all the other big words people use these days)!!! I'm so thankful that Josh and I have you and Susie in our lives who are so knowledgable about theology and are so great at teaching it to others. You've really shown us our new passion!!!
Posted on Thu, Aug 28, 2008 @ 7:35 AM CST
Richard
Great post and video. Driscoll addresses concerns that you've had for some time about the 'emerging' misunderstandings (both locally and beyond). He brings alot of clarity to this topic that has alot of people confused and misguided. I'm glad to see a concise, accessible breakdown like this available for all to see. Because, if we are going to be leaders who make significant impact, we've got to know what we're talking about and what the words we're saying actually mean! Otherwise, we will just be adding to the confusion and misdirection. Thanks for putting this up!
Posted on Thu, Aug 28, 2008 @ 8:06 AM CST
Kevin
Great post. Loved the video; concise with clarity. Interesting to see how post modernism shows itself in varying degrees each one. It seems like the level of post-modern influence in each of the lanes is directly proportional to how far "off-road" that particular lane is.
Posted on Thu, Aug 28, 2008 @ 1:19 PM CST
John
Love the post and great comment Richard.
Thanks for your leadership Dr. G, I've learned so much being a part of this study group.
Posted on Thu, Aug 28, 2008 @ 3:34 PM CST