background image

blog

Emerging church V
Friday 29th February 2008 @ 9:14 am / arts - movies, books, theatre ...

Emerging church mark number four … and one which I think is most important – it sounds the easiest and most simple, but actually, I think it might be the most difficult to do well …


Welcoming the stranger …

At the heart of this is the inclusion of the stranger demonstrated in the life of Jesus.

“Postmodernity … represents a time when plurality is accepted and order and control are relinquished… Jesus faced the exclusion of the first century Palestine and confronted it with an inclusive community. The exclusivity of modernity with its pursuit of the same and the exclusion of the other needs to be similarly challenged.”

To EC the outsider both clarifies and defines the boundaries of their faith.

A truly missional church:

integrates worship with welcome – identifying with all aspects of life, not just a gathering … perhaps the Lord’s supper is an actual meal – it actually becomes central to what worship is.

Hospitality is not an extra, but an imperative … Those who come to the door are Christ.

Turing a welcome space into a safe place … Particularly for the vulnerable … abused, weak, poor etc.

Remaining committed to relationship even with those who are different, or who hold a differing viewpoint … Those with different beliefs hold no fear – in fact this is where EC feels at home … a wholehearted embrace of Christ demands listening to, learning from, and welcoming those of diversity

Going from perceived arrogance to transparent humility … Standing and fighting over the truth in culture wars has little appeal to EC leaders … they do not deny Christ, it is his kingdom they live – and because of this they are humble.

Move from verbal apologetics to embodied apologetics … “One should speak and act in manner that respects others and transforms their existence … a community committed to the gospel of the reign of God provides the most convincing apologetic of the gospel.”

Letting the Holy Spirit set the agenda rather than have your own … EC avoids contrived proclamation and faking friendships, opting for real relationships to fight the forces of manipulation prevalent in culture.

From salespersons to servants … a product is not being sold, but a vulnerable life is being.

From changing beliefs to changing lives … People do not want to be converted but to experience the life of the kingdom … “The focus is to create cultures of the kingdom and allow God to do the work.”

From speaking about grace to grace speaking through lives …evangelism takes form of presence rather than proclamation … whether or not one is in or out is not primary concern. Welcoming people on pilgrimage is what is vital.

From privatised to public faith …  “Evangelism involves sharing the deep experiences of life with those outside the faith.”

From evangelising to being evangelised … “Christians cannot truly evangelise until they are prepared to be evangelized in the process. In sharing the good news, people are enriched by the spiritual insights, honest questions, and depth of devotion demonstrated by those of other faiths.”

Conclusion
“Modernity taught its inhabitants to exclude and conform. Members of emerging churches however display the hospitality of Jesus and include and welcome others into their midst whoa re different from them.”
The uniqueness of Christ gives confidence to include. This means they truly listen. Truly serve. And do not target but keep an open God agenda, in order to bring about life change – theirs as well as anyone else’s.






Comments

To leave a comment, click here

What then would the emerging church say about the early church concept of Catechesis where a believer is explicitly forbidden from partaking in the breaking of the bread until she or he has undergone in-depth instruction in the ways of the faith and been baptised? (cf Hippolytus's "Apostolic Tradition") I'm just pondering...

Name: MagicPaul
Added: Friday 29th February 2008 @ 1:02 pm

I think a better question Paul is what do you think they would say? And why? ...

Name: jools
Added: Friday 29th February 2008 @ 2:09 pm

aww man you had to go and turn than into an exam question didn't you?

Name: MagicPaul
Added: Friday 29th February 2008 @ 3:51 pm

"From evangelising to being evangelised ? ??Christians cannot truly evangelise until they are prepared to be evangelized in the process. In sharing the good news, people are enriched by the spiritual insights, honest questions, and depth of devotion demonstrated by those of other faiths.? There are many aspects of the EC that I would ascribe to, however, I find the above statement a little disturbing. While it is correct that in sharing the good news we can learn a great deal from the "honest questions" and "depth of devotion" of people of other faiths (or even from Man Utd fans for that matter!), we simply cannot gain ANY useful spiritual insight outside of Christ. This embodies what disturbs me about the EC - its does more than address or exist within postmoderism, but becomes intrinsically postmodernist.

Name: Nina
Added: Monday 3rd March 2008 @ 12:46 pm