EMERGING CHURCH CRITIQUE

In a mostly fair critique of the emerging church Ed Stetzer proposes three types of emerging churches:
  • relevants
  • reconstructionists
  • revisionists
Stetzer's last sentence is one that all sides of the emerging church conversation must hear:
"Let’s affirm the good, look to the Scriptures for answers to the hard questions, and, yes, let’s graciously disagree when others hold views contrary to our best scriptural understanding of God, Bible and church."

Just a couple comments:

  • In his discussion of reconstructionists, he says, "God’s Word prescribes much about what a church is." This is in fact why some in the emerging church want to reconstruct church--the current model does not match what the bible says about church. I said some time ago and will say again, "the real issue in the emerging church is ecclesiology and missiology." What survives and thrives in the emerging church--the people of God that emerges from this conversation/movement--with be the church that has answered the ecclesiological and missiological questions by searching Scripture, critically listening to tradition, and remaining sensitive to the Spirit of God.
  • Those who question "the nature of the substitutionary atonement, the reality of hell, the complementarian nature of gender, and the nature of the Gospel itself" should not be in the same category as those who deny them outright. Each of these theologies--and all others as well--must be questioned in light of Scripture. Theology is not scripture. We must not treat it as such.

Tag(s):

“Unless otherwise noted Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” http://www.esv.org/

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