What do you think of the emerging church and why?

Question

What do you think of the emerging church and why?

Answer 1

I love when people answer questions they don't have an answer to, LOL.

The Emerging Church movement preach false doctrine that is not Biblical. Here are some articles on them:

http://www.monergism.com/directory/search.php?action=search_links_simple&search_kind=and&phrase=emerging+church&B1=Go
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/290-emerging-church
It's postmodern thought and not to be trusted.

Answer 2

I can only give you some incomplete knowledge on this, as I left the church system in 2004 to meet in our home and am therefore no longer personally involved. However, I have kept in touch through my contacts and reading up on these things.

I have heard of 'the Emerging Church' movement, being one of the latest things to hit the headlines on 'what God is doing' etc. in the churches.

We were into the House Church movement and Charismatic movement in the 70's, 'praise and worship' and all the 'heavy shepherding' stuff - you name it, we experienced it, and came out the other end. When the Toronto Blessing was on, we went there. Our church (not us) got into the Alpha Course, the 'Lighthouses of Prayer', the Apostles and Prophets - you name it - and now Rick Warren's 'Emerging Church' is being taken up by all the church groups as the latest 'new thing'.

There are fashions in churches, the same as everywhere else. When things get a bit dull and the young folk are drifting away, they like to 'stir the water' - that's all. It's a fad, and it'll pass away, just like all the rest. And, when the dust has settled, there'll still be people leaving the churches, having found that this latest fad has nothing of substance to offer them, and the rest will pass on to the next 'new thing that God is doing'. It keeps the people amused, it keeps the young people fired up and it keeps the leaders at the front leading everybody and in control.

Trouble is, I have read into this a little and it doesn't seem to be very biblically based. One thing they speak about is making the gospel 'seeker sensitive'. Whilst we have rightly to be sensitive around unbelievers in sharing the gospel (so there is some truth in this), the problem is that, because people don't like it, the emphasis on repentance is downplayed. This leads to the great danger of our churches being filled with people who are not, actually, saved and - worse still - thinking that they ARE saved.

Another problem I have noticed is what 'Bible' Rick Warren uses. It is 'The Message' by Eugene Peterson, which is a - very loose - paraphrase and not a Bible at all. This is so, to such an extent that, if you read many extracts from The Message, the corresponding scriptures in the Bible are practically unrecognisable. With some phrases, Eugene has taken wild liberties and made scriptures mean what the original never, ever said.

This is very serious, tampering with the Word of God, and it wouldn't be so bad if The Message were being sold as a paraphrase (bad as it is) but sadly, many of the young are taking this as bona fide scripture - largely because of Rick Warren's endorsement.

That's it, that's all I know, that this movement is not only watering down the Gospel - to render it ineffective - but is also tampering with the Word of God to do the same. This is not improving the situation in the churches, but making it worse. We left the system because they would not hear us on these things and called us troublemakers.

This is the latest in a long line of deception in the churches and so I will leave you with the thought that the Lord Jesus mentioned FIVE TIMES in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) to beware of deceivers, and I reckon that this is THE major feature of the Last Days :

v4 'Take heed that no man deceive you...'
v5 'For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ (anointed?) and shall deceive many'
v11 'And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many'
v23 'Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not' (+v26)
v24 'For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets ... insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect'

Answer 3

The problem I have with your question is that there isn't a universally accepted definition yet for the "Emerging Church".

If I knew what it is, I'd have a better chance at answering your question.

When I've described the church I was part of 34 years ago, I've been told that was the "Emerging Church".

Up until six months ago I had never heard the phrase, "Emerging Church".

So if and when I find out, I'll let you know.

In my attempt to answer this question I called D A Carson and he agreed that this term wasn't very well defined yet.

Pastor Art

Answer 4

The emerging church is a movement that wants to come out of traditionalism and Pharisee'ism (emerging from rusted tradition, so to say), and they want to go back to the way church was in the beginning: looking to culture (which is now post-modernism) and react on that in a way that that culture understands. So it's evangelizing/doing missions, without trying to copy a church or tradition.
Very biblical, and not the excesses that the movement is accused of, or the post-modernist believers utter: that's just an other form of modern theology; liberal, modernist; that's not what emerging conversation is all about.

Answer 5

One real problem I have with much (most!) of the emerging church is a real lack of honesty. Brian McLaren and others, simply will not state clearly what they believe about very important issues such as hell and homosexuality. Traditionally liberals and evangelicals have at least had the integrity to state their cases openly.

The other real concern I have is that much of the movement defines itself as a reaction against evangelicalism. The result seems to be that many of these guys just have a big chip on their shoulder and spend their time criticising a caricature of the evangelical church.

Thats my tuppence-worth!..

Answer 6

Per Wikipedia, the "emerging church movement" is basically those who are growing away from fundamentalist religion and still mostly believe in the general idea of a particular Christian faith. They welcome discussion and other possible conclusions rather than shun them from the deepest fundamental views.

I think we have to embrace this idea. Proving any part of fundamentalist religion wrong knocks the whole system out. If we can accept changes to what we have learned that are parallel to what is known scientifically, I feel we are better off at accepting religion as a whole.

Answer 7

What emerging church??

Answer 8

Serve God:
Love others as you love yourself.
Don't eat meat.
Don't drive a car or travel in planes.
Be happy and have many kids !
Don't listen to religious nutcases, just serve God by living a humble life and eating vegetables, fruits and rice.
Never join the military.
Share your wealth and happiness.
Be free and happy !

Answer 9

Where is it emerging from? Maybe we should've blocked the exits...

Answer 10

oh no not another bunch of heretics . . .