Thoughts on Emergent....

OK. Would REALLY like to start a new dialogue here concerning the Church of the Nazarene and this thing called Emerging/Emergent church.... Had a class in January with Tony Jones, who is one of the movers and shakers in the Emergent Village, and it was great. Here's a discussion starter-- From what I'm seeing/hearing/reading/experiencing, I am of the impression that a lot of what folks who might consider themselves "emergent" sounds a WHOLE LOT to me like the Wesleyan doctrine of holiness of heart and life. It seems like a lot of these folks come from a Reformed background, and are discovering some of the things that Wesley said a long time ago, namely, that Christianity is a life lived inside and outside of the institution of the church; that evangelism so-called must begin and end in relationship; and that the poor and marginalized matter a lot more than we think they do. Not an exhaustive list here... but it's a start.

I would also say that some emergent folks who also identify with the Church of the Nazarene are wimping-out when they trash the denomination across the board in their blogs, websites, and YouTube videos. One of the things the emergent movement seems to value most is relationship. If that's true, then those of us who feel like we're on the verge of something new, awesome, and profoundly Christian need to practice what we preach, especially where we meet disagreement from within the church. If relationships are so important, why greet opposition with anger, resentment, sarcasm, and passive-agressiveness? What would it mean for us to come to the place where we understand that those who have gone before us, even if we very much disagree with their theology and/or methods, we nevertheless trying the best they could to be faithful in their time and place. I guess I'm saying that the same grace we must extend to Postmodern folks must be extended to Modern folks as well. Even if they don't "get it" and perhaps never will, even if they don't extend the same grace in return, we must do what we can.

I'm concerned that some emergent Nazarenes are coming across as whining sarcastic babies who want to take their toys and go home and start their own independent church or something. For me, I choose to stay. I choose to try everything I can to change the "system" that emergent thought fights against. Instead of chucking the whole thing, I prefer to think about what it might look like in the future if it deals with some of these issues. I feel a strong sense of... duty? debt? calling?... not sure what is the right word, but my theological training came at the hands of Nazarenes such as Craig Keen, Paul Bassett, Al Truesdale, Richard Thompson, Alex Deasley, and Dan Boone. And I think those folks have a glimpse of what the Church of the Nazarene could be, and are willing to take the flak that parts of the church throw at them. I think that vision is worth rolling up my sleeves and getting dirty to work toward.