The
Emergent Church
Herbert Douglass
Part V
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WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU TRUST MOST?
(EMERGING CHURCH, PART 5) May 26th, 2010 by
Herbert Douglass The fundamental question, that one issue, that has separated
philosophers and theologians since the beginning of recorded history is epistemology:
how we know things, or, how we think we know things. That is exactly what is at stake today when we discuss the
"emerging church" or "emergents"--is
truth to be found in the exciting conversation of listening to each other,
trusting in our own feelings or is truth found in listening to the authority
of the Bible? The emergents flee from the authority of an
inspired Book. They test authority by their feelings that make more sense for
them than boring sermons and a list of proof texts. These personal feelings
are echoed by others who "feel" that same way about
churches--churches that seem so particular, so restrictive, so exclusive! They prefer a Jesus who is inclusive
and not judgmental --nobody left out, ever! With that rejection of boring churches, and those memorized texts by
the dozens to get an A in Bible class, I can heartily agree. I too reject the
use of the Bible to build walls around churches that have forgotten how to
build appealing escalators that go both ways. I too wince when I hear
parents, teachers, and preachers beat the commandments into the young and old
with great earnestness but without showing in transformed living their own
joy of avoiding the tears and heartbreak that always follow the breaking of
those commandments--that is, if they have really found that joy of loyal
obedience. Truth is not served by cold heads and hearts, no matter how
correct the doctrine may be. So, we today end up with the historical standoff and a devilish
debater's trick--the familiar either/or question: Is authority found in what
God has said or is it found in our spiritual impulses--doctrine or
experience. But anybody who thinks twice knows that the issue is better framed
with the "holy and." We don't have to decide between either/or! God is a very person-oriented Person--that is the open secret of the
Trinity. Further, Jesus said, "I am the Truth." Truth is knowing a Person, not merely the words about that
Person. In other words Truth equals doctrine plus a relationship with the
Person behind the doctrine. Most theological arguments could be solved in five minutes, if all
concerned would use the "holy and" rather than the
"either/or" question. For example, think of all the ink and
shouting that could be avoided if we simply took the "holy and" when
we want a definition of righteousness by faith: justification AND
sanctification, both working together from the first commitment of faith in
following Jesus to the day we go to sleep or when Jesus returns. Both those
terms are very experiential. If we don't sense that, we can be sure that we
don't understand what those two words mean--another example of doctrine
AND experience. Our emergent friends, however, reject the absoluteness of Bible truth,
linear thinking (coherent, logical), certainty, and the cerebral as opposed
to affective. They have seen the downside of all those characteristics:
arrogance, inflexibility, desire to control, and always having to be
"right." Emergents turn to the changing culture for
guide posts, without claims to be right or true, facing the culture in which
we all live, but allowing this culture to control our emotions and
aesthetics. They deny foundational thinking, enduring truths. They insist
that we "know" things in many different ways, that there is no
"best" way. Instead of focusing on "right" belief, they
think in terms of love, relationships and tolerance wherein nobody is ever
wrong. All this can be summed up with two words: pluralism/diversity and
relativism. For them, God has many ways to find Him--Christianity being
one. Relativism has been rampant for more than a century in all areas of
life--architecture, graphic arts, literature, and definitely within the
Christian church. Thus, absolutism denies relativism--obviously. Why?
Because relativism insists that morality and religion are relative to the
people who embrace them. None of the above, however, suggests that the emergents
that I have read disregard the Bible! Hardly! Brian McLaren,
perhaps the most prolific of the emergents, wrote:
"I believe it [the Bible] is a gift from God, inspired by God, to
benefit us in the most important way possible: equipping us so that we can
benefit others, so that we can play our part in the ongoing mission of God.
My regard for the Bible is higher than ever."[1] Yet reading
throughout his well-received book, A Generous
Orthodoxy, one goes back and forth applauding but
just when you think he has a point, he makes some outrageous exaggeration
that is off the chart. McLaren simply and categorically is against authority,
infallibility, objectivity, and literalness in his use of the Bible. Rob Bell,
pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church, Grandview, MI, said in a Christianity Today interview:
"The Bible is still in the center for us but it is a different kind of
center. We want to embrace mystery, rather than conquer it." Rob's wife,
Kristen, continuing the interview: "I grew up thinking we've figured out
the Bible, that we knew what it means. Now I have no idea what it means.
And yet I feel like life is big again-like life used to be black and white,
and now it's in color."[2] Kristen credits Brian McLaren with directing their thinking on
Spiritual authority: "Our lifeboat was A New Kind of
Christian." Here McLaren speaks through Neo
who helps the bewildered pastor, Dan Poole, discover a new kind of
Christianity and a new kind of biblical authority: "When we let it go as
a modern answer book, we get to rediscover it for what it really is: an
ancient book of incredible spiritual value for us, a kind of universal and
cosmic history, a book that tells us who we are and what story we find
ourselves in so that we know what to do and how to live. That letting go is
going to be hard on you evangelicals."[3] Going back to our original question: What authority do you trust
most?--everyone has his or her own private answer. It will be transparent in
the choices made in life. Nicodemus learned something on that summer evening
when Jesus lifted him above his devotion to the Scriptures (the Old
Testament), commendable as that may have been. After that memorable
discussion, Nicodemus was never the same. He was loyal to Jesus, His new
Lord, ever after, even when our Lord's disciples had fled into the dark
corners of Jerusalem on the bleak Friday afternoon. He and Joseph of Arimathaea got the unusual permission to bury our Lord's
lifeless form in a new burial cave, never used. He had connected with Truth as his head filled with a new look at
Scripture and his heart filled with a new relationship. This was really
authentic living! Relationship theology is great only to the extent it leads us to our
Lord who came to earth to establish that relationship. Making relationships
with friends who are also seeking relationships with others who seek the
excitement of asking questions and questioning all the answers-always leads
to dead ends. Just like picking out a lifemate:
those who are wise learn as much as they can about that "knockout
guy" or that "dazzling beaut" before
they make very long-lasting decisions. Hooking up with a relationship
that "wows" for a few months, without a careful examination of what
the facts are, also leads to sad, dead ends. Likewise, saying that
Jesus is one's Inspiration without knowing what He has said about who would
be His loyal followers--is dreaming up a spiritual mirage and a sad, dead
end. Authentic
authority always unites truth and experience. But truth brings the
authenticity to our feelings/experience. Not the other way around. |