So if you haven’t read it yet check out Stephen Shields’ article in Next-Wave Ezine Ten Years Out: A Retrospective on the Emerging Church in North America. It’s a good overview of the state of the emerging movement these days from some of its major leaders. And while I am increasingly uncomfortable with the growing tendency for some of the leaders to toll the emerging death knell themselves, the movement is obviously at a crossroads. And personally I’m torn regarding that crossroads.
On one hand, I’ve always enjoyed the diversity of the emerging conversation. The ability for people of different denominational heritages or theological traditions to come together as part of a conversation. People came to the conversation for a variety of reasons, but as messy or awkward as it sometimes got, everyone had a voice. But then it got too messy for some and perhaps to passe for others.
So I’m torn. While I want to retain the diversity, its hard to do when you are repeatedly told that you’ve pushed the conversation too far – made it too messy. It’s hard to respect the needs of others to express who they are and what they are comfortable with when they don’t want to talk with you anymore. Should we just part ways – each respecting that the other is different and let that difference define us? Or do we remain in community, agreeing to disagree and perhaps work through those differences? No one is going to stop being who they are just so other people will like them, but there are other ways to be in community. When God got ahold of us all and pushed us to grow and stretch the false boundaries of our faith, it wasn’t a one time event where we all ended up at the same place after asking a series of appropriate questions. It was a process that of course looks different for all of us. So I can’t be pissed off that others aren’t asking the same questions I am, but it would be really nice if they respected my need to do so as part of the ongoing conversation.
I liked what Tony Jones had to say about this in the article – “It concerns me when leaders who were formerly friends of mine back away from me and from emergent because they find my theology too risky. I think that’s sin, plain and simple. Friendship should trump doctrinal differences, and I’m quite sure that Jesus would agree with me on that”
I would love it if emergent could retain its diversity instead of splintering. I want it to be like the coffee shop I often go to work at. On any given day I can hear at least 5 or 6 different languages being spoken there. I love that. Too often we can just stay with those who speak only our same language and not expose ourselves to the diversity of the world around us. So even if we don’t always understand each other in the emerging conversation, I wish we could be willing to at least be part of the same conversation.