Emerging Evangelical Reformations and the Modern Church

Sometimes, listening to an emergent pastor can be a strain for me. The tendency to pile on verbiage that is usually on the provocative side, reformative to say the least, is the norm. There is a lot of talk about how we as Christians (especially fundamentalist evangelicals) must change to live in a "postmodern" society. Unfortunately, this often involves a lot of talk that aims to deconstruct not only modern Christianity, but the meaning of Scripture itself in order to reconstruct them into something that fits their agenda. That agenda seems to be chiefly about social justice, as near as I can tell.


I guess that I could have the Christian spiritual couch potato attitude about what emergent teachers say about reforming the church and just wave my hand at it, but the truth is, I get mixed feelings about the things they say. On the one hand, I know that is a part of their aim. On the other, their aim is usually off, and that is unfortunate. There is a lot of talent there.


I heard excerpts the other day from an interview with a leading emergent pastor. It turned out to be about three years old when I found the transcript on the internet. He said that Jesus' mission statement was the first thing out of His mouth when he began His ministry. He reminds us that Jesus said that He came to declare that the kingdom of God is at hand. This fellow then goes on to use Isaiah 65, starting in verse 17 to illustrate his belief that Jesus was talking about a kingdom of this world.


This gentleman appears to be spear-heading a new movement called "Red Letter Christianity". It focuses on the words of Jesus, again with an emphasis on social justice. So much so, that it seems to be the predominant concern of its following. Here's some red letters for consideration;


"Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17


It is Jesus there, echoing the truth that His herald John spoke in the previous chapter, (in black letters no less) that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The sort of "kingdom now" theology that the emergent movement espouses is a base for errors that much of their problems springboard from. It has led to the deconstructionist tendency they have, and moreover to the wider mercy, or more universal salvation view that more and more of the movement shares.


More red letters;

"....My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." John 18:36


Again, Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. So let's not ignore these black letters; "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" 1st John 3:17. The Apostle John wrote those reading his epistles that compassion for a brother in need was a sign of God's love at work in His people. Am I throwing the reader a curve-ball? Absolutely not. Back to the red letters;


"For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matthew 12:50


So when coupled with 1st John 3:17, does the above verse discount the poor and oppressed who are not Christians, who are not our brother, sister and mother? Hardly. We are to be taking care of the poor, those within the body of Christ first, as well those without.


More black letters;

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:27 Does this mandate that social justice is the highest priority for the follower of Christ? No it does not. Speaking of the practical necessities of life, Jesus told us to "........seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "


In the light of all of this, it should not escape our notice that only two verses after Jesus called men to repent in Matthew 4, telling them that the kingdom of heaven was at hand, that He told Peter and Andrew to; "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." They learned to do that by following Jesus' example, by preaching the good news of the gospel. Sure, Jesus fed the poor. He even told His followers to do so, but there is also the example that such could become a distraction for people, even a potential distraction from the gospel. Back to the red letters --Jesus answered them and said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."


Am I saying we should not give to the poor, feed the poor or cloth the poor? No. But we have to remember that what we win them with is what we will win them to. The gospel must be first in the order of things. What good does it do to feed, cloth and house a man's body, which will perish, if in doing so that we neglect his soul, and allow it to perish too?


Do I think that the emergent movement is indifferent to the salvation of souls? No, but I believe that the high-profile emergent leaders are seriously misiguided about who gets saved and how it happens. Some would say that soteriology is the biggest problem within the emergent movement. Possibly, but I think that grows naturally out of where their focus lies. There are subtle changes that pop up from time to time that should be glaring testimonials to where his head is at. I read in a letter that he wrote recently to another blogger, that in accord with Scripture that he believes Acts 4:12, speaking of Jesus is true. He then turns around and states that he while he acknowledges that Jesus is the only Savior, that he isn't convinced that Christians are the only ones who will be saved. That kind of conflictive statement us the sort that plagues the emergent movement, and frankly that should separate it from evangelicalism.


The gentleman in the interview I read said that there are some two-thousand verses that call upon us to stand up for the poor, feed the poor and bring justice to the poor. I don't know if that is accurate. Doing a study like that can be tricky, because including contextual verses that don't use the word "poor" would be a part of it. If it were the case, that would mean out of the 31, 102 or three verses (depending on whose sources you use) in the Bible, one in fifteen of them would be about the poor. I guess I just don't believe the number. And since when was it decided that the larger mention of a thing determined its priority in the Scriptures? I mean that has a certain sense of worldly logic, but not necessarily the ring of Scriptural truth.


These folks are now saying that they are having a hard time calling themselves evangelicals anymore. Man, it would be fine with me if they simply stopped doing it. I don't mean that to sound snarky. I just want to cut out the confusion that wildly differing views cause within something called the same movement. Evangelicalism is too full of "change agents" anymore. Certainly, evangelicalism has its share of internal issues. Hucksterism, heretical teaching, scandals and not to mention just plain bad teaching are only a few. We don't need the emergent movement to throw more heresies at the ones that already exist in order to solve them.


The rank and file evangelicals that I know are flawed like anybody else, but well-rounded believers who for the most part are concerned for the poor to the point that they do something about it and train their children to do something about it as well. Social justice is not their chief concern, but it is among their actionable concerns. I learned about that from my Christian mother, and she learned it from Jesus, but setting that agenda as the primary way to witness and spread the gospel is not something I see as a Scriptural mandate. What I see as the Scriptural example, while doing right and caring for the poor, the widowed, the orphaned (but placing the spreading of the gospel first) is the different ways that the Apostles shared the gospel with all people--poor, rich, commoner and kings. All of these inspired and led by the power of the Holy Spirit, who endows His followers with the creativity to do the will of the Father. This is not driven by an emphasis on social justice. It is driven by the necessity for men and women to be saved, because salvation concerns ones eternity and where one will spend it. The poor can be ministered to with the highest of motivation, compassion and care that is possible to give. If they do not have Jesus Christ, they will not spend their eternity worshiping God. Not here, and not in heaven. What does it gain a man to have his practical needs taken care of in even the most loving way, even when people being helped can see it is motivated by God, if they do not repent of their sins? Their eternity must come first, and let the body of Christ then help them out of poverty.


Through rambling. More on this later maybe.