It seems to me that one of the problems we have in this polarized political climate is that we so seldom have an opportunity to engage in a civil debate about the fundamental issues around which there may indeed be a difference of opinion among reasonable people. This problem is clearly evident in the political arena, but also exists in much of the dialog that occurs regarding the state and direction of the mainline churches. It is my view that society in general stands to benefit by having a better understanding about just what it is that we disagree about. Although a better understanding would not necessarily lead to agreement, it may alleviate some of the resentment, and the angry rhetoric that often emanates from both sides.
For the past few weeks I have been struggling to gain an understanding as to what if any common ground exists between the adherents of mainline churches and those who are associated with the ideas of the emergent church. But more specifically, I have attempted to identify the central issues responsible for the tension that exists between the two groups. What are the fundamental issues about which reasonable people may come to a different conclusion?
Two issues in particular are at issue from my perspective. One issue that arises between the traditional church and those within the viewpoint of the emergent church bears on the question "How do we define what it means to be an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ?" The other question, which is actually a subset of the first, could be phrased as "What is actually needed in order to follow the great commission to “go forth and make disciples in all the world?”
After some considerable dialog about this it seems to me that the there is an honest difference of opinion about how we answer the "making disciples" question.
From the mainline church perspective the answer might go something like this:
"If we build and foster a loving and welcoming community of faith, others will come to know us and our community and will be moved by God to understand and accept the gospel message and Christian salvation. Missional outreach for us is multi-faceted. We run soup kitchens, sponsor support groups, offer special musical and topical events, and talk to our friends and family about our lives of which our faith community is the most important part. Essentially the church is for us a place where others can come if they wish to join us. We anticipate that people will have an experience of Christ in their association with us and that this and the Holy Spirit is what will accomplish God's work. Thus, we feel that the emphasis in terms of the great commission is to "be the gospel" and that making disciples is primarily God's work. Faith is God’s gift freely given to those seeking, and we generally do not think it our duty to try and reason and justify to others why we are Christian and to thereby persuade them of the merits and truth of the Christian message. We provide a format and a place where people can join the community of faith as it is expressed among us. We are not particularly concerned about being all things to all people. If our voice does not speak effectively to postmodern culture (whatever that is) we trust that the broader community of faith will find the means necessary to present the gospel in that context. We acknowledge and are concerned regarding the general decline observed in the mainline churches. Some of us feel that this decline is simply an artifact of cultural changes that we have no power to change, and in any case, our experience suggests that it is normal for many people to allow matters of faith fade into the background during their younger years, only to re-emerge later in life. While the church hierarchy is understandably worried about addressing this decline, among the average church goer there is no particular concern. There will always be a faith community in some form wherein we can worship and find community. It does not seem worth the headaches and upheaval that would be required to somehow change the mission or the fundamental characteristics that we identify with and understand as the the church as we have known it.
From the emergent church perspective the emphasis is different:
"Our mission focus is two-fold. First, like the traditional church we want to have a strong sense of community and mission, but we can only realize this if the forms and practices are more consistent with the perspectives and cultural reality that we live in. Also, like the traditional church, we also want open, honest, and accepting relationships with those in the community of faith, but generally we do not believe this is possible for us in large traditional Sunday services wherein the relationship is primarily one of "provider and consumer." We believe worship gatherings should be more participatory and creative than is generally the case in traditional church settings. More importantly, with respect to outreach to the broader community we feel it is critical that we meet non-believers on their own terms and provide an opportunity for a two-way dialog about not only what it means to be a Christian and how the gospel can be understood, but also one that openly and honestly addresses the challenges to faith, especially from the perspective of those who are immersed in the current cultural context and who often are very skeptical regarding the relevance and value of the traditional Christian church. One way we do this is to find creative ways of having an informal and multi-faceted sacred space that is culturally and contextually comfortable for both us and those we engage with. While we do not expect our numbers to be large, we feel there are a significant number of people of all ages who are seeking spiritual truth, but are lost in the darkness of the current cultural context. And we believe that our experience and perspective enable us to find common ground with those who are seeking God’s truth. We realize that our vision and understanding is not shared by many within normative Christianity. Yet, we believe that it is in the interest of our friends in the mainline churches to take seriously the dramatic decline in their numbers and the marked increase in the average membership age. Though it must be said that some of us question whether there is any practical benefit to addressing ourselves to this issue or in seeking common ground or a partnership with institutions that simply do not share our vision.
