Emerging Church

The Emerging Church Movement today is a hard thing to grasp because there are so many different levels and varieties of it in our postmodern world. When most people think or hear of the Emerging Church, we have a picture in our mind of something not good or unBiblical because of what other people have said about it. We must refocus or focus for the first time on really what it is though. We are scared of it but don’t know why because most of us really don’t know what it is. We think of Emergent as being a part of some cult. Let’s really learn the reality of what it is.
To learn what Emerging Church Movement is we must first redefine it. It is actually not a movement at all. It is a conversation that has been happening since the first church of the New Testament. We see the first sign of it when Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9,
“[19] Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. [20] To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. [21] To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. [22] To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. [23] I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
The conversation is then how we become like others in our culture for the benefit of evangelizing to them. How can we contextualize or change the church’s cultural traditions but not give up Biblical doctrine and truth? How can we stray from syncretism or conforming our worldview to the postmodern world by questioning Biblical truth, salvation, heaven and hell, or reinterpreting the Bible to mean something it does not? We do not want to take all supposed truth and shish kabob it all together with Christianity to make it one big all-inclusive religion.
An example of syncretism would be believing that homosexuality is not a sin because it is accepted in our culture. Another example would be the exact opposite of believing that you can’t come to church if you are homosexual because more traditional culture did not accept it.
Contextualization would be changing into a postmodern church without changing biblical truth and doctrine. For example, contextualization into a postmodern culture could include changing music in a church to a more contemporary genre instead of old hymns. Or a church could contextualize Biblically by caring for injustices as the postmodern world is and being involved in ending child labor and sex slavery.
To simplify this conversation, we must see the reality that we live in a postmodern culture. Tradition isn’t what is important in the church. Truth is the only essential in the church. We can live in any culture and still live in Biblical truth. We can become all things or have all the same concerns and cares as non-believing Postmoderns to win them for Christ. We must be ministering with Postmoderns, not to them or as them. We must live out and practice our faith and Biblical truth. We can practice our faith in any cultural form. Be creative in how you express yourself to God. Do not be tolerant though of differing views other than Biblical truth but be respectful and tolerant of others culture.