umerging: the voice of brian mclaren
you may have read of some of the frustration with the system as far as us emerging methodists at the umerging colloquy & leadership conference. there was one great voice to speak to everyone. brian mclaren. i thought i'd share some words that i think are poignant.
recapturing the center
- Our ministry is centered disproportionately on self
- “for God so loves the world” - what if we loved all the world
- but it’s under great danger through human sin, when all they think about is self
- stop loving yourself first of all, but start loving the world first of all
the center: liturgical, social action, evangelical, charismatic
each has something to offer, and you don’t want to loose what you started with, but you want to come to the center
a fringe: tree growth, a new ring, are the churches that are emerging
the outermost ring expresses the tree’s engagement with outside conditions
there are three worlds
- pre-modern: a world without books
- modern world: world of nation states and systems, today’s theologies are based on the modern world, and world of books
- emerging world: a world without books, they have the internet
- it’s not that the emerging world is against Christianity, it’s that no one has communicated the world in their own language
- be like a loving missionary, pioneer missionary, to go into the emerging culture learn the culture and contextualize the gospel for them
- not all have the calling, but the Holy Spirit does not give you a calling to condemn those that do
the church has to embrace all levels of the church
emergence and convergence
- medieval church had a modern crisis and diverged into a conservative way and liberal way
- conservatives started defining themselves and reacting to each other increasing polarization
- they are separating themselves, but we’ve had this “post modern interruption” and these two groups are oblivious to this interruption
- and they stand to become equally irrelevant as they continue to try and fight old battles
- those that break off come to the missional church or generous orthodoxy
provocative question: does Christ’s church have a mission or... does Christ mission have a church? it doesn’t matter the answer as any answer will take you into a good direction.
- this is our time to answer this, it’s not a dress rehearsal
- we live in a world that is orphaned and it’s washed back up on our doorstep
- it’s a great situation for resurrection




well said gavo. well said. great words for those who are in between the modern world and the postmodern.
j.
Posted by: Jonathon Norman | October 09, 2006 at 07:30 AM