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