Inside, the cover story "Recipe of Hope" announces "A postcolonial church rises again from the words and actions of Jesus Christ." The article describes the younger generation quest for faith, the " grassroots of a broad trend in North American church life that has come to be called the Emerging Church. Most view this development, for good or ill, as the result of young people choosing to bypass traditional religious institutions as they express their Christian faith in the language and forms of the new and emerging postmodern culture in which they have grown up."
A large portion of the article is dedicated to Brian McLaren as the "theologian of choice", for emergents in Canada and the U.S. McLaren speaks of "The kingdom of God is at hand", but instead of calling for repentance, McLaren paints the political picture of the social gospel.
McClaren continues, "There's no one correct way of shaping our life together. Whether it's café churches or mega-churches, Presbyterian cathedrals or spontaneous house churches, art gallery churches or communities that come out of the new monasticism — I'm excited to see so much variety and difference. The Spirit is generating fresh enthusiasm through it all."
Shaping our life together? Is that the call of the Bride of Christ? There is only One Faith, One Lord, One Way, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
We would do well to abandon our imaginations and return to the Word of God to seek His Face, and His Way.
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Okay, I'm having a little trouble here. From what Mr. McLaren said, it seems as if he is arguing for the "one faith, one Lord, one baptism" in many different contexts. So the Presbyterian could be part of the same faith as the Lutheran as the Baptist as the Catholic as the Pentacostal.
ReplyDeleteIf we are all part of the body of Christ, then there would be unity and diversity among this body. Not everyone in that body fulfills the same purpose, and not everyone has the same viewpoint. But we are all part of the body of Christ.
I'm currently studying to be a pastor at a christian university, and as part of my training I've been able to preach at several different churches. They tend to be very conservative and very rural, so we come from different starting points theologically. but we are able to find common ground in that we are believers, we love the Lord, and we love the people around us. This is what makes the body of Christ so incredible.
Be filled with Peace.
Aaron
Aaron,
ReplyDeleteThank you for comments. The unity and common ground among true believers that Christ prayed for in John 17 & Paul spoke of in Romans 13 & 14, and the true witness of the true believer in 1John all were predicated on the true Biblical doctrine, not at the cost of true Biblical doctrine.
As a pastor candidate, I would encourage you to conduct your own investigation into the Emergents' & McLaren's theology. I would challenge you to test all that is presented by any professor or pastor. Give no credence to a title or denominational tag, but honor only what you, yourself, have tested by the fire of God's Word.
Let the Authority of God's Word lead you in your ministry, so you will not be responsible for leading even one person astray.
I would like to invite you to listen to a message that was just given yesterday, 4/22/07 by Pastor Jamie Day on this very subject.
http://www.gracefc.org/sermons.html
Go with God
Jim