Emergend?--Part 1

As a young adult pastor I get a lot of questions about the Emergent/Emerging Village/Church/Conversation/. Given recent articles about its passing/death/transformation/emergence, I thought this was a good time to talk about it.

My first real experience with the Emerg_(insert ending of your choice here) was years ago at a Youth Specialties conference. I attended a Tony Jones workshop about ministering to postmodern youth. I didn’t know anything about Jones, but I knew that postmodernism was a big issue and that I wanted to know more about how to minister to our culture. So, I went.

The first part of the lecture was especially interesting to me. Jones gave a chronology of western philosophy that began with Immanuel Kant and led to Michel Faucault. I followed along as he traced through the centuries to contemporary thought. I noted that he conspicuously left out what I would call “objective thinkers” (philosophers who focused on objective truth as opposed to the knowing subject as the center of knowledge). Every thinker he cited seemed to focus on the knowing subject rather than on objective truth. Assuming his plan was to point out this underlying problem with modern and postmodern thought, I wasn’t concerned. Things didn’t go as I thought they would.

Background info: You might remember Rene Descartes’ famous quote, “I think, therefore I am.” The basic gist of his philosophy was that man’s source of truth is his own reason, not any outside authority. This ruled out general revelation and special revelation (The Bible and Jesus), among other things. His theory marked philosophy’s turn from objective to subjective truth, the beginning of the Enlightenment, and the elevation of human reason over divine revelation. Out of this came modern thought, out of which came postmodern thought. The ultimate root of both is man’s desire to trust himself rather than God’s revelation. It is the rejection of authority.

The modernist idea of reason was to impose human rationality on a universe of disorder. Truth was seen as amorphous and man’s role was to impose order upon it. Absolute truth was in the mind of the modernist. The post-modernists rightly pointed out a myriad of problems with modernist thought. However, rather than remove the root, the post-modernists hacked at the leaves by denying absolute truth in favor of skepticism. Both elevate self rather than God as the center of knowledge.

As Jones finished his overview, I noticed that he did not offer God and His self-revelation as a source for human knowledge. Instead, Jones finishes by saying that postmodern thought should be the basis of Christian thinking in the 21^st century. No critique, no appeal to Scriptural authority, just complete acceptance of the latest western philosophical mindset.

This was strange to me. He had just described the constant changing nature of western thought. How could a philosophy that rejects truth and authority be seen as an authority on truth? This is my issue with postmodernism and emergent thinking: they trust the opinions of man rather the revelation of God. They are unwilling to fully surrender.

Do you know what is disturbing? Lack of surrender isn’t isolated to the emergent church. It didn’t start with them, and it won’t end with them. I don’t know if this is the end of the emergent church (I doubt that it is). Regardless, it isn’t the end of self-oriented theology. Every time I open the Bible, I am tempted to re-interpret it according to my preference rather than what I know it says. God calls us to read His Word and surrender. Instead, we read it and rationalize.

Have you ever re-interpreted a passage of Scripture to fit your theology or your comfort?

Ultimate Surrender

Today we remember the death of our Savior. Every year I think more about how my response to His sacrifice seems inadequate. He voluntarily suffered the most painful, torturous death possible. “Thank you” isn’t enough to express how grateful I am. Beyond that, I really don’t feel grateful enough. How can I “feel” grateful enough for such a sacrifice?

Jesus modeled the ultimate act of surrender. Remember that Jesus didn’t “want” to die on the cross. He asked the Father to “let this cup pass” (Matthew 26:42). He knew the cross would be painful. He understood what it meant that he would take on the sin of the world. His response was not, “I’d be happy to;” it was, “Not my will but your will be done.” Surrender was Jesus’ response. Not just any surrender, ultimate surrender. He took on the sin of man and died the most excruciating death ever conceived. How can we say a mere “thank you” to a sacrifice like that?

The most grateful response is to follow Him in surrender. The Apostle Paul says that the prerequisites for salvation are belief in the resurrection of Christ and confession that He is Lord (Romans 10:9-10). Confessing Jesus as Lord is not just a comment. It is an act of surrender in itself. Jesus is not just Lord of heaven and earth. He must be Lord of your life. He has to be Lord of every decision, every thought. If you haven’t given him the throne of your life, then maybe that should be your act of gratitude this Good Friday. Jesus surrendered so that you could surrender too. Don’t just tell Him you are thankful. Show Him with surrender.

How do I know if I’m surrendered? I find it helpful to take inventory of my life now and then. Here are a few things that I do to check myself.
• Do I make decisions according to what will bring God the most glory?
• Have I recently told myself or someone else that I deserve something?
• Do I believe God is going to provide for me no matter what?
• Has God led me to do something that I rationalized myself out of doing?
• Is there a sin in my life that I have not repented of?
• Am I holding a grudge or bitterness toward someone?
• Have I done my best to reconcile broken relationships in my life?
• Am I working and resting to the glory of God?
• Am I submitting to the authorities in my life as to the Lord?
• Have I been in prayerful conversation with God?

How are you living surrendered in your life? What specific things do you do differently because you are following Christ in surrender?

Prayer, Pride and Surrender

It is 4:18am and I just returned from the 24 Hour Prayer Vigil. It is very late, so I will not take too much time. However, I have realized something about surrender that I really must share: Prayer is an act of surrender. Asking God for help is like saying, “I can’t do this on my own.” Prayer is a humbling experience, but it is effective. I am concerned about why we don’t pray more. Consider these things:

Prayer is never left unanswered. I’ve studied church history and realized that every time God’s people have come together to pray in unity, God has done something tremendous (Acts 1-2, The Great Awakening, every revival since the day of Pentecost). Not only that, I’m looking at my own life and realizing that not only are my prayers always answered, but most of the time the answer is “YES.” How many times have I prayed for financial provision and never missed a bill? How often has He forgiven me when I asked for it? He always answers. We keep records of the requests our Prayer Team covers as well as their subsequent answers. And, even there we see God answers every time. God says “yes” to our prayers more often than not. So, why don’t we pray more?

We don’t like to surrender. I can’t say that I know all the reasons why we don’t pray often, but I think it has something to do with our pride. We don’t like to acknowledge that we can’t make it on our own. Prayer is admitting we are weak, and we don’t want to be weak. Interesting that the biggest excuse for not praying is: “I don’t have time.” What are we spending our time doing? We spend it trying to do what we think God can’t. We have this terrible fear that we are holding everything together, that if we stopped doing all the things we are doing, God would let it all fall apart. It is pride and lack of faith that keeps us from stopping to ask for help. Saying that we don’t have time to pray is like telling God that we don’t need Him. We have deluded ourselves and it is time to stop.

I don’t want to see the same results I’ve always seen. I don’t want to keep going to church and watch everybody stay the same. I want to see the lost surrender to Christ by the hundreds. I want to see alters filled. I want to see Life Groups evangelize friends and family in their homes. I want revival and there is only one way to get it: Pray.

What kinds of things are stopping you from praying, and what are you going to do to change them?

Ride the Lion

What would it be like to ride a lion? The thought has been with me for a long time and has been closely tied to a growing desire to be a part of some adventure. This is strange, because for years the spirit of adventure has been typified in the individualism of the American cowboy. Mounted on a horse (not a lion), he chooses his own way with bit and a bridle. I've always been taken with this imagery. The courageous life of a man who answers to none but himself sparks that piece of our hearts that thirsts for risk and meaning.

With respect, I don't think that's true adventure. It is certainly exciting, and it made Clint Eastwood famous. But,to give up everything for the pursuit of individualism, for the pursuit of the self seems to be a narrow goal and a wasted sacrifice. What have I gained if at the end of my life I can say that "I did it my way...for me?" At that, my life, my meaning and my pursuits would all end with my death. A pursuit that ends with me is not a pursuit worth my life.

I'm inspired by the truth that real meaning only happens when one gives his life to something greater that himself. This is what I think it would be like to Ride the Lion. A man on a lion doesn't choose his path. He holds on for dear life. He spends no time looking back, because there is no time to look back. Heart beating, hands sweating, he only looks ahead because there is no telling what will come next. He is completely surrendered to the will of the lion. This is true adventure, and I want it!

I am weary of "cowboy" endeavors that start and end with me. I want to see life from the back of the Lion. Not knowing what comes next, I want to live with the excitement that He's going to take me where He wants to go. This blog is a chronicle of my attempt to live surrendered. I am often tempted to let go. Even worse, I sometimes try to turn or tame this Lion. But, ultimately I'm holding on with all I have. I hope my posts inspire you to grab on and hold on!