The Big Stink
Much has been said of reaching back to orthodox faith and tradition among "emergent" churches and believers. Outcry among bloggers has been for orthodoxy, genuine simple faith, a real faith expelling programs in part or all together in churches and 'gettin' real.' Well, while I really kind of like what I'm hearing, and really do resonate with these voices of passion and seekers of truth, I wonder just how new all this emergent, orthodox, 'give me the Real deal Jesus' talk really is. I know Gen. Y is in search for simple Gospel truth with few bells and whistles like Boomers seem to like. I know Gen. X shares the same passion, but is often mischaracterized as the "selfish" generation. I know all that. I'm just wondering what's the big stink? Why is this trend so novel?
Is it any more novel than what is reflected in the life and days of Bonhoeffer? He seemed pretty emergent to me. Is what we are experiencing as a North American church any more novel than what's taking place in the underground Church of say....China? What's the key issue here? The key issue is that more and more folks are just tired of religious games and religious hoops! My Gen. Y friends are just not putting up with it anymore and so, I think the big stink is that our traditional measurments for how "church" is done and how "church" is defined are now askew.
Seems to me this new generation is fine to leave that for the old heads to figure out. There's just one problem with that. Bonhoeffer's analysis of Christian community in Life Together makes sure to state that community is only community when Christ and Christ only is the centerpiece of that community. Emergent...postmodern..ultra-orthodox with iconography splattered everywhere - it does not matter if Christ is not the center of the faith community. It all is for not if we do not love God and love each other as Christ Jesus showed and taught us. So, emergent folks beware, your not as fresh and keen as you may think if you have not Love and do not show this love to your brother. But don't take this as my word - check out the 1944 emergent by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Thanks for reading this blog. Hope you know the above thoughts are from a Gen. Xer who's worship and Christian praxis is heavily influenced by the Boomer generation but is heavily in cohoots with the Gen. Y understanding of genuine faith and is just trying to iron it all out.
Grace to You-
Much has been said of reaching back to orthodox faith and tradition among "emergent" churches and believers. Outcry among bloggers has been for orthodoxy, genuine simple faith, a real faith expelling programs in part or all together in churches and 'gettin' real.' Well, while I really kind of like what I'm hearing, and really do resonate with these voices of passion and seekers of truth, I wonder just how new all this emergent, orthodox, 'give me the Real deal Jesus' talk really is. I know Gen. Y is in search for simple Gospel truth with few bells and whistles like Boomers seem to like. I know Gen. X shares the same passion, but is often mischaracterized as the "selfish" generation. I know all that. I'm just wondering what's the big stink? Why is this trend so novel?
Is it any more novel than what is reflected in the life and days of Bonhoeffer? He seemed pretty emergent to me. Is what we are experiencing as a North American church any more novel than what's taking place in the underground Church of say....China? What's the key issue here? The key issue is that more and more folks are just tired of religious games and religious hoops! My Gen. Y friends are just not putting up with it anymore and so, I think the big stink is that our traditional measurments for how "church" is done and how "church" is defined are now askew.
Seems to me this new generation is fine to leave that for the old heads to figure out. There's just one problem with that. Bonhoeffer's analysis of Christian community in Life Together makes sure to state that community is only community when Christ and Christ only is the centerpiece of that community. Emergent...postmodern..ultra-orthodox with iconography splattered everywhere - it does not matter if Christ is not the center of the faith community. It all is for not if we do not love God and love each other as Christ Jesus showed and taught us. So, emergent folks beware, your not as fresh and keen as you may think if you have not Love and do not show this love to your brother. But don't take this as my word - check out the 1944 emergent by the name of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Thanks for reading this blog. Hope you know the above thoughts are from a Gen. Xer who's worship and Christian praxis is heavily influenced by the Boomer generation but is heavily in cohoots with the Gen. Y understanding of genuine faith and is just trying to iron it all out.
Grace to You-
posted by zimmerzblogz at
9:48 PM
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