In an effort to show what we miss when we don't pay attention for a few years, I would like to present the Emergent/Emerging church, a post modern "conversation" that has inundated many formerly solid churches with anti-Christian, anti-orthodox beliefs.
This is not just a new cult, but a cult that is making its way into churches, Catholic and Protestant alike, in all denominations, seeking to reinvent the church. They protest the structure of New Testament teaching as being closed minded and legalistic
While many of the practices of modern churches are merely traditional, the structure of the church was handed down in the writings of the New Testament. There is no Scriptural leading to make us think that this is not the recommended practice for today.
There is no new revelation in regard to the structure of the church, and the structure instituted by God through the apostles is still valid today. This deconstruction is all done in the spirit of relevance, but James warns us to not be like the world, that we makes ourselves enemies of God when we choose to disregard His ways and instead follow our own.
So, you may say "I have never heard of these people , how could they be so influential?"
"Who will be the next Billy Graham? At first glance, someone like Rick Warren or Luis Palau (both of whom have been mentioned to take the place of Graham), might come to mind. But neither of those names was mentioned in the article. Instead, a popular emerging church leader, Rob Bell, was named as the possible replacement. While that may seem like a far-fetched notion to many, the article quotes emerging leader Brian McLaren as saying it "could very well be true."
Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church is the poster boy for EE
Inspiration and interpretation of the Bible:
"The Bible is a collection of stories that teach us about what it looks like when God is at work through actual people. The Bible has the authority it does only because it contains stories about people interacting with the God who has all authority."
"When people use the word hell, what do they mean? They mean a place, an event, a situation absent of how God desires things to be. Famine, debt, oppression, loneliness, despair, death, slaughter--they are all hell on earth".
"Heaven is full of forgiven people. Hell is full of forgiven people. Heaven is full of people God loves, whom Jesus died for. Hell is full of forgiven people God loves, whom Jesus died for. The difference is how we choose to live, which story we choose to live in, which version of reality we trust. Ours or God's."
"When Jesus said, 'No one comes to the Father except through me', he was saying that his way, his words, his life is our connection to how things truly are at the deepest levels of existence. For Jesus then, the point of religion is to help us connect with ultimate reality, God."
"I can't find one place in the teachings of Jesus, or the Bible for that matter, where we are to identify ourselves first and foremost as sinners. Now this doesn't mean we don't sin; that's obvious. In the book of James it's written like this: 'We all stumble in many ways.' Once again, the greatest truth of the story of Adam and Eve isn't that it happened, but that it happens."
- Velvet Elvis, p. 139
On the Nature of the Atonement
“So this reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, is true for everybody. Paul insisted that when Jesus died on the cross he was reconciling ‘all things, in heaven and on earth, to God. This reality then isn’t something we make true about ourselves by doing something. It is already true. Our choice is to live in this new reality or cling to a reality of our own making."
- Velvet Elvis p. 146
On Faith:
“Who does Peter lose faith in? Not Jesus; he is doing fine. Peter loses faith in himself. Peter loses faith that he can do what his rabbi is doing. If the rabbi calls you to be his disciple, then he believes that you can actually be like him. As we read the stories of Jesus’ life with his talmidim, his disciples, what do we find frustrates him to no end? When his disciples lose faith in themselves..... Notice how many places in the accounts of Jesus’ life he gets frustrated with his disciples. Because they are incapable? No, because of how capable they are. He sees what they could be and could do, and when they fall short it provokes him to no end. It isn’t their failure that’s the problem, it’s their greatness. They don’t realize what they are capable of....God has an amazingly high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things. I’ve been told I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. But what I’m learning is that Jesus believes in me....God has faith in me.”
-Velvet Elvis, pp. 133-134
According to Mr. Bell there are two ways to approach doctrine: as a brick or a spring. The brick approach to doctrine is solid, unmoving and unchanging. It has no life. It is the wrong approach. A spring has life; it is flexible, and it is constantly changing. Rob Bell believes all doctrines are springs. By embracing such a view of doctrine and truth Mr. Bell drives a wedge between reality and doctrinal truth. He creates a paradox where there isn't one. Bell views doctrines as 'statements about our faith that help give words to the depth that we are.
Making sense of it all- don't even try
Doug Pagitt- another Emergent church leader, pastor of Solomon's Porch in Minnesota had an interview with Todd Friel of Way of the Master Radio about the afterlife-
Friel:" If I am a good Buddhist, where do I go when I die"
Pagitt" What you are suggesting here is that heaven is a place. When you say "where do I go" you are suggesting to me that the reign of God is in an individual place? Where is that place?
Friel" It's called heaven.."
Pagitt" but where is it? Are you suggesting it is a literal place? What do you mean, where do I go"
Friel" Just because I don't know where it is located, does not mean it does not exist" What happens to my soul when I die?"
Pagitt" there's a different question.When a [muslim, buddhist, atheist] dies, you interact with God, just as every other human being does"
Friel quotes Heb 9:27 "It is appointed to man once to die, and after this the judgment.
Pagitt" God is going to repair and restore and heal the life of everybody in the same way. There is going to be no difference in the way that God interacts with you (Friel) as He does with a Muslim. God will interact with all humanity. How a person's life translates into the evermore, for me to suggest that how God is going to interact with you.... "
The interview went down hill from there, as Pagitt accused Friel of setting him up to make him look bad, then went on about Plato, Socrates, etc. all the while accusing Friel and fundamentalist Christians of being judgmental and narrow minded to think the Bible is accurate and not just a metaphorical story book.
Some quotes from Emergent/Emerging church leaders:
"The church has been preoccupied with the question, "What happens to your soul after you die?" As if the reason for Jesus coming can be summed up in, "Jesus is trying to help get more souls into heaven, as opposed to hell, after they die." I just think a fair reading of the Gospels blows that out of the water. I don't think that the entire message and life of Jesus can be boiled down to that bottom line." —Brian McLaren
"Emergent doesn't have a position on absolute truth, or on anything for that matter. Do you show up at a dinner party with your neighbors and ask, 'What's this dinner party's position on absolute truth?' No, you don't, because it's a non-sensical question."- Tony Jones
"My goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ," McManus, author of a new book called The Barbarian Way, said in a telephone interview. "Some people are upset with me because it sounds like I'm anti-Christian. I think they might be right."—Erwin McManus
"Many Christians use "Breath Prayers" throughout their day. You choose a brief sentence, or a simple phrase that can be repeated to Jesus in one breath." —Rick Warren
If you would like more information, or the Power Point presentation of this material and others like it, please email me at cowperthwaitefamily@gmail.com
