Comments on: What is the Emergent Church?

By: jrrozko

jrrozko — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:26:19 +0000

Wiggs! Thanks for commenting man. It really was an unfortunate scenario. Hope you, Jen, and Ian are doing well.

By: Steve Wiggers

Steve Wiggers — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:56:07 +0000

Hey JR-

Wow, that's unfortunate that such a one-sided presentation was given, and this is not to say that I am a staunch supporter of the EC movement, but based on your comments about the positive aspects to be learned from the EC (which were not mentioned at all by the presenter unfortunately), I certainly have much more of an affinity toward the EC or post-conservative side of things. Agreed with a lot of your points, thanks for the post.

Peace-
steve

By: “Out Like a Lamb” Link Day « Thinking Out Loud

“Out Like a Lamb” Link Day « Thinking Out Loud — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:11:02 +0000

[...] Theological finger-pointing at the Emergents continued over at Harvest Bible Chapel in NW Chicago on a recent Friday night Q&A session with a Moody Professor speaking for the anti-Emergent side while to balance things out they had… nobody. JR looks at this rather one-sided presentation in this report. [...]

By: jrrozko

jrrozko — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:23:20 +0000

It was something along the lines of not condemning the organizations outright, but encouraging people to beware of heretical authors and speakers that these organizations invite or endorse.

By: luke

luke — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:00:51 +0000

jr, i'm curious to know how he responded to the question about urbana and IV?

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:16:42 +0000

Well, I'm proud of you for having such a gracious attitude toward everyone there who didn't offer you the same. And I think you bring-up a good point… that I should really focus on being more open about what I've learned… I think it's going to take a lot of time in prayer and thought to get some kind of coherent framework behind it, but that is a big part of what I want to be more honest about on my blog. Thanks for the encouragement, I'm going to think about this. =)

By: jrrozko

jrrozko — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:20:06 +0000

Here's what I commented to someone else who expressed what you are expressing here; "I think, in part, the issue is insecurity. Insecure people live in fear & cope by polarizing things & people to remain 'safe.'"

It would be fascinating to hear more about your journey from "eating this up," to where you find yourself now. I imagine you have the built-in potential to set lots and lots of people free.

As for others stopping to ask more of my thoughts. 2 people talked to me. The first guy wanted to know how I could sleep at night as someone who teaches a class about a movement led by non-Christians. As gently as I could, I told him that there was a lot more to the picture than what he currently saw and that I would be happy to talk with him more about it. He wasn't interested and asked for my email address so that he could send me "sound teaching." I haven't heard from him.

A girl, maybe in high school, also approached me and wanted to know what I thought about the bounded and centered set analogy that the speaker had used and we had a great conversation.

I would have liked to have had more conversations, but I think everyone else in the room (and it was a packed room of probably 300 people) pretty much had their minds made up about things.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:46:17 +0000

I don't know all the ins and outs of the EC, but one of the things I value most dearly is the ability to listen to the opinions and beliefs of others with a true openness to being changed by it. I guess you would call that openmindedness…. and it doesn't sound like there was any of that going on where you were! It sounds like one of those talks that churches give about different religions/cults in order to indoctrinate you on exactly where each group goes wrong. I used to love that stuff, totally ate it up. But now, it just reeks of close-mindedness and judgement, and it really bothers me, especially when it's other believers they're talking about. What you said was great… and I bet not one person stopped to ask you more of your thoughts before you left…?

By: jrrozko

jrrozko — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:10:09 +0000

You got that just about right! Love how you connected with that bit of insight from Dallas – perfect.

By: jrrozko

jrrozko — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:41:23 +0000

Thanks for the even-handed honesty. I appreciate being able to hear from grads who are able to see both the strengths and weaknesses of their alma mater no matter how indebted they feel.

By: Jeremy Griffin

Jeremy Griffin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:30:47 +0000

Yep, that's what most of Moody is like. I did my MA there and received a wonderful education, but Moody's mascot is the Turtle…slow…slow…slow. Anyway, I do not want to be negative against a school in which I learned so much, but I can say that they lag behind in things similar to this. It's too bad.

By: jrrozko

jrrozko — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:50:07 +0000

Good insight Chris, I was struck by the same thing.

There is a telling difference in the functioning of local churches and Christian institutions when they value their version of \”doctrinal purity\” over trusting the work of the Holy Spirit and the Lordship of Christ over all things. Thanks for the comment.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:16:41 +0000

I think the most unfortunate part about this is that on the page you link for Moody, right after they get done telling you that they don't endorse contemplative spirituality or the Emerging Church they affirm that, "Moody Bible Institute defends the educational importance of having students read books that challenge our theology."

So basically you need to read this stuff and be "challenged" but we don't want any sort of transformation from the one way that we believe to be true. What is the importance of being challenged if you are not open to changing?

By: localchurchpastor

localchurchpastor — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:59:09 +0000

1) I would have killed to see a video of your face and then sped up into a time lapse for the duration of the night. I image it would have been a recurring pattern: a. Furrowed brow. b. Jaw drop. c. Lean over and whisper something to your wife. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. That would have been funny to see.

2) Makes me think about what Dallas Willard said when we were at the Ecclesia National Gathering: "You know something when you can represent it as it is on the appropriate basis of thought and authority. One of the marks of good Authority is that it is always open to question."

That ability to ask and be asked reasonable, poignant, meaningful questions seems to be lacking from most akin to Dr. Finkbeiner.

By: jrrozko

jrrozko — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:33:12 +0000

Oh, I don't disagree with that, that's a no-brainer, but that's not what Ken said. Without clarification, he seemed to be intimating (and reiterated even more strongly in a reply to my reply to below) that either EC landscape has its roots in some uniquely American experiment which couldn't be further off base.

I'm well aware of the history of the YLN & Terra Nova, but I think what has grown out of that, in terms of its affiliation with things "Emerging" represents a pretty small segment of the larger EC movement/discussion. I bet most of those guys would probably even agree with that, don't you think?