POSTMODERNISM AND
THE EMERGENT CHURCH
Postmodernism enslaves. Jesus Christ sets the captives free.
We are not emergent because: we believe in the total depravity of man, the Sovereignty of God and the Lordship of Christ in all areas of life. Scripture alone is our ultimate authority. Salvation is by the Grace of God alone, received by Faith alone. Christ alone is the Head of the Church. Everything must be done to the Glory of God alone.
Classics Endure
Fashions and fads come and go, but the Word of God will endure forever. Some things may be contemporary and popular for a season, but there are certain time-tested standards that endure for generations and centuries. Classic music like that of Bach and Handel, classic worship such as Thomas Cranmers’ Book of Common Prayer, the Psalms of David, the sermons of Charles Spurgeon, the theology of John Calvin and Martin Luther’s great Hymn of the Reformation: A Mighty Fortress is our God – these are timeless classics which will endure.
The Scriptures warn us “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” James 3:1
Teaching Doubt and Confusion
It is one thing for a high school student to be “in process” with his theology. It is quite another thing for prominent leaders, pastors and authors to conduct conferences, write books and tour the world about their doubts, musings and misgivings.
Fashions Fade
In the 34 years since my conversion to Christ and call to missions, I have seen numerous fads sweep the church.
All kinds of choruses have come and gone including: “I wish we’d all been ready”, “It only takes a spark” and “Let me tell you of a dream”.
Numerous books have created a sensation, but then have passed their sell-by date, including: “The Late Great Planet Earth”, “88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in 1988”, “89 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in 1989”, “1994?”, “The Coming Y2K Crash”, “2000?” and more recently “The Shack” (which presumptuously claimed that it would be a classic like Pilgrims Progress, the English bestseller for over 3 centuries!)
Even in the missions community we have regularly been swept by sensational trends, which have often delivered far less than initially promised.
I have seen the introduction of Children’s Church, Teen Church, and a stage replacing the pulpit. Clothing styles worn on Sunday mornings have deteriorated from ladies wearing hats, dresses and gloves, and men wearing suits and ties, to congregations which look like they’re off to the beach. Or in some cases, just back from the beach! Unshaven men with several days’ facial growth, uncombed hair, wrinkled un-ironed clothes and even unwashed bodies are no longer that uncommon in many mega churches. I said to one unshaven, scruffy slob attending a service I was leading: “You look like you slept in your clothes?” “Yes”, he answered. “We were at the beach last night and fell asleep there!”
When the Apostle Paul wrote: “There is no fear of God before their eyes” Rom 3:18, he was writing about the pagans. Now that verse applies to most churchgoers as well.
What’s good about Emergents? They want to be relevant, contextual, relational and connected. They deplore shallow and fake churches. (So do we.)
What’s wrong with Emergents? They’re searching for truth while declaring that they’re not sure it can be found. The destination seems secondary while the journey is the main focus. [Peter Rollins argues that: “instead of thinking in terms of destination (we become Christians, join a church, are saved), we should think in terms of journey (we are becoming Christians, becoming church, becoming saved). Hence, we need to be evangelised as much as, if not more, than those around us.”]
Self-Centeredness
The postmodern way is experience, more wandering than direction, more ambiguous than defined, more relationship than belief. The postmodern obsession with introspection has been criticised as “self absorption and narcissism”. The mantras of the postmodernist are “self expression” and “being true to ourselves.”
Indecision
Donald Miller says: “Who knows anything anyway!” Rob Bell teaches: “God is too big to understand and the truth is too mysterious to understand!” “The Bible is open ended!” “Questions are the new answers!” “Maybe is the new Yes!”
Maybe
Brian McLaren writes: “I hesitate in answering the homosexual question not because I’m a cowardly flip flopper who wants to tickle ears but because I’m a pastor!”; “We aren’t sure if, or where, lines are to be drawn, nor do we know how to enforce with fairness whatever lines are drawn!”
Actually such indecision is not pastorally helpful. These Emergents may not want to hurt anyone, but their refusal to take a stance (and in many cases they take an unBiblical stance) actually hurt more people. It hurts those who otherwise may have resisted the temptations and avoided the traps. It hurts those struggling to overcome sexual temptations. Immorality and perversion damage lives, destroy families and damn external souls. God’s Word is clear on these issues. Why must we be ambivalent?
Our silence on key issues can speak volumes. We are either for Christ or against Him. Not to decide is to decide not to. We cannot choose neutrality in this World War of Worldviews.
Doubt
Most Emergents seem to have established doubt as the essence of faith. “Doubt… also can be celebrated as a vital part of faith” says Peter Rollins.
Dave Tomlinson in “The Post Evangelical” writes, “Doubt is a potential friend… a vital means by which Christians mature.” “Doubt is the good friend of faith.”
But the Bible teaches us to take up the Shield of Faith (Eph 6: 16). Jesus rebuked those who doubted and chastised those who had little faith! Matthew 6:30 “O you of little Faith!”
Matthew 14:31 “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matthew 21:21 “If you have faith and do not doubt” you can move mountains.
John 20:27 “Stop doubting and believe!”
Also see James 1:6 “He who doubts… is a double minded man, unstable is all his ways.”
Hebrew 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 1:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God.”
The Heidelberg Catechism (Q21) defines faith as “not only a knowledge and conviction… a deep rooted assurance.”
In sharp contrast to modern Emergents, Bible expositor Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones declared: “Come to the Word of God. Stop asking questions. Start with the promises in the right order. Say, ‘I want the truth whatever it costs me!’ Bind yourself to it, submit yourself to it, come in utter submission as a little child and plead with Him to give you a clear sign, perfect vision, and to make you whole … We are not meant to be left in a state of doubt and misgiving, of uncertainty and unhappiness.” (Spiritual Depression)
Emergents offer us:
Questions as the new answers.
Maybe as the new yes.
Doubt as the new faith.
Indecision as the new plan.
A journey as the new destination.
We as Bible believing Christians know that the Bible has the answers.
Our Yes should be YES! and our no should be NO!
We reject the path of doubt and unbelief and eagerly embrace and contend for the Faith once delivered unto the saints. We have decided to follow Jesus! No turning back! Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.
We need to proclaim the Gospel not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (1 Thess1:5).
Dr. Peter Hammond is a missionary, author and conference speaker.
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