THOUGHTS ON THE EMERGING CHURCH MOVEMENT

The attached https are a couple of 8-10 minute video clips of discussions on the
Emerging Church - check them out and my response below -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv6uxCch7oc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxfobXmmRx8

The emergent movement is a natural consequence of the hypocrisy within the traditional church of Europe and America which persists in schism, an affront to Jesus' prayer for the unity of the church in John 17:21-22, with an arrogant and dogmatic adherence to theological traditions. The dogmatic assertions of having the "true" interpretation of scripture especially on the part of the most extreme conservative "fundamentalists" and extreme liberal "progressives" as each side builds their respective theologies on their personally preferred proof texts of scripture while virtually ignoring other passages which do not support their theological positions is the very seed within the church from relativism would be the natural fruit. To quote Pilate in John 18:38 "What is truth?" The elevation of "doctrinal assertions" and "creedal postures" to a place of preeminence over Christian living: "we can't kill truth in the streets for the sake of peace" affronts Paul's directive in Romans 12:18 "so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men," and illustrates the principle of 1 Corinthians 8:1 "Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies." It also ignores the illustrations of the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31-46 and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 wherein a persons condition after death is determined exclusively by how they lived their life and used their resources in their relationships in this life with doctrinal correctness not being a factor in the determination. Also it is the arrogance of western culture that would reduce "true" Christianity to a matter of intellectual pursuit while the entirety of scripture illustrates that our response to God is intended to be a whole life response, experiential as well as intellectual.