Bar Fight with Brian McClaren

Okay, so I really do not want to fight the man... just the idea of the "Emergent Church." This has become the target of everything I have problems with in the Church. Although I agree with the missional ideas of this movement it is just that, a movement. The modern Church (specifically in the U.S.) has become obsessed with the idea of movements to solve problems. And while they may create new outlets and ease some tensions for a short time, they never quite solve anything! In fact, a lot of the time they make things worse.

Think back through history about different movements that have sprung up to fight a cause. A lot of people jumped on the bandwagon in the 1950's & 1960's to move out to the suburbs. Now look at our cities... In reaction to that, another movement of recent years is the "Urban Renewal" program. Although this may sound like a good idea, it is in reality the displacement of the poor so that rich, white families feel safe and can also feel good about "cleaning up a neighborhood." In the music scene you have the mess of "Straight-edge" kids who take things too far now. A movement that started in reaction to drug/alcohol abuse, stds, etc. has now become somewhat of a gang in many cities that hinges on violence. Or, how about "Hippies"... yeah, don't even get me started on how ridiculous they are!

What I am saying is why does the Church think it is really any different? I have watched so many "postmodern" or "emergent" ministries and churches start for good reasons... but then crumble when they realize they have ignored the basics of ministry. (i.e. caring for the poor, the elderly, widows & orphans, teaching, etc.) Furthermore, as this movement seems to be winding down in several places new ideas that are purely a reaction have started to organize into a... you guessed it, MOVEMENT! When will it end? When I started looking up other articles and blogs about this I kept finding people who had great new ideas on how to steer the Church away from it's current path. Some even had steps & examples of how to do it, hmmmm sounds like a new movement to me! Does no one else see this?

What I am trying to say is this: If (and I do mean if) the Church is to survive in the next 25 years, it will not be a movement that pulls it out of the water! I believe the Church will always be here in some form, but if you haven't noticed... it seems to be fading quickly. I am not going to give my ideas on how to redeem what we still can because obviously if it caught on it would be a... well you know!