Kevin Shrum
(I have been out of town - I'm glad to return to posting!)
Talk these days of an ‘emergent’ or ‘emerging’ church dominates the ecclesiastical landscape. Much of this ‘talk’ has to do with style, post-modern processes and cultural engagement. The desire to be conversationally engaging and culturally relevant with post-moderns has led to a quasi-reformation in the church. The new and the innovative are the mantras of the day.Yet I believe that the ‘emergent’ or ‘emerging’ talk is misguided. True, many of the criticisms of the church are on the mark. The church has become stuck, unwieldy and culturally disengaged. However, I believe what is emerging is something very old – a desire for the eternal that is rooted in a biblical orthodoxy that confronts sin, redeems the bound and reconciles the divided.
This means that biblical theology doesn’t need to be re-created; Scripture simply needs to be taught, unleashing it on the world in the power of the Spirit. In other words, I am seeing a desire to cut through the ecclesiastical red-tape in order to get to God and the truth of His Word. Ministries that meet this need, whether they be traditional, contemporary or innovative in structure will meet the need of a generation that is tired of the fluff and wants to get to God straight away! This is what is emerging!
