Where Faith Meets Reality

This new year affords me the opportunity to reevaluate so much more than my weight, taxes, or even those ever obligatory lists of blah, blah resolutions. It is a time of introspection and a fresh start. That is something I can embrace. No regretful “What ifs”, but more a “How about?” approach.

This year I am digging into some theology issues. Let me preface this with the fact that I usually run the opposite way of serious talk along these lines. I am not uninformed or devoid of analytical brain space, but I am aware of my attention span. It is probably similar to a gnat’s. Well, maybe more like a squirrel’s. I know that good ideas require a lot of time to discuss, entertain, chase around, and digest. Then, they require devotion to actually let them invade your world and change the way you live.

Nevertheless, all small mammals aside, I have been drawn into the web of the emerging church conversation. To some, you will wonder where I have been for the last 10 years, others will have no idea what I am talking about.

Here is a quick primer: This “movement” description is mine. The typical leader would tell you it is not possible to define this conversation. It is an emerging pattern of Christian fellowship that typically desires the following:
authentic community life, missional living, intervention for the poor or those living in injustice, and a new relevance in worship. .

The reason this intrigues me is that it has stirred up some big questions and challenges. I sort of hear ancient melodies of The Jesus Movement of the late 1970s. It was a time when many young believers were thinking about changing their world with the Gospel. It was a very culturally connected way of thinking with concepts of social revolution, fueled by righteous living and benevolent giving. Blue jeans, long hair, and sandals made their first appearance inside the walls of a church. That is wrong. I think sandals were probably pretty common in the 1^st Century world. Guitar driven music and beach baptisms were all the rage.

Out of that time came what we know as the Christian publishing industry, Christian music industry, and many nondenominational churches up and down the coasts and across America. The charismatic movement shook things up quite a bit and the churches born out of it, continue to increase throughout the world.

It opened up the Protestant Church to thinking about a little more cultural liberty in the name of witnessing to the lost. Actually, the concept of coffee shop evangelism started from this movement. There are similarities and there are certainly differences to what the emerging church is addressing today.

I see a real desire to claim the arts as God’s ground, communicate something real and holistic, and certainly reach out to the community around them. The internet has opened-up eyes to suffering and pain outside of our borders. The tremendous growth of the Church throughout the East and Africa, in particular, is living out of an emerging church mindset. The church is becoming more connected to the world at large, not less.

The tremor in my spirit: however, comes from the decentralization of the priesthood, as it is described. In a nutshell, the concept of each believer taking their role in the Kingdom as pastoral, is the most challenging aspect to this movement. No more centralized one-man-show. No more, just take them to church kind of evangelism. It is an own it mentality. Be the church. Do the work of the church, alongside your brothers and sisters. Share the good fruit of life together. Pray, eat, laugh and dance together. Create means to communicate Christ’s sacrifice to your community through visuals and media and song. Be engaged in the culture. Be like Jesus. Make a difference.

I have lived through both of these moments in church history. I am a child of the Jesus Movement. What was once a burning force somehow was dampened and weakened by life, the IRS, and SUV living. I am so thankful to have another opportunity to follow the Spirit in this new century and stay in the stream of His consciousness.

As for me, I think this year I’ll be reaching out to the stranger on the street corner a bit more. Maybe I’ll get really edgy and join a life group in my area. Seriously, time has come to open my pocketbook to the poor. Hopefully, this world will change as we His people change. So the concept is, " How about if this year I actually live like I believe?"