The "emergent" church on the other hand stems out of a post-modern world view and employs a post-modern epistemology. Epistemology may be defined as a philosophy which drives the way in which one views and interprets knowledge. If one is to be biblically faithful and culturally fruitful, it is imperative that you operate from a biblical epistemology. The Bible teaches a Jesus-centered, Gospel driven epistemology in which the Scripture is the lens through which the entirety of life is to be viewed and interpreted including culture. The emergent church operates on the basis of a post-modern epistemology in which they teach a man-centered, culture driven epistemology in which culture is the lens through which the entirety of life is to be viewed and interpreted including the Bible. They see theology as something that is dynamic and changing with time and culture. They also employ a "trajectory" theology in which they believe God simply set in motion theology knowing that culture would change and that our faith is ever "evolving".
I hope that in this brief synopsis that you can see there is a vast difference in the two. One employs and teaches a timeless Gospel that it is biblically faithful and seeks to be culturally fruitful (e.g. Acts 17) and the other teaches a pseudo-false Gospel in which man is the center focus and culture is the driving force or power.
To be blunt, I feel the "emergent" camp is teaching heresy and have abandoned the Gospel altogether. The very definition of idolatry is removing God/Jesus from His proper place of central focus and replacing that focus with someone or something else. The instant that we remove Christ and His completed work on the cross we become guilty of idolatry.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 15:3-4 that "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.." The Gospel is of "first" importance. There is nothing MORE established in doctrine or principle than the Gospel! If you shift your focus from the Gospel to "anything" you are obviously replacing it with something else. This is also known as "idolatry". The "emergent" camp is teaching a "false-gospel" in which man and culture hold the key to unlocking and interpreting the Bible in the "evolution" of our faith.
My friend and member of this group Josh Glidden recently wrote on his blog about this very issue. He rightfully cites Hebrews 5:11-14:
"About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."
I feel the "emergent" camp is a movement that will pass simply based on the fact they don't have a foundation on which their entire theological framework is built. For them to define anything or take a position on any issue or doctrine would go against the post-modern epistemology in which they employ. However, there are those within the "emerging" church that do wish to build their theological framwork on the the foundation of Scripture in which we uphold as our final authority by which all doctrine and positions are drawn and filtered.
The "emergent" camp would consider themselves part of the "emerging" church as well, but there are as many as three streams within the "emerging" church. However, beyond attempting to make the Gospel relevant the "emergent" stream are revisionists as well They are attempting to redefine the Gospel and replaced Jesus and his completed work on the Cross revealed in Scriputure and elevated man and culture as the ultimate authority in life.
I would like to encourage each of you to be vigilant and take the time to examine the Gospel and really stand firm on the Gospel and never cave to man and his philosophy. The Bible has determined our world view and all "philosophy" should be drawn and built on the solid foundation of Scripture with Jesus and the Cross maintaining our focus. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Some key proponent of the "emergent" camp of theology include the likes of Rob Bell, Brian McClaren, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with their work, but they are gifted men and tend to be more "subtle" than "blunt". Be cautious and weigh everything with Scripture (Acts 17:11-12 e.g. Bereans).
Resources:
For a great lecture on the emerging church, listen to Mark Driscoll at this link:
http://www.sebts.edu/chape
It's on the third page on the date of September 21, 2007.
Also for a good example of "emergent" thought check out Josh's blog at:
http://joshuaglidden.blogs
Check out the article entitled "...often against people who are really onto something."
