Death of the Emergent Church

Why the emergent church fad will fade & die... (ideas rooted in other stuff I have read as well as my own thoughts)

1. They tried to blitz the church. It was a rush job on, not only the fundamental truth of the Gospel (i.e. atonement), but an attack on methodology (which I'm not necessarily defending), style, and even basic identity. Certainly major religious movements and even political ones are most often accomplished quickly, but at much greater personal costs.

2. It was basically a fad among disenfranchised teens and 20 year-olds (many now in their 30's and a few sprinkled in their 40's and 50's). "Stick it to the man" became the watch word and song of a generation disenfranchised by a host of liberals and conservatives that were bogged down in the form of holiness instead of the origin of holiness (God). Problem is: that generation cannot stick with anything for very long... we (I am a part of that generation, but NOT the emergent church) get bored and look for some newer fad on the marketplace of religion.

3. No one cared! Basically the emergent church became a pimple on the cheek of the church and the church decided to let it just naturally go away. In my denomination, there are some so-called "Emergent Nazarenes" but for all the noise they make the pragmatic leadership of our denominations chose to ignore a group that claimed to hold the promise of our future as a denomination but has thus far failed to achieve anything more than bringing disunity, liberalism, and a disdain for all thing particular to being a Nazarene. It came, it made a lot of noise (only within the church), incited some excitement among a number of young adults, and is now quietly being shown out the back door by many denominations. It didn't accomplish anything. It was powerless to make any changes by its own foundational ideas (most of which were far from Biblical). Yeah, Sex God, sold a lot of books to some carnal (KJV language) Christians who are pre-occupied with the first part of the title. But then the fanfare died and the emergent was escorted home.

4. They didn't start their own church, they tried to change the church. Don't get me wrong, you have to respect the fact that they didn't go out and found yet another denomination (although most of the "leaders" of the movement have their own "independent" churches from which they bemoan the ills of denominations causing division in the church). If they had formed their own denomination then it would fall and eventually morph into the very thing they fight against... an established church. (I guess it was a lose/lose situation for them.) So they tried to change the universal church and they failed. Why? Because they only convinced a few young "guppy" folks who thought it would be cool to embrace a form of heresy.

5. Too much conversation. "Conversation" is one of their buzz words. Problem is a bunch of talk doesn't change reality. Playing sophisticated games of semantics only gives the rest of us a head ache. So while they are 'conversing,' the rest of the world moves on without them. And the church has always been more interested in being the church than simply talking about it. (Honestly, I would like to know just one positive thing that the emergent church fad has given to the universal church... outside of 'totally cool preachers.')

6. They were just re-wrapped liberals. Same song, second verse and the song is written. What's the difference besides their labels? They are just neo-liberals. They question the same things liberals did: authenticity/authority of Scripture, atonement, hell, & even, in some cases, God (although most emergents would accept the existence of God). They also push the same things liberals did: lower standards (they call having standards legalism), universalism, and 'conversation' with other religions as the the similarities of our gods (note I used a little 'g' to refer to their gods).

7. They didn't stand for anything. I guess if you believe there are no absolute truths then you will not stand for anything definitively. In the name of "conversation," "tolerance," and "ecumenical" they refused to boldly proclaim the powerful truths & standards of God's Word and His Gospel. The only moral issues they would stand for were ones that the world has adopted. "Any dead fish can swim downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream."

8. They are blown about by the winds of secular culture (worldliness). They believe that friendship with the world is friendship with Christ. They believe that Christianity is an adoption of a higher way of thinking. Their theology is rooted in man and not God. They live in the ambiguous and clouded religious terminology (as apposed to Biblical). They choose to be set apart to culture rather than Christ (but would claim they are one and the same). They cannot understand why the things of this world are inherently fallen and sinful and thus they are tossed to and fro by the philosophies and distractions of this sinful world.

9. They have, in essence, ignored God's Word. It's use is good only for a few of the 'stories' in it and various verses that, taken out of context of the whole Gospel, seem to support their heresies and justify their worldliness. Repentance, sin, hell, & Christ as the only way, to name a few, are verses and passages of God's Word they ignore because they don't like. Jesus Christs' death on the cross, the atonement, is viewed in a perverted and warped way. Truths that have been taken for granted by the church for 2000 years are now disregarded and stripped of all influence in emergent circles. (Without repentance you cannot be saved... and that frustrates emergents to no end.)

10. God is not in it. Now I know this one will get me in trouble. Case and point: Acts 5:33-40. Gamaliel stands up before the Sanhedrin and says: "...if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God you will not be able to overthrow them." If God is for them, who can be against them?

While the death of the emergent church has already begun, it has not yet occurred. It make a whole generation for this insidious fad to fade away. But in the meantime, you won't catch me mourning for that movement!