Do-it-yourself emergent

Image care of ASBO Jesus.

• Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be) (@ Amazon) comes out on April 1, and it will be very interesting to see the reactions in the blogosphere.

  You can be young, passionate about Jesus Christ, surrounded by diversity, engaged in a postmodern world, reared in evangelicalism and not be an emergent Christian. In fact, I want to argue that it would be better if you weren’t.

  I agree with the first sentence, but not the value statement of the second sentence. Anyway, you can download in the introduction and first chapter to whet your appetite. 03/02/2008

JakeBouma.com hits the bigtime! (thanks, Ken Silva)

A while back, my friend Josh Brown pointed out that Ken Silva is a great watchdog. He even presented him with the snazzy image/award at the top of this post. Well, he was absolutely right.

Josh’s basic beef was that Ken scours emergent-ish blogs for fodder on his own fundamentalist, anti-emerging “blog” (I use quotes because he doesn’t allow comments), where he warns “believers” of the cancerous effects of all things emergent.

Anyway, this is all to get to the point that Ken recently wrote a post entitled “The Emerging Church Swallowing Youth” (I won’t link to it; he doesn’t deserve the Google juice) in which he links to the interview I did with Tony Jones and then claims that “the Emergent Church has been using your young as spiritual guinea pigs”. Woohoo! I hit the bigtime - a link from Ken Silva!

Oh, and then he gives his warning:

Well, know this: In the eyes of our Lord, by your not speaking up at your local churches, you are responsible for allowing this Emergent rebellion against the Bible to swallow up a whole generation of evangelical young—a kind of spiritual abortion—in their “fertile training ground” for this man-centered emerging church apostasy.

So in the name of full disclosure, I align with many of the theological and philosophical underpinnings of the emerging conversation. Indeed, my spiritual journey has been decidedly enriched by it. However: If you’re reading this — and you go to my church — please, please speak up and do something about my heretical tendencies. All of the 40+ students in my ministry are in grave danger.

Oh yeah, and thanks again for the link, Ken.

Interview with Tony Jones, author of “The New Christians” (Part 2)

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier

The following is Part 2 (Part 1) of an interview with Tony Jones about his forthcoming book The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier (to be released March 3, 2008). Tony is the national coordinator of Emergent Village, and a doctoral fellow in practical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Find out more at Tony’s website.

JAKE BOUMA: Going off of your last answer, what role has electronic media - especially the internet and blogging - played in both the shaping of the emergent phenomenon and the process of your writing this book?

TONY JONES: This cannot be overstated. Emerging technology (cell phones, the Internet, email, etc) have made the kind of connection that we’re after possible. It goes without saying that face-to-face connection is still essential, but church leaders of previous generations could not have imagined the kind of connections that we have today. I communicate with thousands of leaders every week by various means, and these communications have absolutely nothing to do with traditional denominational or confessional demarcation. This is a new era.

JAKE BOUMA: What role did your stint in youth ministry play in getting you to think about or become involved in emergent?

TONY JONES: It’s no mistake that many of the emergent leaders were formerly youth workers. Church-based youth ministry is a fertile training ground for so much that is emergent: risk-taking, entrepreneurialism, pushing boundaries, getting in trouble :-), staying up-to-date on culture, etc. All of this has influenced the genesis of emergent.

JAKE BOUMA: As you mentioned earlier, your book draws upon insights from what’s happening “on the ground” in actual emergent churches in what you call “dispatches”. Do you have a favorite or particularly memorable “dispatch”?

TONY JONES: Well, I loved writing about Solomon’s Porch — the church I attend — and that comes right at the end of the book; it’s kind of a coda to the whole book. And each of the “dispatches” that come between chapters is significant to me. Honestly, it’d be hard for me to pick a favorite…

JAKE BOUMA: A recent post on presbymergent titled A Challenge to Emergent Authors raised the following question, among others: “In the emergent conversation, are we writing the things we’re writing because we want to sell books, or are we writing the things we’re writing because we want to change the world?” How would you respond?

TONY JONES: I’ve read that post, and there are some really good points therein. There are also some naive misconceptions about the publishing industry. I see it like this: print publishing is an important way to vet one’s ideas in the broader culture. Of course, Joel Osteen sells a lot of books, so sales does not necessarily equal quality. But the ideas of emergent have been out there in the public square through books and blogs an conferences, and, as a result of the feedback (good and bad), we’ve all become better thinkers and practitioners. In the early days, many of us were committed to publishing everything for free on the Internet. But, at this point, that is just not feasible. For instance, many colleges, universities, and graduate schools do not allow students to footnote websites. You see, having a book printed lends the ideas therein credibility…at least for now.

JAKE BOUMA: Finally, what’s next on the plate for both yourself and Emergent Village? Do you have another book on the horizon? Any emergent events or a book tour (or anything) you want to plug for 2008? Thanks for participating in this interview!

TONY JONES: We’re doing some imagining around EV about the future. It might become more public, or it might go underground. We don’t really know. We’ve got a couple of great theological events coming next fall, and you can read about them at www.emergentvillage.com. Doug Pagitt, Mark Scandrette, and I will be on tour for our books all summer, so watch for that. And I’m currently writing a little book on the Didache, a very early Christian document that didn’t quite make the Bible. Thanks for having me!

Return to Part 1 of the interview »

Interview with Tony Jones, author of “The New Christians” (Part 1)

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier

The following is Part 1 (Part 2) of an interview with Tony Jones about his forthcoming book The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier (to be released March 3, 2008). Tony is the national coordinator of Emergent Village, and a doctoral fellow in practical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Find out more at Tony’s website.

JAKE BOUMA: Tell the readers a little about yourself - education, ministry experience, family life, etc. How did you get from baby Tony J. to the author of “The New Christians”?

TONY JONES: I grew up in Edina, Minnesota, the same town where I now reside. My parents were (are) great people who were faithful, but didn’t take their faith too seriously. And I mean that in a good way. So many of my friends in ministry grew up in homes that were spiritually toxic. Not me. My parents are highly educated, well-rounded people. They highly valued education and made sure that my brothers and I were serious about school.

We went to a great church — a funny hybrid of mainline and evangelical Protestantism, and I was very involved there growing up. I went to everything. And that church had a great stance on letting kids move into leadership positions early, so I was counseling camp and teaching Sunday school, etc., even when I was in junior high. From there I went to Dartmouth College and immediately to Fuller Seminary, a journey that I recount in my latest book (The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier).

After seminary, I was a missionary for three years, working primarily with Oglala Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Then I took the job as minister to youth and young adults at my home church. It was there that I hooked up with Doug Pagitt and some of the other early emergent leaders. Honestly, my life hasn’t been the same since. This book is a record of our thoughts and activities over the past ten years.

Read the rest of this entry »

• There’s a fantastic post over at presbymergent issuing A Challenge to Emergent Authors. “I guess it all boils down to this: In the emergent conversation, are we writing the things we’re writing because we want to sell books, or are we writing the things we’re writing because we want to change the world?” 12/22/2007
• Say hello to the First Ever “Emerging” Amish Church. “When asked about his sources of inspiration, Pastor Jay (who wears a soul-patch instead of a traditional Amish beard) responded by saying: ‘I mean, there I was, settling with ‘church as usual’ when I stumbled upon the writings of Brian McLaren. I felt like his words were coming right from my own head, you know?’” The picture alone is worth the visit. Hilarious. (ht: TSK) 12/13/2007
• The Tallahassee Democrat recently published an article entitled Emerging Church had a good year, which “is the first in a four-part series reviewing major 2007 developments in U.S. religion”. It’s a well-written and balanced article that definitely deserves a read. There’s too much to quote here, but here’s a tidbit: “The Emerging Church Movement is alive and well and has had a productive year. It has published blogs and books, held ‘conversations’ throughout the country, been the subject of both academic and ecclesiastical seminars, and been the object of media inquiries and symposiums.” (ht: Emergent Village) 12/05/2007
• Are we on the verge of the Great Emergence? is a short article that discusses Phyllis Tickle’s talk at the Atlanta NYWC:

  “This kind of revolution, said Tickle, doesn’t mean ‘any one of those forms of earlier Christianity ever ceases to be. It simply means that every time we have one of these great upheavals … whatever was the dominant form of Christianity loses its pride of place and gives way to something new. What’s giving way, right now, is Protestantism as you and I have always known it.’”

  See also The Future of the Emerging Church: Are we experiencing the next Reformation of Christianity?, an interview with Tickle from earlier this year. (ht: ysmarko) 11/29/2007
• “Heaven is important, but it’s not the end of the world.” - N.T. Wright 10/26/2007

Blogging through a book: Everything Must Change (Part 1)

This is part one of a series where I blog through my reading of Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. The entire series is listed below ↴

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Conclusions

In this first section of the book, McLaren delivers the rhetorical device that will shape (I presume) the rest of the book. He asks, “What do the life and teachings of Jesus have to say about the most critical global problems in the world today” (12)?

In response to this question, McLaren makes a two-fold point: (1) Christians (and followers of the other “big” world religions) have failed to address the world’s most pressing crises because (2) the church has either focused all of its energy and attention on ideological debates (playing the “blame game”), or the church has become too “specialized” — or both.

You only have to have a passing familiarity with Jesus and his message to know there was a special place in his heart for the poor and oppressed. Why, then, has the church been so unsuccessful in addressing the issues of povery and oppression?

“We seemed polarized by our ideological diagnoses of the causes and cures of poverty, and even worse, we were paralyzed by our polarization, and so the poor continued to suffer - trapped by their poverty and our polarizing, paralyzing arguments about poverty” (16).

We’re too caught up in pointing fingers and debating who/what our fingers should be pointed at that we have failed to make any substantive progress.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blogging through a book: Everything Must Change (Intro)

This is the introduction of a series where I blog through my reading of Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. The entire series is listed below ↴

Intro | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Conclusions

Over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging through Brian McLaren’s new book Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope.

If you’ve heard things about Brian McLaren (good or bad) and wondered what all the fuss is about, hopefully this series will answer some questions for you. It will also facilitate my own reflection on the book and I hope that it will generate some healthy dialogue on this site.

Everything Must Change is divided into eight sections, each consisting of four chapters, and my plan is to write a post after every section I read.

In the short introduction of the book, entitled “Hope Happens”, McLaren reassures us that he can help the reader “understand some highly complex material and make it not only accessible but maybe even interesting and inspiring” (1). I have no doubt he’ll deliver on his promise; he’s a skilled crafter of words to be sure.

After introducing himself, McLaren presents us with the book’s thesis:

“People interested in being a new kind of Christian will inevitably begin to care more and more about this world [as opposed to the “other world” of heaven], and they’ll want to better understand its most significant problems, and they’ll want to find out how they can fit in with God’s dreams actually coming true down here more often” (4).

These “significant problems”, or global crises, can be traced to “four deep dysfunctions”: the prosperity crisis (environmental breakdown & unsustainable global economy); the equity crisis (gap between socioeconomic classes); the security crisis (war fueled by cultural/economic resentment); and the spirituality crisis (world religion’s failure to provide healing), which McLaren says is the “leverage point through which we can reverse the first three” (5).

I’m really looking forward to digging through this book.

• Tony Jones has moved his blog to TonyJ.net in anticipation of his new book The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier which will be released March 3, 2008. 10/09/2007

Everything I need to know I learned from the emerging church*

1. The world would be a much better place if we would all just sit down and have a conversation.
2. Controversy is the key to publicity.
3. I’m saved, but it’s no big deal.
4. It’s totally (un)cool to (not) use parentheses.
5. I blog, therefore I am.
6. Any form of criticism is probably just a big misunderstanding.
7. Whatever Brian McLaren says, goes.
8. Using big words is a really easy way to win theological arguments. E.g., “Au contraire, I believe using a deconstructive hermeneutic is far superior, in light of the postmodern tendency to reject the metanarrative.”
9. If you have a problem, it’s probably theological.
10. Don’t judge a book by its cover; judge it by its endorsements.
11. If it’s written in red, it’s more important.
12. It’s not the size of the church that counts, it’s how you use it.
13. Swearing and drinking are acceptable, even encouraged.
14. Worship music is shitty (See #13).
15. When in doubt, deconstruct.
16. Using Latin words and phrases in place of English ones not only sounds more authoritative, it totally ups your street cred.
17. If all else fails, hold a conference/convention.
18. Tradition is overrated.
19. Mi casa, su church.
20. Everything Must Change.

What are your satirical learnings from the emerging church?

*Disclaimer: Although I hope it is obvious, I should mention that this post is satirical in nature and doesn’t actually reflect my views of the emerging church conversation. You can get a good idea of what I really think by reading a paper I wrote called Toward A Postmodern Youth Ministry: An Examination of Postmodern Youth Culture in Conversation with the Emerging Church, published online at Precipice Magazine in May 2007.

Senior paper redux

I lied. It was an honest mistake, though, because I really did think the previous post regarding my senior paper would be the last. Several things have happened, however, that necessitated a follow-up post.

The first is that I couldn’t help posting the picture on the right of myself presenting the paper at the Research Symposium for Senior Recognition Day. An entire semester’s worth of work and I am holding up a cartoon.

The second - and more exciting - reason for the post is that it has been published(!) in an online magazine. Precipice Magazine is an “online Christian resource for dialogue, interaction and opinion about… the postmodern era; as well as the subsequent rise of the emergent church”; I have blogged about it previously (here and here). The article, which is word-for-word what I wrote for my senior paper (minus citations and footnotes, unfortunately) can be found here.

But that’s not all. A condensed version will soon be published in another, more prominent online magazine. All I have to do is some how hack off 2,000-3,000 words in the next couple of days (it’s 4,379 words, remember?). Blogger TallSkinnyKiwi has called the aforementioned publication “possibly the greatest emerging church online publication ever.” More on this when it’s published.

Also, I want to thank people for reading the paper and giving me constructive criticism, comments, and questions. I would like to take the time to answer all of them, but I’ve been so busy finishing the school year and preparing for/taking finals. I’ll be home in a week, and I should have more time then to respond to various comments.

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