Is Grace Community Church "emerging"???

Note: This is completely my own perspective, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Grace Community Church congregation, staff or leadership...

So… The Emerging Church. Some people believe it to be the last hope of Christianity. Many others consider it to be the heretical movement that will usher in the apocalypse. Ironically, we probably have both within the walls of this church! So where does Grace stand as a whole? Good question.

Now, before I go on, I’d like to make a quick clarification. Two labels thrown around a lot are “Emerging” and “Emergent.” Emergent refers to the Emergent Village, a network of emerging churches (www.emergentvillage.com). The emerging church refers more to a broad movement in Evangelical Christianity that seeks to ask questions about how the Church is to look in an increasingly post-modern world.

So, is Grace Community Church Emergent? No. We are not associated with the Emergent Village. Are we Emerging? Now that is the real question.

To answer, I’d like to use the “Five Streams of the Emerging church” found in Scott McKnight’s outstanding article found here. McKnight does a great job of summarizing what this movement is all about. The five “streams” are Prophetic, Post-Modern, Praxis-oriented, Post-evangelical, and Political.

Prophetic: The emerging church is characterized by progressive and often provocative rhetoric used as a means of challenging the status-quo.

Does Grace do this? I would contend that yes, we do. For years our pastors have challenged the congregation to live beyond the prosperity gospel found so often in Evangelical mega-churches. We are encouraged to spend our lives caring for the poor and marginalized, to move towards a financially sacrificial lifestyle and to embrace and acknowledge (rather than cover up) our brokenness. Those are all rather surprising and prophetic ideas, especially in a suburban Christian context.

Post-modern: The emerging church is characterized by an increasing identification with a post-modern epistemology.

Obviously, post-modernism is a very hot-button issue in the church today, so I will choose my words carefully. If post-modernism is defined as wild relativism, in which truth is denied and the Bible thrown out the window, then no, Grace Church is absolutely not post-modern. However, if post-modern Christianity is an acknowledgement of the limits of theological systems, a movement towards a more tolerant (not pluralistic!) stance toward other faith traditions, and a recognition that the truth of God cannot be fully captured in human language, then perhaps Grace is becoming more post-modern. (Here is a very helpful article explaining some of the different definitions of post-modernism)

Praxis-oriented: The emerging church is focused more on how one lives than what one believes.

A quick glance at church history will show that the pendulum has swung back and forth on this issue many times. At this point, the emerging church is reacting to the “modern” position that the only important thing is what you believe (which is itself a reaction to pre-modern practices). Obviously, Grace does not ignore the importance of orthodoxy (right belief), but there is a definite trend toward emphasizing orthopraxy. We are always looking for ways to jump into what God is doing with our lives, rather than simply talking about theological concepts. (For a great example of this, listen to Dave Rodriguez’s recent sermon “Less talk, More action” by downloading it here.)

Post-evangelical: The emerging church is attempting to move beyond systematic theology and the rampant in-grouping and out-grouping so common in the Evangelical church.

Emerging churches tend to have “conversations” about theology and are open to rethinking long-held beliefs. Also, there is much less talk about who is and who isn’t a Christian, because it seems that such judgments are increasingly irrelevant in today’s world. Is Grace post-evangelical? I would say a qualified yes. We spend little time bickering over theology and rarely talk about who is “in” or “out.” However, we don’t take it as far as some churches that completely devalue theological statements and cease evangelism for fear of judging another’s spiritual status.

Political: The emerging church is involved in politics, but tends to focus less on specific issues and more on broader social reform.

Across the emerging church, there is an upsurge of interest in broad political issues such as poverty, environmentalism and social justice. Because these issues are more often associated with the political ‘left,’ many Evangelicals see the emerging church as liberal. However, I would contend that this new focus is less an association with a political party, and more a sweeping identification with the radical society-shaking teaching of Jesus. Is Grace political? Yes, in that we care very much about how our government treats the poor and marginalized. Are we associated with a specific party or political candidate? No. You will find both liberals and conservatives within the walls of our church.

So, with all that in mind, is Grace Community Church emerging? Well, according to the definitions put forward by Scott McKnight, it would seem that we are at least moving in that direction. However, do we fit into all the molds and stereotypes usually associated with the emerging church? No. Do we buy into everything the emerging movement has to say? No. Do we even refer to ourselves as “emerging”? Again, no.

We are simply Grace Community Church. A group of broken Christ-followers trying to bring the Kingdom of God into our world. A group of activists trying to shake up the status-quo and bring social justice to our hurting neighbors. A group of theologians trying to re-discover the teachings of God through scripture. We are simple Christ-followers in an ever changing world.