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Brian McLaren: Save The Planet
Below Steve Muse of Eastern Regional Watch wrote: "I came across this article yesterday, Evangelical Author Puts Progressive Spin On Traditional Faith by Caryle Murphy of the Washington Post, which clearly reveals Brian McLaren's heart and mind with regard to Evangelical Christianity." In this article Murphy unknowingly brings out just how far away from the Christian mission the Emergent rebellion against the Bible led by McLaren has now strayed.
Emergent Guru McLaren loves to talk about how the Church needs to become "relevent" to this postmodern culture. In this article I examine Murphy's piece and point out that the mission of the Christian Church is not to become "relevant to the world" at all. As born again Christians we are now aliens and strangers in the world (1 Peter 2:11), called out of it by God because our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there (Philippians 3:20).
D.A. Carson warns that when "you have some person or movement coming along calling into question the non-negotiables of Christianity, then those who espouse Christianity find such a challenge dangerous." And I say when that person is Brian McLaren who also happens to be associated with Living Spiritual Teacher Marcus Borg, an Honary Advisor to the Executive Council of The Center for Progressive Christianity and fellow with the Christ-denying Jesus Seminar, the time has now arrived when God demands that we seriously begin to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."
Posted by Rev. Ken Silva on September 11, 2006 @ 07:15 PM
Emergent Church | New Spirituality
COMMENTS
I am reading D.A. Carson's book on the Emergent Church right now. It is very interesting. I highly recommend it to better understand...if one can...what Emergent is about.
Posted by: Lin at September 11, 2006 08:57 PM
Brian McLarin is hardly an Evangelical and readily admits that he is not Evangelical, at least not in the way that the term has been used in any sort of traditional way.
Most us know there are some real problems with the Emergent Church, but finding out what the Emergent Church really stands for is hard to do. Many of those in the Emergent Church movement don't even agree with Brian McLarin on many substantive issues.
The Emergent Church will probably go by the wayside soon. Critique it! That's all fine and good, but be careful about demonizing everyone in the movement. There are a lot of people who are a part of what you would refer to as the Emergent church who teach Biblical Orthodoxy, who are asking us to consider the traditions of the past (hymns, The Lord's Prayer, some liturgy, etc...)as relevant for today, and more.
Bryan
Posted by: Bryan Baker at September 11, 2006 11:25 PM
I've written similarly: it's not about making Christianity relevant to our lives, as though WE were the important ones and God gets a chance as long as he works for us -- rather it's about us making ourselves relevant to God's life, HE's the important one and we somehow are offered a chance to work for him.
At the same time, I'm with Bryan Baker -- don't be too hard on all emergent-types. They're right that the word 'evangelical' means something very different than it did 20 years ago and also that non-Christians are less likely to be interested in whether Christianity is true or not than in whether it's relevant or not.
While it's a mistake to take sandpaper and plane to the Scriptures or the faith in order to refashion it in our own image and make it relevant for today, it is certainly not wrong for the people of God in mission to find ways of showing the world that Jesus addresses their needs -- those that they know about as well as those that they don't.
I think our job as Bible-believing evangelicals is to understand our culture and then show how the genuine Gospel can appeal to as well as critique contemporary culture. We need to show hard-core emergents as well as non-believers that the message we bear is not old-fashioned in need of update, but non-fashioned and timelessly beautiful.
If we can do that, many emergents will stand with us. I don't believe most of them want to create a new Gospel. I think they're trying to gild the lily (though I agree the effect can be the same), because they've spent most of their time till now admiring the gold paint of culture rather than ever contemplating the raw and genuine beauty of the flower.
Posted by: ConradGempf at September 12, 2006 05:53 AM
Bryan,
There is truth to what you say but I am not demonizing anyone, I criticize their beliefs. And if they are part of this heretical and anti-Reformation movement they need to get out. It was rotten at the very start and Jesus said a bad tree cannot produce god fruit.
Posted by: Pastor Ken Silva at September 12, 2006 06:46 AM
Here's an excellent article I just happened upon:
Posted by: Gary (fool4jesus) at September 12, 2006 08:46 AM
Satan has no new tricks, he has only to recycle the old ones that have been around for thousands of years to deceive man. His best tool today is that his deceit can now be spread worldwide in seconds.
Posted by: Sparks at September 12, 2006 09:09 AM
Conrad,
You said:
"While it's a mistake to take sandpaper and plane to the Scriptures or the faith in order to refashion it in our own image and make it relevant for today, it is certainly not wrong for the people of God in mission to find ways of showing the world that Jesus addresses their needs -- those that they know about as well as those that they don't."
The truth is the people of the world only have one need. That need is a savior to step in on our behalf on the day of judgement. All of us have sinned and are already condemned before God. Gods' Word says the penalty for sin is death, meaning the second death which is hell. The only need we have is for a savior and there is only one. The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. It's just that simple. There is no need to revamp. We just need to get out there and spread the bad news (impending judgement) and then the good news (Jesus took our place) and what we are required to do about it (fall at his mercy and beg forgiveness). And the Bible says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. How great is that?!
You said:
"I think our job as Bible-believing evangelicals is to understand our culture and then show how the genuine Gospel can appeal to as well as critique contemporary culture."
Nothing has changed. Man is just as sinful and in need of a savior as ever. All we have to do is say here is what sin is, have you sinned, yes, hell is the penalty for sin, good news, Jesus took your place, call on Jesus and you will be forgiven. If this doesn't "appeal" to anyone in any culture, they are not being drawn.
I agree with your first paragraph. God should be the focus. To God be all glory. Any thing we do on Gods behalf is only because God has led us to Truth and has revealed Himself. Even faith and repentance are gifts from God, that is why it doesn't make sense to repackage the gospel. If God doesn't give these gifts and draw the person to Jesus, they will not be saved. God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy.We must not complicate the simplicity that is Christ. No need to make anything culturaly relevant. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Man is still sinful. Jesus is still the only way to the Father. I don't see how the culture of today, or anyday, changes this Truth.
With Love,
RachelPosted by: Rachel at September 13, 2006 01:31 AM
The whole ECM is poison, Bryan. It has nothing to offer true Christians.This is far more serious than maybe you really understand. This is certainly no benign, wacky, fad that will disappear. ECM is a WAR on the Word and it won't "go by the wayside" but will merely continue to get worse. Indeed many thought 18 months ago like you, that it would go away by now...it hasn't. In fact, its infiltrated more churches and ministries than ever before.
The foundation of ECM is rotten and so is its fruit. Its nothing but a rebellious mind-set, and anyone who IS biblical would not get involved in such a pagan movement, let alone stay in it. "Come out of her."
2Co 6:15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,
Bryan, its intersting that you say they are questioning the use of litergy, etc. and if its relevant for today, because actually they go back to 14th Century Roman Catholicism for their practice and doctrine, which was nothing but liturgy and tradition (mixed with eastern mysticism and other pagan things)--so how is *that* relevant in the 21st Century?
How is the Lord's Prayer a tradition? Is it not straight from Scripture? Why would this be questioned at all?
Posted by: Denise at September 13, 2006 12:44 PM
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