While emerging churches talk a lot about being relevant to postmodern culture, they are also aware that there is a danger in relevance. Lauren Winner, author of Girl Meets God, posed the question this way at the convention: “How do you simultaneously attend to the culture and be a pocket of resistance? You can’t be a pocket of resistance without attending . . . but I still think people come to church when church is different from the world, when there is something noticeably ecclesial in the broadest sense, when church seems like church rather than a shopping mall.”
An Emergent definition of relevance, modulated by resistance, might run something like this: relevance means listening before speaking; relevance means interpreting the culture to itself by noting the ways in which certain cultural productions gesture toward a transcendent grace and beauty; relevance means being ready to give an account for the hope that we have and being in places where someone might actually ask; relevance means believing that we might learn something from those who are most unlike us; relevance means not so much translating the church’s language to the culture as translating the culture’s language back to the church; relevance means making theological sense of the depth that people discover in the oddest places of ordinary living and then using that experience to draw them to the source of that depth (Augustine seems to imply such a move in his reflections on beauty and transience in his Confessions). Relevance might simply mean wanting to understand why so many young people have said that attending U2’s Elevation Tour and hearing Bono close the show with choruses of “Hallelujah” was like being in worship (but a whole lot better).
I am currently wrestling with these thoughts. I sense that I agree with much of it.
I feel I am growing more and more tired of the emerging church "conversation". It has reached both Christian Century and Christianity Today.
It's hip and trendy. This I believe is what the masses experience and believe the "conversation" to be.
But those who started the conversation are seeking much more. Much of what they write and speak of resonates with me at some levels and on some points. Yet I feel a certain skepticism toward the conversation/movement.
What about you?
1 comment:
It doesn't directly translate to the full church, but the experiences of my youth group can show how this stuff can go.
As you know, most youth groups are essentially social events with a little bit of "God stuff" thrown in. About the time I started visiting my current church, the High School youth group (a typical one) was in decline. They even stopped meeting mid-week. As a setup to revive the group, the youth leaders asked what we wanted, a fun group, or a group that just went deep with God, and forgot the "fun" stuff. We chose the latter. Over the next six months, we sought after God. During that time, the youth group shrunk even more. We didn't start meeting during the week either.
Then our youth leaders left. We had a month of nothing at all (not even during the services), then a couple from the church that we had asked to guest teach us took over. Becuase of our curiosity about prophesy, they came to train us. A couple months later, we started meeting on Saturday nights, and being in the service on Sundays. We experienced all kinds of breakthrough, personal growth, and numerical growth. The last was particularly noticible to me. I was attending school, so I only visited back home once a month. Each time, the group had another half-dozen members.
A couple months later (almost a year ago now), we had a night of particularly intense breakthrough. The next Sunday, this continued out into the church. The High School youth group brought breakthrough and spiritual growth to the entire church body.
We're also what you would probably consider the least comfortable environment for a non-Christian. We generally worship, have a lesson that ends in some usage of the spiritual gifts (and we're completely unabashed about it), then we worship for several hours (while continuing to do whatever needs doing: more training, more prophetic ministry, more praying for healing, you name it). What would a non-christian do with themselves in this environment?
Twice now my sisters have invited non-christian friends, or people not close to God, to our group. Both times, my sisters are very scared that their friends would be intimidated and scared away. Both times, these friends found their time there exhilerating, and wanted to come back.
The moral: the external forms and trying to be attractive to our culture are of minor importance. Of first improtance is having the presence of God. After that, you can start worrying abut the forms.
And yes, I took a long time to say it, with a lot of information that's not really relevant. But all that typing would go to waste if I deleted it all now. ;-)
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