"Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets." (Luke 6:26, NIV)
"Blessed are thsoe who are persecuted because of righteousness . . ." (Matthew 5:10a, NIV)
Perhaps I am oversimplifying when I write this, but much of the driving force behind the emergent church seems to be the desire to have people like and respect Christians and Christianity.
My largest concern with the emergent church concept is not their methods, or their desires. My biggest question and concern is their priorities. If you value relationship over truth, then there will be pressure to compromise the message , which some in the emergent church have clearly done.
To be fair, I should point out that too often the orthodox (I use this in the generic sense, not a particular denomination) Church has been out of balance the other way, using truth as a means of dividing and separating rather than bringing together.
Yet we see Jesus never compromising on his message AND loving people into the Kingdom. John tells us that Jesus was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). It is possible to be loving and orthodox at the same time. It is not an either / or, but a both/and. We should be orthodox and loving.
What then should we learn from the verses above? I take from these that not everyone will embrace or appreciate the message or the messenger. Secondly, I learn that we should not focus on being liked. I am reminded of the words of Paul to the Ephesians:
My largest concern with the emergent church concept is not their methods, or their desires. My biggest question and concern is their priorities. If you value relationship over truth, then there will be pressure to compromise the message , which some in the emergent church have clearly done.
To be fair, I should point out that too often the orthodox (I use this in the generic sense, not a particular denomination) Church has been out of balance the other way, using truth as a means of dividing and separating rather than bringing together.
Yet we see Jesus never compromising on his message AND loving people into the Kingdom. John tells us that Jesus was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). It is possible to be loving and orthodox at the same time. It is not an either / or, but a both/and. We should be orthodox and loving.
What then should we learn from the verses above? I take from these that not everyone will embrace or appreciate the message or the messenger. Secondly, I learn that we should not focus on being liked. I am reminded of the words of Paul to the Ephesians:
"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:14-15, NIV)
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