Pascal once said, "Every man is almost always led to believe not through proof, but through that which is attractive." There is disagreement about whether this is as it should be - Pascal himself considered beauty a "base" path to belief. But I think his statement captures the dynamic behind the emergent church movement. The evangelical church has been accused, and I think to some extent justly, of championing confessional purity while neglecting genuine heart/life change. The emergent church seems a reaction to those who are perceived as saying they have all the answers but whose unchanged lives betray their words. I do not disagree with this critique.
The solution to this condition is something about which we disagree. For the emergent church, the solution is found in swinging the pendulum from truth to heart/life. For me, the solution lies in recognizing the importance and inextricability of both. We may not have all the answers, but we do have answers, answers to the most important of questions. We must boldly and clearly proclaim those answers. But, the authenticity of our message is damaged when the lives of its champions are singularly unattractive. When the truth is delivered with pride and arrogance; when the lives of those extolling its virtues are plain and unbecoming; in short, where the beauty of the truth cannot be seen, we have become a liability to another's belief. The truth still must be believed, but now it must be believed in spite of us, rather than because of us.
I witness in the emergent church a shot across the bow, a warning: Unless we show the beauty of the truth - the freedom, joy, and grace of the transformed life made possible by Jesus and Jesus alone - then we will eventually have nothing to say. We will reside in a great Christian rest home, mumbling to ourselves what outsiders view as inane prattle. We may have something worth hearing, but we will not have earned the right to be heard.
So here's my bottom line! I am propelled all the more to learn from God's Word in my heart and in my mind! I want Proverbs 22:17-21 to define my approach to the Bible. Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge; For it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, that they may be ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the Lord, I have taught you today, even you. Have I not written to you excellent things of counsels and knowledge, to make you know the certainty of the words of truth that you may correctly answer to him who sent you? I want my behavior to commend to all men the Jesus for whom I live. I want that life in Jesus to be informed by principles from God's Word which have become my own heartbeat, the fuel for bold and winsome faith, and the words by which to impart life to others.
YES! YES! YES! Jim, it is my opinion that you've hit the nail here. As I talk to people here, there and yonder one of the things I'm consistently struck by is that people desire to see others demonstrate in their lives JOY in a vibrant relationship with God. Many churches and people in America speak truth but the flame of passion found in the person is either missing or flickering becuase of the burden to "get it exactly right". I love reading the Psalms not because David got it exactly right, in fact he really messes up at times, but he is so honest and forthright about his path with God that his love for God, and God's love for him, just seeps from his pores. David dances and sings and fights and weeps and proclaims truth about God throughout his life. He repents and blesses others and praises God while correctly handling the truth.
I think people walk into churches in America and don't want to meet people that have it exactly right. they want to meet people that are growing in their Christian walk and are upfront and honest about how God is changing them. People don't want to meet "perfect" people, they want to meet people that give the hope that yes, the race is in fact worth running. the emergent movement not only highlights the fact that the race is worth running but also that it is the most exciting race one can even think of running.
Posted by: Bubba Matthews | October 12, 2007 at 09:43 AM
Very well said!
I know from my observation that among youth today what you've said is very, very true. I cannot tell you how many times I've heard people say they don't want to be a Christian because "the Christians I know are the worst people I've ever met, and they're arrogant on top of that!" What a sad testimony about us! So living what we say we believe is very important if we are to maintain a credible witness. To live it we have to understand it as well.
Posted by: Alex Marshall | October 22, 2007 at 12:56 AM