Emergent Evangelism

Doug Baker, who recently wrote this article that I was quoted in, has written a new article in Baptist Press titled, "Emergent Evangelism: Evangelism by Consensus?"  Here's a piece...

The "emerging" conversation is more than a generation gap in which the theology of former days (or lack of it) is being challenged by a wave of young ministers with cell phones, PDAs and e-mail via Blackberry. The tension is most evident in the perennial debate among evangelicals about how to "do" church. What should the church look like? How should the church of the 21st century worship and minister in a context of ever-increasing information, but diminishing wisdom? To what extent should tradition be jettisoned in favor of a "whatever works" strategy, and will such strategies reduce Christian evangelism to a mere technique?

[...]

Never has the need been more critical for the Gospel to be powerfully preached by the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. How that is done is largely settled in Holy Scripture. The public reading of the Bible, the corporate prayer of the church, the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to one another, the ordinances of Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the offering of confession and thanksgiving to God are all elements of public worship which are explicitly revealed in Scripture. Is it not strange that almost every modern theory of “emerging” churches disregard many of these direct commands in favor of more “evangelistic” and “relevant” methods? No amount of technology or innovation can ever eclipse or manipulate the clear biblical teaching that evangelism is not simply a matter of form, but of substance.

The Gospel is powerfully effective to save to the uttermost those who have faith in Jesus Christ. For the Gospel is not something men made up by consensus. The plan of salvation is not the accumulation and production of man’s thoughts, but the direct revelation of God. As such, it is to be preached, not amended according to demographics, and boldly declared, not adjusted for the sensitivities of modern audiences.

Please read the article and let me know if I'm missing something.  Is Doug saying emergent evangelism is form without substance?  Is it technology and not truth?  Is it whatever works and mere technique?  Am I totally missing something?  If I'm not, then I think this is a very skewed understanding of the emerging church.  Hey Doug, I know you stop by now and again.  Feel free to jump in bro, and let me know if I get your right or not.

Comments

[iMonk]

Couple of comments.

First, this seems to be talking about the seeker-sensitive, Hybels model, not what most people assoiciate with the Emerging church, which is too diverse to write off in this kind of short-hand.

Secondly, until a more cogent and unified understanding of the EC is out there- by way of association with some visible, well known congregations- this sort of thing will be inevitable.

I found Kiwi's "12 Tensions" to be helpful.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Tallskinnykiwi?m=216

[Steve McCoy]

iMonk, I agree that's where it looks like he is coming from. I just find it hard to believe that this is the connection Doug is making.

I liked TSK's 12 as well.

[Shawn Skaggs]

It seems to me he has it exactly backwards. Every association I've had with EC has been to try and correct the seeker sensitive movement and evangelism by technique (e.g. A.B.C. evangelism)rather than promote it. I think he has the E.C confused with the modern popular way of doing things in the SBC. Trust me, in the non-EC churches I've been involved in, the sacraments have not been a priority, nor has their been a focus on worshiping God, but instead there has been a focus on the individual.

[John Mark]

I was wondering if you were going to pick up on this article. Has the term "emerging" been used prior to "emergent" talks in church growth circles. I ask because it seemed like he had no clue what emergent was about. But he kept saying "conversation". If he was talking about Emergent stuff, I would have to say it was the most ignorant(as in no knowledge) article I've ever read on the subject.

[stuart]

Been lurking here for a while. Not EC, not anti-EC either. Read this yesterday, hoped you'd post about it. Just wanted to say that iMonk's interpretatin of this article was exactly mine. I wasn't sure who Baker was talking about.
The talk about "not" appreciating the church fathers or ancient expressions coupled with teh references to technology makes me think he's confusing EC with all the wannabe megas.

[D.R. Randle]

I think Baker needs to study the movement a little more. He seems to have a straw man built in his mind as to what "Emergent" is and what "emerging" means. I think he needs to have a conversation with some folks over on the Emerging Leaders site about evangelism in the SBC. Somebody should invite him.

[Steve McCoy]

He has been invited, D.R. Thanks man.

[Rob Wilkerson]

Steve,

Thanks for the honest eval and invite to Baker. I found your post here through Techorati as I was blogsurfing for some comments on Baker's article. We have so much in common! I reference your post here.

[Steve McCoy]

Thanks Rob. I'll check out your site.