A Plea for Prudence

Recently, a friend of mine asked if the new church fellowship we were attending was part of the emergent church. (Someone had told her that it was.)

I confess that I'm not even sure what her query meant. I mean, there's no official Emergent Church Registry Book for churches to sign, right?

If I understand recent church history accurately, the "emergent church" is a loose term referring to a group of people who are attempting to make the gospel more "palatable" to non church goers by compromising foundational beliefs. (Don't quote me on that.) If mine is a fair statement, then the answer to my friend's question is, "Absolutely not".

However, I suspect that the term "emergent church" has evolved into a phrase that some people slap onto other fellowships whose worship practices seem unfamiliar, whose ways of doing things make them uncomfortable.

Different=Bad

Of course, when we see the above equation typed out, our reasonable minds can dismiss it as silly and narrow-minded, but the subconscious tendency to actually believe it is embedded deeply within.

It's called xenophobia and we all suffer from it to one degree or another.

I do acknowledge that some of the goings-on at our new fellowship would possibly make some more conservative members of Christ's Body uneasy. For example, recently a woman shared her story with the congregation on a Sunday morning. It was one of the most powerful and helpful testimonies I've ever heard.

You can listen to it yourself here. (The whole message is excellent, but if you only have time for the testimony, it begins around the 22 1/2 minute mark.)

Basically,  Lisa was a Christian who decided to stop suppressing the homosexual desires she felt but after years of pursuing that lifestyle she decided she would rather, "Walk with God and struggle with homosexuality than walk in homosexuality and struggle with God". Therefore, she has chosen celibacy and over the years has experienced the restoration of being able to minister to others in spite of discouragement from many Christian quarters. (My description doesn't do this amazing story justice. I strongly encourage you to hear her tell it in her own words.)

Lisa's story is applicable to us all, whatever our individual struggles may be: We walk with God and struggle with sin or walk in sin and struggle with God. Some people are uncomfortable with the acknowledgement of homosexuality and might, in hushed tones, inform others that "That church allows homosexuals to speak from the pulpit".

(Technically, the statement could be considered correct, but its many implications would not be.)

Anyone hearing that sentence uttered might suppose that our fellowship is a place of compromise where leaders invite certain guest speakers in hopes of fitting into modern society, to "get with the times", so to speak. However, those suppositions would be ill-founded, advancing dissonance and inaccuracy. (At no point in the message was homosexual activity condoned.)

That is what this post is really about, not a defense of my new fellowship, but rather a somewhat inarticulate plea that we would be less apt to make assumptions.

Yes, I am speaking to myself. I have been guilty countless times of speaking authoritatively concerning matters about which I knew little. I'm sure I have planted seeds of speciousness and confusion in many minds with my thoughtless comments. I have slapped labels onto people and organizations so that I could mentally dismiss them, therefore "protecting" and "justifying" myself.

I repent.

Unfortunately, I know I'll have to repent on this point many more times before my substance is dustily settled in its urn.

I'm not suggesting we oughtn't stand up and speak out against erroneous statements and actions which we witness in the world and the Church around us. I'm merely stating that it is important that we be educated and prudent while doing so.