I guess it's often hard to see, from the middle of a sea-change, the impact and repercussions of the changes taking place. Are we looking at a 1-in-30-year movement, on a par with the Charismatic movement at its height in the 70s and 80s? Are we looking at a 1-in-100-year movement, like the rise of modern evangelicalism to be a dominant force in the British church? Are we looking at a 1-in-400-year movement, on a par with the Reformation or the Great Schism?
My first reaction - egged on by reading the likes of Maclaren - was the latter. Or if not 400 years, then certainly something on a par with the rise of the Enlightenment, at least. But,
- perhaps because MacLaren and Rollins are really "out there",
- because there is a real lack of coherency within the big tent called "emerging", and
- because I keep reading stuff about how we need to rediscover the joy of being a Christian community uncluttered by man-made structures - which all sounds so reminiscent of the Brethren movement (1840 and afterwards),
Being part of something new and radical is exciting. And Christian faith desperately needs to reconnect with western society - and, all the more, with Jesus' way of life. And that means re-thinking a lot of things that too many have taken for granted.
But how much, and how important it all is ... I'm just not sure yet.
I have more reading to do.
1 comment:
hi andrew- i bounced over here from glenn hager's blog. your comment there made me laugh.
i don't know how to post a feed list from google reader. i use bloglines and it will automatically update my reader list. that's probably of no use to you, but it helped me out once upon a time.
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