How do you give a theological definition to a conversation? Say some friends are sitting in a coffee shop talking and an outsider interrupts and asks, "What are you talking about?" A few one-line explanations will help, but will those serve to be the authoritative source of what "the conversation" is about? For instance, if Andrew happens to say the Springboks are not likely to make it past the first round of the World Cup, regardless of whether anyone else agrees with him or not, would it be accurate for the outsider to say, "That group of people has little confidence in the Boks"? Of course not! In a conversation where there is no "leader" (like a coffee shop - or the global emerging church conversation) one person cannot be the voice of everyone - and it is unfair to say that a particular person's views represent everyone else's.

Yet this is what Tim Cantrell attempts to do in the August issue of Today magazine, claiming that a few people within the emerging church conversation represent the views of everyone: he's wrong - they don't. He also gets it wrong when he claims Rob Bell is a leader within the church. Rob has chosen to not be associated with the emerging church and so cannot be one of its leaders.

If Cantrell was attempting to give us a bigger picture of what the whole conversation is saying, he would have written more about Mark Driscoll's views (whose criticism of Brian McLaren and the network he is a part of is cited in the article). Since Driscoll is part of the wider emerging church movement yet has the same discomfort with McLaren's "theological agenda", Cantrell is, in fact, admitting that his article cannot be a response to the emerging church, but rather to individuals within that conversation (Cantrell indeed has concerns with McLaren - he was at his talk "Postmodern and postcolonial" in Joburg in May and responded shortly afterwards).

Over the next few days I'll continue my thoughts about Tim's article. Welcome to any Today readers - please leave a comment to say you dropped by - and which of Tim's concerns you share :)

Technorati Tags: Mark Driscoll, Tim Cantrell, Roger Saner, Emergent, Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, criticism, Today Magazine, emerging church

 

--x--
This post is a part of a series of responses to an article in the August 2007 edition of Today Magazine written by Tim Cantrell (available online). The full series is:
Emergent or Divergent?
Part 2: When is misquoting someone and ignoring context ok?
Part 3: Tea break (and why I won't throw vegetables at Tim)
Part 4: Truth, Scripture and Clarity
Part 5: Rob Bell and denying the Virgin Birth
Part 6: Emergent, Emergent Village and the emerging church conversation
Part 7: Clarity vs Mystery

I've met Tim a few times, in fact we sat in an elective on Postmodernism together about 5 years ago at Baptist Union Assembly. He was quite outspoken then against what was being put forward (which, although it wasn't dubbed 'THE Emerging Church, was really, at the time, just a rehashing of Brian McLaren's teaching on the subject of pomo - I only realised this later when I read McLaren).

In answer to your question - I don't think it is correct to paint the whole EC as being equated to McLaren or Bell for that matter (BTW - although Bell doesn't openly identify himself as EC you have to admint that he is a Christian leader and his minstry is characterised by much emerging ideology - so whether he calls himself an EC leader or not - doesn't necessarilly mean he's not 'leading' some of the conversation in a sense).

But I'm also tired of pitting people against each other (even though I share some of Tim's concerns about McLaren). What I'd like to see more of is issues being tackled and dialogue over varying approaches to issues. So instead of Tim having a go at the EC and McLaren, I'd like to see Tim and a group of ECers sitting down and discussing issues of justice and mercy (for example), Tim from a reformed point of view and the ECers from an EC point of view.

I'd like to see the strengths and the weaknesses from both views being put out on the table and wrestled with. So instead of starting new movements - because the last one was bunk - we'll be creating conversations (with all theological views involved) that are aimed at tackling real issues in our country.

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Posted by: Stephen Murray 04 Aug, 2007 - 12:39:15

Roger, I wonder which person at Futurechurch blog Tim meant when he referred to a "prominent leader within South African EC"? Would any of the guys who blog at this address consider THEMSELVES to be such?

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Posted by: Graeme 22 Aug, 2007 - 20:49:52

Well, he quoted two of my blog posts, so he means me. Why, I have no idea. I'm actually working on a post entitled "The Emerging Church does not - and should not - exist in South Africa at this time."

He did refer to me as one of the "main proponents" of this conversation, though. But he obviously hasn't read anything outside of the criticism of the emerging church.

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Posted by: Roger Saner 22 Aug, 2007 - 23:35:17

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