The irony is thick and rich…
BHAHAHAHA.
Amazing.
Check out who will be speaking at Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit 2006: http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/speakers.asp
Maybe if “postmodern” leaders like Pernell (see blog entry below) weren’t so intent on ridiculing “modern” church leaders like Hybels they could gain the influence that he has to engage the people they only wish they could.
Now…anyone want to take guess how many dyed-in-the-whool emergents will make an “exception” to their anti-modern church commitment and attend LS 2006 this year? I can think of one person who might…
Posted by
at
19:10:00
Too funny
Couple of observations.
1. Bono does not care who he enlists to help him in the fight against poverty/AIDs/debt in Africa. I’m sure he doesn’t agree with all of Hybel’s way of “doing Christianity”, nor all of the current US administration’s policies, nor all of the UN policies for that matter - but he’s willing to work with anyone who will help him in what he believes is God’s calling. Perhaps a lesson in there for all of us Christians who engage in so much infighting …
2. Also - good to see guys like Hybels and Warren tackle social justice issues. I’m not a huge fan of the mega-church nor some of Hybellian/Warrenian theology - but I put that aside to applaud the fact that they are willing to engage in something risky and incorporate a fuller Gospel into the lives of their congregations.
Warren had his “eureka” moment on social justice only recently - below is an excerpt from a New Yorker article on Warren/Saddleback/Cell groups by Macolm Gladwell.
“In the wake of the extraordinary success of “The Purpose-Driven Life,” Warren says, he underwent a period of soul-searching. He had suddenly been given enormous wealth and influence and he did not know what he was supposed to do with it. “God led me to Psalm 72, which is Solomon’s prayer for more influence,” Warren says. “It sounds pretty selfish. Solomon is already the wisest and wealthiest man in the world. He’s the King of Israel at the apex of its glory. And in that psalm he says, ‘God, I want you to make me more powerful and influential.’ It looks selfish until he says, ‘So that the King may support the widow and orphan, care for the poor, defend the defenseless, speak up for the immigrant, the foreigner, be a friend to those in prison.’ Out of that psalm, God said to me that the purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no influence. That changed my life. I had to repent. I said, I’m sorry, widows and orphans have not been on my radar. I live in Orange County. I live in the Saddleback Valley, which is all gated communities. There aren’t any homeless people around. They are thirteen miles away, in Santa Ana, not here.” He gestured toward the rolling green hills outside. “I started reading through Scripture. I said, How did I miss the two thousand verses on the poor in the Bible? So I said, I will use whatever affluence and influence that you give me to help those who are marginalized.”
You can find the full article here - http://www.gladwell.com/2005/2005_09_12_a_warren.html
It seems I, as a member of the so-called postmodern generation, have been found guilty of doing the same thing we accuse moderns of - pidgeon holing. I must admit that I myself at times have put these modern groups into categories and made predictions about things they would or would not do. This is evidence again that things are not quite as neat and tidy as we think they ought to be.
Just as ‘modern’ churches can do really good things, and can surprise us by dialoguing with people we would never expect them to, so also perhaps ‘postmodern’ churches can also ro really good things and can also surprise us.
As somebody who has been scarred deeply by an ‘emerging’ church (to the point where a comment somebody made can result in thoughts and feelings of resentment and anger welling up again in me, over three months after I have stopped going to the church), I find it very easy to gloat over this.
But I am thankful for my experiences of an emerging church. It has helped me to experience in a deep and profound way the hurt that drives many away from so-called ‘modern’ churches.
I used to read the Resonate group, but had to give up on it because of the perceived constant hyper criticism of the emerging church. But I am learning more and more that I ought not to do the very thing that I take offense at.
There is potential for God to use the emerging church in great ways. Hopefully they can look past their harsh judgment of the modern church to recognize that we are all serving the same Christ (though we may have different views of what that looks like), and hopefully we can look past their judgment of anything non-emergent and recognize their good intentions, though they may take different approaches than us.