Christians Should Include Self-Criticism When Criticizing Others

Dr Graham Cole teaches at Beeson Divinity School, a school which sprang up from Samford University. In the accompanying video, Cole is asked about Post-Modernism.





In this interview Cole is asked for a definition of Post-Modernism and he provides a partial definition. He states that Post-Modernism is the rule of relativity as opposed to Modernism which is the rule of reason. And he praised Post-Modernism because for challenging Modernism's for relying on human reason. However, he criticizes Post-Modernism because it embraces relativity. He states that neither Modernism nor Post-Modernism is a sufficient guide for finding one's worldview.

If neither Modernism nor Post-Modernism are good enough, what should we use to develop a worldview? Pre-Modernism is the answer according to Cole. The reason is because Pre-Modernism relies on the rule of revelation and Christians know that we have God's true revelation. So Christians should use God's revelation as the ultimate standard in developing one's worldview.

Before we proceed, we listen to what Cole says about one's worldview. According to Cole, a worldview consists of the ideas we use to interpret the world. These ideas act as 'gatekeepers' in determining how we process the world around us. A Christian worldview uses the Scriptures as one's primary source for ideas used to interpret the world. Cole identifies 3 criteria a Christian should use in evaluating competing worldviews. The first criteria is whether the ideas we rely on here are Scriptural. The second criteria is whether the ideas we relay on here are 'thinkable.' Here, a worldview is thinkable if it is consistent and does not lead to contradictions. Finally, one must determine if one's worldview is 'livable.'

Before criticizing Cole's views here we should note that his criteria for developing worldviews are good. We should also note that this clip does not give us an opportunity to hear everything that Cole thinks about Post-Modernism. But here is the problem. At least in the interview seen in the above video, though Cole gives an adequate definition of Post-Modernism, he fails to list the issues that Post-Modernism has been trying to address when it embraced relativity and rejected both the rule of faith/revelation, which is Pre-Modernism, and the rule of reason. Post-Modern embraced relativity because those in the movement found the colonialism, wars, and imperialism that resulted from both Pre-Modernism and Modernism to be not livable. And this is true especially when WMDs exist. Neither Pre-Modernism nor Modernism showed themselves to be effective in restraining man's tendencies to show intolerance, dominate others, and make war.

So what we see in Post-Modernism's emphasis on relativity is not the assertion of a positive but an attempt to remove a negative. That is that Post-Modernism attempts to remove any reason which, according to history, people have used to rationalize their brutal treatment of others. Seeing that neither the rule of faith/revelation nor the rule of reason has curbed our abuse of others, none are livable.

So Cole's problem here is not found in his criticisms of Modernism and Post-Modernism. Rather, his problem is not owning up for Pre-Modernism's failures, Christianity's sins to be specific.  And though his hesitancy to criticize Pre-Modernism because of its reliance on revelation, his, and our failure to own up to our and our forefather's mistakes is not just a problem in the video, it is our modus operandi. It is not until we address our mistakes that we will start to answer the questions that Post-Modernists are asking. And it is not until we address our mistakes that we have a chance to restore credibility to the Gospel.

We should note that many who refuse to own up to mistakes often do so in order to avoid accountability and to establish or maintain a position of authority. And perhaps this is why some Christians, especially American Christians, find it difficult to give Post-Modernism the full credit it is due. For as wrong as Post-Modernism is in embracing relativity, it is trying to challenge the presumption of some who believe that they, because they are exceptional or have a monopoly on some truth, are entitled to rule over others. Such people view attacks on their right to rule as attacks on the truths they hold dear. That is because they equate their right to rule with the facts as they see them and the principles they practice.

If America and American Christians want to experience a growing influence on their worlds rather than a diminishing one, they need to be upfront with their past and present sins. And to identify their sins they must listen to the complaints of those with whom they disagree in order to find the truths in what they say. Failure to do so will only mean that we follow the same flawed course that we are on now. And though while we will feel persecuted because we are losing our influence on others, the truth will be that as others will gain more and more power, they will treat us as we have treated them.

Reviewing The Five Streams Of The Emerging Church Part II

A week ago, we wrote Reviewing The Five Streams Of The Emerging Church Part I (review) where we started to review an article by Scot McKnight on 5 themes of the Emerging Church (Emerging).  We started the article by listing 3 criticisms that the Left has levied against the Conservative Church of being an institution of indoctrination, preaching a gospel of "me," and creating a culture of fear that keeps the flock reading the "right" people. The purpose of listing these criticisms was to show that there is a real need to make corrections in the Church.

We then listed 5 themes that McKnight has seen in the Emerging Church and covered 2 of them: the prophetic and Post-modern.

The next theme to be covered is Praxis-oriented. We should note here that the word praxis is the Greek word used to name the Book of Acts in the New Testament. So the term praxis-oriented refers to being centered on what the believer does. Focusing on the believer's actions hits a nerve here because the Conservative Church sees the Gospel as proclaiming that salvation comes by faith, not by works.

McKnight looks at this theme of Praxis in 3 areas, worship, orthopraxy, and missional. With regard to worship, McKnight contrasts the different environments in which the Emerging Church and the traditional Conservative Church worship God. The latter church has taken their cue from some of the Reformers who were reacting against the Roman Catholic Church. These Reformers took down all artwork and most decorations in an effort to focus a congregation's attention on the Word Of God as it was preached. All the extras were seen as distractions at the least and idols at the worst.

McKnight sites the Old Testament and Hebrews to defend the Emerging Church's use of decorative symbols. In addition, different ways of sitting together are being used by the Emerging Church to change how the worshipper sees himself or herself in relation to others, especially the minister. Here, what the Emerging Church seems to be seeking for ways in which people can relate in a more egalitarian and less authoritarian way.

To the Conservative Christian, these new worship practices could be seen as an attempt to change the focus of worship from God to people. Thus, the church service could be used to advance humanism rather than the Gospel. That is a valid concern. But at the same time, shouldn't the Conservative Church also reflect on the wrong messages its worship practices could be communicating as well? In other words, the Conservative Church should not be smug in expressing valid concerns.

Concerning orthopraxy, which is the right way of living, we find that some of the reaction against the Emerging Church is from anticipation in that some Conservatives expect those in the Emerging Church to abandon orthodoxy. This fear is unfounded. What is the case is that the Emerging Church questions the Conservative Church's belief that orthopraxy follows orthodoxy. They question this because of observation. McKnight points out that church scandals can prove their point.

But the presence of doing wrong is not the only evidence that shows the disconnect between orthopraxy and orthodoxy. Those in the Emerging Church believe that the absence of living as Jesus did when he reached out to sinners, healed the sick, and helped the downtrodden also shows the same. It is here that I couldn't agree more with the Emerging Church. This goes back to when the traditional Conservative Church acts as an institution for indoctrination to help maintain the status quo. When the Church does this, it takes the side of those with wealth and power at a time when they are seen as oppressing all others. To add to this, the Conservative Church reduces all right living solely to issues regarding personal righteousness which, having some merit, can be used to excuse the Church from standing up for the oppressed by preaching repentance to those who oppress.

There is good news from McKnight; the Emerging Church sees orthodoxy as being important and he doesn't know of anyone in the movement who believes that one's relationship with God is based on right living. But, McKnight adds that what the Emerging Church does differently can be found in what the Church focuses on and it focuses on the way of Jesus. However, we will see a problem in the Emerging Church's view of orthodoxy later on.

The final part of this Praxis-oriented theme has to do with the Church's mission. This includes being involved with God's redeeming the world, living in the community where God's redemption occurs, and playing a role in God's "holistic" redemption. The last part refers to the physical ministry of Jesus. Here, redemption takes on a broader meaning that what the Conservative Church defines it to be. This could be good if we note that there are multiple levels of redemption and we don't reduce the emphasis on the traditional understanding of Jesus' work on the cross.

The fourth theme McKnight tackles is Post-evangelical. Here is where we come in contact with the most questionable and troublesome part of the Emerging Church. What McKnight calls in-versus-out deals with the exclusiveness of the Gospel where some are saved and some are not. There are some in the Emerging Church who question whether there is such a dividing line between Christian and nonChristian.

McKnight warns the Emerging Church not to minimize or deny the Gospel. I agree with him here. In fact, I wish he would make this point more strongly than he did. We should also look for reasons why some in the Emerging Church would diminish the place of the Gospel in their church. Is the rejection of exclusivity of the Gospel by some partially because of faults found in the traditional Conservative Church? I would answer yes. And one of these faults refers back to the accusations made by the Left against the traditional Conservative Church. The problem here is that the Conservative Church has transformed the Gospel, which includes exclusivity, into a gospel of me where if I am saved, I don't have to care about the problems in the world, I only have to worry about myself. And what Conservative Christians should ask themselves is whether the rejection of exclusivity by some was originally inspired by the embedding of selfishness inside the Gospel message.

The final theme McKnight describes is politics. Not much is said here except that the Emerging Church leans to the left, which is ambiguous, rather than to the Right. The traditional Conservative Church strongly favors the Right though this does not imply that it always agrees with the Republicans. What the traditional Conservative Church favors likes the Right, besides its hollow pro-life stand, is that the Right favors authoritarianism, evidenced by its emphasis on law enforcement and the military, that acts as a plague in the Conservative Church. In addition, the Right, with its emphasis on individual responsibility and its focus on the commandment forbidding stealing, opposes a spirit of collectiveness that moves society to help those in need.

The ambiguity mentioned above is due to the fact that some mistakenly refer to the Democrats as being the Left, I do not think that McKnight makes that mistake. Others think the Left are those who are anti-Capitalists. I myself am an anti-Capitalist and so I prefer to be precise when referring to the Left.

The word on the street is that many in the traditional Conservative Church disparagingly shakes its collective heads at the Emerging Church and say, "They sure don't make churches like they use to." But the problem here is that the traditional Conservative Church has played a significant role in the emergence of the Emerging Church. For in an effort to cling to the antiChristian influences of authoritarianism, patriotism, and Capitalism, the Conservative Christianity has balked at answering the legitimate questions raised by Post-modernism. In lieu of even considering these questions, Conservative Christianity has defiantly entered its own way-back machine and has refused to leave Pre-modern times where religious faith determined all truth and and totalitarianism was in style.

Since many people can think when they read the Bible, they see the vast differences between Conservatism (both religious and political) and what the Bible says. And as people start questioning colonialism and other forms of domination, the Conservative Church tells them only to submit regardless. But was such an answer appropriate for German Christians during when the Nazis were in power? Was such an answer the Biblical response to the institutionalized prejudice that existed in this country not too many decades ago? How did the Old Testament prophets speak to Kings and others in authority when they sinned by practicing injustice?

In addition, what does Conservatism, with its emphasis on the individual, tell them about how to solve the conflict between the needs of a growing population of people versus a world of limited resources? The answers to all of these questions point to some of the failures of the Conservative Church.

The Emerging Church is a Post-modern movement. And as Post-modernism tries to address the gross abuses that have come from the misuse of truth and facts during Pre-Modern and Modern times, the Conservative Church withdraws from the world in an effort to keep itself spiritually pure while enjoying the benefits of those abuses. Unfortunately, Post-modernism's solution also includes throwing out absolute truths as it challenges any group's right to dominate. And the Emerging Church has been given no other option than to closely follow Post-modernism because, as the world has upped the ante by asking new questions, Conservative Christianity has folded by chanting the questions and answers from yesteryear.

If the Conservative Church desires a corrective dialog with the Emerging Church, it has to do more than just shake its finger at and try to shame the Emerging Church for being different; it must carefully enter the Post-modern times. The Conservative Church must move toward Post-modernism because of the valid questions Post-modernism tries to address. But the move must be careful because of the errors being employed as Post-modernism attempts to correct the abuses being propagated from the past. The longer the Conservative Church resists moving to Post-modernism, the more it becomes irrelevant to the masses.

Reviewing the Five Streams Of The Emerging Church Part 1

When I first heard of the Emerging Church, it was not good. I was told that it wants to subvert the preaching of the Gospel and a true worship of God with trendy options, activism, and in style gatherings ministering to felt needs. I am a not a fan of that. At the same time, I am very frustrated with the traditional Conservative Church. The frustration does not stem from its orthodoxy; rather, I am at wit's end because I find it going out of its way to confirm what the Left has to say about it.

There are three basic criticisms I have heard from the Left regarding the traditional Conservative Church. First, this church is an institution of indoctrination to facilitate contentment with the status quo and compliance with the demands of wealth and power. This can be shown in two ways. The first way is that the conservative Church, for the most part, whitewashes American history along with America's use of the military and Capitalism. If it does not praise them as being exceptional, then it refrains from listing the necessary specifics of sinful policies, exploitation, and military interventions.

Second, the traditional Conservative Church has been preaching a gospel of "me." They have reduced the gospel call on people's lives to the question, "Do you know where you are going when you die?" And almost any other question or issue is squelched and deemed divisive because, in the Church, there are a variety of opinions. Such a focus has led many Conservative Christians to wear their crosses rather than to bear them. That is because since we are saved by grace alone, there is no need to bear one's cross. Rather, we are taught to enjoy life and be righteously selfish. And all of that is promoted when the only question Christians ask themselves is what happens to ME in the afterlife.

Finally, the traditional Conservative Church creates a culture of fear. And this fear is used to direct its followers to circle the wagons to avoid any exposure from the wild heathens from the Left. One fellow Conservative Christian told me that he doesn't even read nonChristian authors because he wants to avoid the eventual humanistic worldview of the author. It is as if the traditional Conservative Church is tragically fulfilling what Martin Luther King said about the West in saying that it has "everything to teach" but nothing to learn. The arrogance of such a position is both implicit and in your face. Of course there is a reason for all of this. It is to prevent nonChristians from gaining credibility. Because once a nonChristian source becomes an accepted authority, whatever else they have to say, especially anything that could contradict what Christian writers have said, could be too easily believed.

In his article, Five Streams Of The Emerging Church ( Emerging Church ), Scot McKnight presents five themes of the Emerging Church that acts as streams feeding a lake. These five streams consists of: Prophetic, Postmodern, Praxis-oriented, Post-evangelical, and Political. One can summarize the movement as saying this is a Christian, Post-modern engagement with the world. Here, we need to explain Post-modern a bit. Post-modernism is a denial of the use of absolute truth, whether that truth comes from Modernity's Science or Pre-modern's faith, to conquer and colonize others. Here, absolute truth can be regarded as collateral damage as mankind's history of violently domination was targeted. And while Conservative Christians complain about the collateral damage, they overlook and under-appreciate the rejection killing and subjugating others.

From the beginning, McKnight wants to emphasize that he has his own criticisms of the movement to which he belongs. In addition, McKnight wants to distinguish the Emerging Church, which is a broad, widespread movement, from the Emergent Church, which is a specific group that is located in the U.S. and the U.K. and revolves around certain leaders.

The first of the five themes is the Prophetic. This immediately reminded me of Cornel West's article, The Crisis In Contemporary American Religion, where West complains that, regardless of the religion, it is has lost its prophetic voice in America.  To West, being prophetic means to have a clear vision or direction and to have an adequate understanding of morals and their place in America. My experience in the Conservative Church tells me that the only morals worth preaching are personal morals especially governing one's sexual behaviors. However, the Conservative Church places the violence of both poverty and military action as being outside their concern.

What McKnight is referring to when mentioning the Emerging Church's prophetic theme is how those in the movement speak. To be prophetic is to be provocative in one's speech. In addition, orthodoxy is being reexamined here. The Emerging Church is no longer content with the old view of beliefs, it is telling us that we need to be in the world in a different way. According to McKnight, the Emerging Church emphasizes mercy. However, he then cites Brian McLaren, from the Emergent Church, in saying that Jesus would not hang with the traditional Church. The merit of this statement lies in the fact that Jesus did not often associate positively with the rich and powerful of his day. In fact, in His parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus identified with the invisible people of the world (Matthew 25:31-46).

Here we must note how the traditional Conservative Church has failed. For even when it provides for the immediate physical needs of the those in need, it never challenges the system that puts so many in need. This kind of challenge is the charge that Martin Luther King put before us (Declaration of Independence). Of course this is an anathema to those who have been bought out by wealth and power, by the traditional self-exalting view of America.

McKnight notes that part of this prophetic voice is that it can be abrasive and loud. Of course this only gives those who are content a reason for ignoring what is said.

The next theme McKnight discusses is Post-modernism. Though his description of Post-modernism is a bit lacking, his assertion that Christians can embrace parts of it could not be more right. Of course, such a charge challenges traditional Christians and their adherence to American Exceptionalism. The parts of Post-modernism anyone who claims to follow the Suffering Servant must accept is a rejection of any claim of one group to rule over another.

On the other hand, McKnight points out the fatal flaw of Post-modernism: moral relativity. Certainly moral superiority must be rejected. Unfortunately Post-modernism takes that to mean that no set of morals can be viewed as superior to another set rather than no person can claim to be morally superior to another. In addition, McKnight reports that the limits of propositional truth come to the forefront. This is a necessary discussion because an over-reliance on propositional truth does more than to make truthful statements prominent; it makes the God and Gospel we describe finite and less personal.

So far, we have introduced the Emerging Church and two of its five major themes. We will finish describing McKnight's description of the Emerging Church next week.