The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum The Emerging Church on Nightline

Dave,

I didn't see the Nightline program Friday night but I opened the link to the video you provided. One of the really sad things about the mindset of this pastor who was being interviewed and those who are attracted to the emerging church is that it's an alternative to the true church. Unfortunately it doesn't have any of the marks of a true church. He seems to feel he's meeting people's needs and judging by the comments of his parishioners they feel it meets their needs too. Isn't that nice. He's found out that there is a market out there for religious consumerism if you just give the people what they want. This kind of thinking is catering to our culture rather than changing it according to God's Word. Generation Xers will only be confused by the variety of churches that emerge which have little resemblance or connection to other churches much less a real church.

This pastor made reference to various movements in the church which have been making changes to the church's identity over the years because of modernism and now post-modernism. I think in the video he said that they've been told that they were a threat to the "traditional church." He flatters himself but I'm sure his opinion is based on numbers, peoples comments, the culture, and has nothing to do with what the Scriptures have to say about the church.

The emerging church is concerned with the deconstruction and reconstruction of Protestant Christianity in a postmodern cultural context. Isn't it interesting how Nightline highlights the emerging church movement which is just another example of misguided attempts to satisfy the human need, call it a religious experience, and market it to the consumer?


Wes