The following is a continuation of a study on a particular movement. Please click here to go to the first article in this study. We seen in this study that the Emergent Church has opened their hearts up to be influenced by the unbelievers without even checking things with the Bible. In doing so, they have avoided evangelism all together. They are resistant to defining Christianity by the Bible and almost hate theology or doctrine. If this is true, then what kind of a movement are they? Is their motivation truly Christian?
Just in the articles that they write about themselves in their own beginners guide they begin to reveal their motives. In their writings they jump to making comments like, “about the situation in Iraq and the war that had preceded it…the unilateralist approach is a revolutionary one. It believes that change is there to be forced in, and to hell with anyone who stands in the way. You’re going to get democracy, whether you voted for it or not. [Oddly enough, do you remember how gleeful the Iraqis where when they got their fingers inked to show that they had voted?] On the other hand, the interdependent approach is evolutionary. It believes that change can only happen with the full cooperation of all the people concerned, regardless of their status or power” (1). They also seem to have a strange draw to communism and a dislike for democracy. In regarding the question “how does change occur?”, Kester Brewen says, “over the past forty years or so, the answer to that question has itself been changing. Perhaps it was the double attrition of two world wars, or the growing sense of disenchantment with Soviet communism, but gradually, people have begun to see that revolution does not bring effective change. It appears to: it is quick, it is often violent, it often changes the flag, overthrows the powerful and installs new government, but it rarely brings about real transformation for the people on the ground. Instead, people are seeing that perhaps change is better effected through evolution. Evolutionary change is slower, it is often happening under the surface, below the radar of the powerful. But it changes the core of people, changes the heart, changes the very fabric of a society and slowly, slowly leaves the powers that be washed up and redundant” (1). They also seem to like Marxism in how positively they refer to it. Peter Rollins said, “in the same way that Marxism helped liberation theology to find a voice so deconstruction (which is very cynical) will help revolutionize Western Christianity” (2).
This is just the top of the iceberg. One of the major leaders of the Emergent Church is Brian McLaren. Just google “Brian McLaren Emergent Church” and you will see that he is a leader in the movement. Google his name with politics and see what comes up. Click here (http://trippfuller.com/?p=295) for a direct link for some of his writings. I challenge you, find the Scripture that he uses for his views. Google his name with Jim Wallis and you will find Jim Wallis as a close ally. Google Jim Wallis with Emergent Church and you will see that he is also a leader within the Emergent Church. Google Jim Wallis with Politics and you will get the same result as Brian McLaren. They are very political. In fact you will find that they both lead an organization called Sojourners, which is subtitled faith, politics, culture. They are very much political. In fact they have a description about themselves that gives their policy on a large number of political issues, including: capital punishment, gay marriage, war, immigration, economy, and more. Read the scriptures that they give to support their views. They do not prove their view is biblical. For instance, they oppose capital punishment and use Job 33:4 as a reason. It says, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” They must not have read “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 21:12). Again, the verses they quote do not provide sufficient justification for their policy.
Oddly enough these same people say that, “God is not a Republican or a Democrat,” yet they only seem to advocate Democrat policies and endorse Democrat candidates (3). If you simply google Brian McLaren endorses Obama and Jim Wallis endorses Obama and you will see where they put their support. Read what they right, they are almost completely on the democrats side. They do so with rarely using Scripture to support their views and when they do you should read the Scriptures they use. They have nothing to do with their views. We are supposed to seek the Bible to discover what is true and what is right or wrong. Yet Brain McLaren, Jim Wallis, and most in the Emergent Church do not. They warn others not to take sides in politics and yet they do. What they really mean and don’t say is, “don’t be a Republican or a conservative, be a Democrat.” Be careful with this movement and warn others. The Emergent Church is an unbiblical movement and a political movement that is counter to biblical teaching.
1. Resource 1
2. Resource 2
3. Resource 3
