James MacDonald on Emergent...

Rather than copy his whole message, I'll point you to it and highlight his key points. It's a brief read, worth your time no matter which side you fall on in the debate.

____________________________

Why I’m Not Emerging: A Brief Response to the Emergent Church
By James MacDonald


In case you are wondering why my gratitude for the leaders of the emerging church does not translate into enthusiasm for their current emphasis and direction let me take a few words to explain why I am not emerging.

• Because observing the bad is not a credential for guiding us to the good

• Because God is looking for obedience to revealed truth, not just sincerity

• Because Christ’s is a kingdom of substance, not style

• Because the answer is Jesus, not cultural analysis.
• Because Jesus is the purpose for the party, not the surprise hiding in the closet of respectability

I am thankful for the honest and often accurate critiques of current western Christianity flowing from the emerging church movement. I strongly desire to see them show greater promise in the arena of solutions or at least be more open to analysis from outside their community than they have been to date. (Witness the harsh rejection, rather than careful analysis of D.A. Carson’s book, Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church on many emergent blogs).

___________________________

I listen to James MacDonald on an almost daily basis (980AM KKMS). I really like his preaching, and generally agree with what he is saying. I think he has been fair in his critique, though he has been taken to task for it on a number of Emergent blogs.