Over the years I’ve talked with multiple people about Jacob’s Well and the Emergent Church. I’ve never been able to really convey what it is about this place and the thing that moves me the way it does. I couldn’t explain what makes it so different from any other church.
For Christmas Kelly got me a book called An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. Basically its ten or so pages written by various people throughout the Emergent community. What they do is speak about how they experience the community and what being Emergent is in their lives. The people see the community in different ways, one man runs a program in a prison, one woman writes for a parenting magazine, etc. Because the people themselves vary in what they write about, I have found it easier to get an accurate picture of what the Emergent church is in a holistic way that I haven’t before.
In one section, Tim Conder speaks about his experiences from both sides of the division. Although he is a participant in the emergent community, he pastored a non-emergent church. He has a chart that talks about the differences between the current (modern) system of churches and the emergent (post modern) style. It makes a large amount of sense to me because I can think of examples of these that I have experienced personally before. I think it’s a great reference for understanding what makes something postmodern in this context. There are some rather theological terms, and I’ve defined a few of them to help understand their context.
Epistemologies: the nature and understanding of truth
Spiritual formation: Growth and development of the whole person
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Existing/Modern vs. Emergent/Postmodern
Ethics : personal/absolute vs. corporate/contextual
Epistemology: abstract/absolute/transcendant vs. experiential/perceptual/local
Theology: systematic/propositional vs. narrative/missional
Gospel: eternal salvation vs. present reign of God in this world
Mission: defined by personal, spiritual needs vs. defined by God’s redemptive agenda
Biblical Interpretation: propositional/dependent on theological systems vs. contextual/narrative
Leadership: positional/hierarchical vs. relational/egalitarian
Spiritual Formation: linear/cognitive/personal vs. nonlinear/holistic/communal
Basis of Community formation boundaries formed by doctrine/confession vs. boundaries shaped by ethical and missional commitments
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I feel especially drawn to the “biblical interpretation” part. This is the part that I frequently experienced at Jacob’s Well. It’s a different kind of appreciation for the stories I’ve known my whole life, such as one of Tim Keel’s sermon series on Jonah and the whale. Never before have I been able to comprehend what it is I’m supposed to get out of this story. I think this is because it works better in a postmodern context than a modern one.
I also enjoy the experiential nature of epistemology. It is something that makes my spiritual experiences so rich. Absolute truth that is abstract doesn’t strike the cord in my heart that my experiences do. I appreciate that those experiences are recognized as something that creates my personal theology. Its not something that is given to me to take in, rather it is something that I create throughout my life, something that changes. I think this is more reflective of human psychology.
Overall I feel like this books discusses the emergent church and gives me a vocabulary to use when I speak to people about what it means, something I didn’t really have before. I will write further about two terms : the upside down kingdom and relational connection.