I came across a short YouTube video clip this afternoon and its contents disturbed me. It’s about The Emergent Church and the values it upholds, summarised in one-liners where a familiar word is displayed, followed by a typical post-modern response.
APOLOGETICS: Orthodox? Heretical? Who cares? Let’s find some ‘common ground’.
CULTURAL AWARENESS: Following Bono to the pub, to the concert, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
HUMILITY: I’m not so arrogant to think I have arrived at the truth about anything. But I’m pretty sure everything you say is not only dead wrong, but really, really stupid too.
INCARNATIONAL LIVING: What would Jesus do? I’m pretty sure He’d do the kind of stuff I think is cool.
MISSIONAL: The new chief end of man: Glorify whatever’s lowbrow and enjoy it forever.
POSTMODERN: It’s our word. Don’t use it. Don’t try to define it. Above all, don’t label us with it. Even if we apply it to ourselves.
RELEVANCE: Tell me what I want to hear or else shut up and go away.
TOLERANCE: Let’s celebrate our differences and diversity even though you are clearly wrong.
After watching the short 1-min clip, my stomach churned. Yes, like I said, it disturbed me. I have read about the Emergent Church before, but it didn’t register quite as strongly. I thought it was just a movement in the West. But this afternoon, it hit me … we are beginning to see these values being upheld in Singapore. Definitely in society – how about the church? From the recent AWARE Saga, we saw how Christians were divided over how some issues were to have been handled; out of which, we discovered the presence of postmodern Christians. I reflected on these points in my posts Made Even More Aware and Post-Modern Christians.
More recently, the Lord gave me the message Flour Power*, in which I shared observations of what might “wild vine” teachings be in the church today. Without realising it, I was actually speaking out against many of the values and teachings of the Emerging Church movement!
So, has the Emergent Church arrived in Singapore? I’m afraid so. We may not recognise it as such given our rather traditional styles of worship, charismatic expressions notwithstanding, but it’s definitely here. I strongly believe churches must be made aware of this phenomenon and purposefully move to be equipped to know how to respond appropriately. Given its deceptive Christian veneer, it will be difficult to identify and counter in certain cases. Our only safeguard is to keep developing a right and personal relationship with Jesus, the True Vine, that we will know how to expose the wild vine.
*The recording of ‘Flour Power’ can be downloaded at Covenant Vision Centre’s Audio Centre. Alternatively, you can listen to the AMKMC version.
