Emerging/Emergent Trait 5: Serving with Generosity - Sept 18
Description: This involves more of the idea of hospitality. A kingdom generosity means challenging the consumer culture of exchange. Spiritual experiences are not consumed, nor are they to be marketed. The goal is to change church members from consumers to participants. No more drive-through one hour spirituality.
Social service and activism work against this tendency. "The DNA of our spirituality is that intimacy with God comes only through involvement in society." There are not programs in the church but social service. In one community each fifth Sunday is spent on a community social project. Others reject this, simply engaging in community ministry in their inner city community. The "acts of love" that take place are genuine and unconditional, coming not as photo ops or a publicity promotion. Life is lived in the outside community, a lifestyle of service, living the good news before speaking it. The kingdom is not as much a spiritual kingdom as an alternative kingdom. "Jesus was a politician before he was a preacher or a philosopher." Evangelization is as much demonstration as it is proclamation, showing forth a holistic gospel. Topics such as poverty, sexuality, racism, and the environment are addressed as well as obedience to Christ. Faith based initiatives that have volunteers and the goodwill of communities are valued. Another emphasis is serving Christ in vocations that involve the nitty-gritty issues of urban life.
Evaluation: Once again solid values and goals are present. There is a heavy emphasis on engagement that gets to know and care about people where they are. The only note of concern is the picture of Jesus as a politician. This is overstated. Jesus was a reformer and a creator of a new community who wanted to model something fresh among those who identified with him and his calling. Jesus' social projects were not undertaken for their own interest but to make a statement about the human condition and how to impact it in a positive direction. Much of this type of outreach makes such a statement, but more clearly so when it is not put in political terms but part and parcel with the spiritual care Jesus sought.
Jesus a Politicol figure?
Personally, I think one of my favorite things about the emerging church movement is the recovery of the language of the Kingdom of God as an actual, material reality and realm, not just a spiritual association. I believe in the power and importance of reclaiming Jesus as the King of an actual kingdom that demands actual and not figurative allegiance, especially in the face of the tremendous Nationalism that distorts the Gospel for Christians in the United States. From what I understand the word "sacrement," adopted by early christians stems from Latin "Sacrementum" the oath of allegiance sworn by a Roman soldier to the Ceasar. Proskeneo (Worship) to bow to kneel to kiss, seems to frame worship as a politicol act of allegiance to a different king and signal our alignment with another kingdom that trumps all other allegiences. In a society where Jesus has been pushed to the margins of individualized "religious" or "spiritual" experience, it is time to again use political language to grapple with who the scriptures proclaim he actually is: King. I don't believe it is overstated at all to describe Jesus as a politicol figure. In my opinion, this may be the best and most effective presentation of the Gospel that can be made to a disillusioned emerging generation: "Look, our kingdoms are failing, our policies cannot bring social or spiritual redemption, but here is another King with a real vision for the world predicated upon "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
hospitality vs. church membership
Your descriptions are pithy, brother. Might it be that we would do well to emphasize hospitality rather than church membership? In other words, Christians were to be welcomed wherever other Christians were. There was no turf to protect, either. This would help explain why elders should be devoted to hospitality. As you are aware, the admonitions to hospitality are for all!
generosity
this is a huge issue. giving, generostity, gift economy, givenness. a major characteristic of the emerging church
E/E Blogs
Dr. Bock,
Because you specifically requested comments regarding this series, I would have to say that I was puzzled by your choosing a topic within ecclesiology to discuss in your blog, instead of continuing to discuss topics within the areas of Jesus studies and NT studies. Of course, it's your blog, so you are free to discuss whatever you wish, but it sort of seemed to me an unusual direction to take when your previous entries had tended to relate more to NT and Jesus studies. Those are just my thoughts about it, for whatever they are or aren't worth, since you asked.
dlb - E/E blogs
Greg:
Do not worry the NT and Jesus will continue to be the focus on the blogs, but now and again I will treat topics that also relate to what the NT teaches and what is going on today as I get asked about this (E/E) on a regular basis. Thank you for the feedback.
dlb
E/E Blogs
Dr. Bock:
Thank you for your response.
I don't know much about the E/E movement; however, having made that admission, it strikes me as an attempt to re-invent the church according to postmodern philosophy. I don't think anything significant will result from it, in terms of how church is done. It is simply a fad.
dlb E/E blogs
Greg:
Thank you for the feedback. I suspect there is more than a fad here. There are some emphases that could well be beneficial for the church to think through. I will have a summary blog on this soon.
dlb
dlb - Emergent church
Jill:
Thank you for the feedback. I will have a summary blog soon trying to pull all this together. There are strengths and weaknesses in the movement in my view. However there is much to reflect about. If there were a better balance with content, then the personal and relational emphases could be quite helpful to the church.
dlb
Jesus' Social Projects
Dr. Bock,
You made a comment in your evaluation of this trait ("Serving With Generosity") that "Jesus' social projects were not undertaken for their own interest but to make a statement about the human condition and how to impact it in a positive direction." I was wondering if you could further develop this idea. I was reading Enns evaluation of neo-evangelicalism in The Moody Handbook of Theology, and he had this to say about the role of social responsibility, "With all the emphasis neo-evangelicalism give to social responsibility it is noteworthy that Scripture has very little to say aobut the Christian's social responsibility to unbelievers. Galatians 6:10 is one of the few passages that has application to the issue and then only in a secondary sense" (618). What are we to make of this? Did Enns forget the gospels or does he perhaps view Jesus' "social ministry" as a temporary phenomenon meant to confirm his authority through signs and wonders?
dlb - Jesus' Social Projects
I agree and do not agree with Enns here. "Social responsibility" is not what is being talked about. This is not an abstrat political responsibility. Jesus teaches Christians to be good neighbors and to be concerned for one's neighbor, using the Samaritan as an example. He says the gospels is especially appropriate for the poor and those on the fringe. So this is not political action. On that Enns is correct. But IF Christians do what Jesus calls them to do, then they will be engaged with people who have needs to show God cares for them, just as Jesus himself showed and noted. In that sense I disagree. Being socially engaged is a part of relecting the gospel. In Jesus' ministry, Word and ministry deed go together, reinforcing each other.
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