Emerging Church: Defined?

This was posted, today, on that forum I originally found out about the "Emerging Church" through... And, it's PERFECT! I've been trying to find a way to put into words what I like about the EC... "John in the VW Bus" said it perfect:

If someone at church says, "I want to be more like Jesus", we say "Amen". If a friend says, "I'm learning more about God every day", we listen and praise God. If we read a post here that says, "I'm a disciple of Jesus, and he's teaching me", we post these [:)] . If we see a bumper sticker that says, "Be patient; God is not finished with me yet", we smile and thank God for the reminder that He isn't finished with us either.

On an individual basis, we're all for growing, learning, changing, becoming; we hold tight the idea that we know and understand more than yesterday, but less than tomorrow. We accept that we don't yet have everything exactly right.

God is the potter and we are the clay. He is molding us, smoothing out the rough parts, and chipping away that which does not look like Jesus. Could He be doing the same with us corporately? Is it possible that His church also has rough parts, and God is chipping away what doesn't belong? Again, I think most of us accept the idea that God is not finished with His church yet, either.

Could this also be said of our doctrine?

I'm not saying that the Truth changes, that anything goes, or that there is not pure doctrine that we can understand. I'm not saying that the Bible doesn't have pure Truth, or that one interpretation is as good as another, or that it's all just a great big mystery. But maybe we don't understand perfectly. Maybe we understand better today than yesterday, but not as good as tomorrow. Doctrine doesn't change, but our understanding of it does, and should; we call it "growing in Christ". God's word doesn't change, but we understand it better each and every day. God doesn't change, but our belief and faith and knowledge and love for Him SHOULD be growing and changing and making us more like Jesus.


Think of the "painting" on the wall not as the faith or doctrine itself (if it were, it would be entirely heretical and blasphemous to change what God has painted). Think of the "painting" instead as our attempt to portray the faith, as we understand it. Maybe we didn't get every detail right, not yet anyway; so we keep at it. That "repainting" is making our doctrine more like God's. Could this be a way of looking at "repainting" the faith? Perhaps "repainting" refers not to changes in God's doctrine, but growth in our understanding of it.

We accept the individual responsibility to grow. How about as the church?

Thank you, "John". Awesome! I love it! And, I agree wholeheartedly. :o)