"And you know what? It's working - because this Emergent leaven is everywhere in Southern Baptist life today and almost no one in SBC leadership and authority that I know of is resisting it - at least not publicly.
In fact, by and large, today's church welcomes it and celebrates it because it puts butts in the seats and makes participants feel culturally relevant, spiritually savvy and tingly all over - today's measure of success." Paul Proctor
Why does the SBC so readily accept a movement that is so clearly unbiblical? The Emerging Church Movement is being accepted by many and ignored by many others. What I see happening in many churches today is while they may not accept the movement as a whole they certainly accept the heart of it. Why do we fail to be watchful over the purity of the church? The truth is we quit being concerned with the purity of the church many moons ago. We have found a measure for what is a living church that has allowed leaven in our doors. The measure is warm bottoms in cold pews. Thats it!
However, what we end up with is warm bottoms filling cold pews attached to cold hearts. This "whatever it takes to get them in the door" mentality has driven the church to ungodly compromise. We will lure the world into the church with worldly measures and then expect them to want to stay because of biblical principles. The EC takes it one step farther and lures them in the "church" (I use that word loosely with them) and intends to keep them by worldly measures. The average church, though it may not accept the EC as a whole, has taken on some aspects of the movement.
They set aside any amount of modest and reverent dress standards to make people feel at home. I have news for them. We are not at home at church. We come to church to give God our sacrifice of worship. We come to church to focus on God not on how comfortable we are. Worship of God is not an experience for us. It is about giving ourselves to God without expectation of receiving anything in return. When we expect to get then worship has turned away from God and now turned toward ourselves. We cannot truly worship and expect to receive something for ourselves. Worship isn't about getting, its' about giving.
Much of the logic behind such ideas are based on the notion that if we get them in the doors they can now be convicted and receive Jesus. This idea is flawed. I am not saying it is always wrong but it fails to consider a couple of things. First, when we look at the rich young ruler what we see is that he believed in God and wanted salvation. The element missing in his heart was that he was unwilling to submit to God. In stark contrast to him was Zacheus. I find it interesting that he immediately had a heart for reconciliation and benevolence. He didn't need to sit through a training class, he just had a heart for it. Because he was willing to submit to God.
Many men believe in Christ, many men want salvation, but the same men refuse to submit to God. And while belief and desire is in their heart they will spend eternity separated form God because they refuse to submit. Many preachers have the idea that those in hell will be tortured by sorrow and regret in eternal flames. But Scripture doesn't bear this out. The word of God says their will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The gnashing doesn't indicate pain and suffering from flames, but it indicates anger. Fist in your face anger. It indicates a rebellious man shaking his fist at God saying "Who are you to put me here! Just who do you think you are to punish me!". What is worse than sorrow and regret is to be turned over to your own sinful nature separated from God. That is a most dreadful hell.
Many people in this world want salvation, and believe in God but want to come to God on their own terms. And this is the heart of the EC movement. Coming to God on mans own terms. And the average church is saying to a lost world who wants that very thing "Come on in, we will facilitate your rebellion!". Zacheus was willing to come to God on God's terms. The rich young ruler wasn't.
This accepted rebellion in the church is based on a false measure of a living church. In the SBC we count baptisms. When baptisms are nill we are willing to question the viability of the church. But so long as the numbers are up then it must be reaching people for Christ. It mus be being blessed by God. God must be moving. To quote Dr. David Allen "Heaven help us to know the difference between a crowd and a church!". The average church today is building up crowds but failing to make any attempt to build the church. We fill our churches with many rich young rulers. Along the way we pick up a few Zacheus' but in the process we have corrupted the church. We discuss issues within the church such as the divorce rate which matches that of the world. The truth is we have let the world into the church and thedivorce rate figure belongs to the crowd we have let in and not the actual God fearing church members. Just because someone says they are a "Christian" doesn't make it so.
We have so much infighting over control of the church, carpet, paint, and many things not related directly to the worship of God. We laugh and joke about such incidents and claim it is just human nature. Well it isn't funny. And it isn't godly. And it isn't happening among true church members. It is only happening among the crowd in the church walls. The convention calls for one million to be saved and does well to count numbers. But where is the call for the purity of the church? Where is the call for God honoring and reverent worship? There is absolutely none. And the SBC should hang its head in shame.
So, just where is the EC taking the convention? It is taking it towards a crowd collecting mentality and away from a pure, reverent, God worshiping church. And so long as there are a remnant of preachers willing to say "This is wrong and does not honor God" there will be a battle. Which side will you be on? The crowds or the church?
