A few days ago I wrote that I would post something about the emerging church. As I struggled to write such an article, I found one from Christianity Today, that does a wonderful job expressing some of the issues surrounding the emerging church.

It is a good and, in my opinion, fair article. If you are wondering what the emerging or Emergent church is all about, this is a good place to start. The link is located here.

There is an interview on http://www.umportal.org with Rob Bell about his book Velvet Elvis. Bell is an important man to watch in the church’s struggle to reach the next generation.

The best introduction to Rob’s approach is to listen to some of his sermons. Each week they are posted on his church’s website at Mars Hill. However, make sure to keep an open mind. He approaches faith from a different angle than most traditional Christians, yet able to be faithful to orthodox Christianity. I encourage you to check out some of the teachings and then take time to read the book.

Is there a difference between being emergent and being missional? I believe there is. One can be missional without being emergent, but one cannot be emergent without being missional. Confused? I hope not. Here is a very brief and basic view of what it means to be missional.
Being missional comes from the heart. It means that we understand our calling of God is really a sending from God. Jesus, in John 20:21 says “As the father has sent me, so I send you.”

This is an incredible verse…especially if you take time to look through the book of John to see how Jesus viewed his “sentness.” Jesus saw his actions and his words as coming from God. Jesus had an awareness that his whole life was to be an agent and instrument of God’s kingdom.

Then we come to this verse in John. Jesus is saying, “Just as God has sent me into this world, I am sending you.” Yet, many of us would have to confess that neither we, nor our churches, reflect this “sendness.” We operate from a “Come grow with us” mentality. We believe our job is to attract people to our buildings and our programs. Yet, Jesus’ command to us was one of going…

The heart of being missional is a deep understanding that God has sent you. Into the community and world in which you live. Really, it doesn’t matter if you are emergent or not. What matters is that you have heard your calling….which is also your sending.

Hopefully in a few days I can address being emergent.