"Cloverfield" and the Emerging Church
Craig Detweiler, co-director of the Reel Spirituality Institute at Fuller Seminary, compares the horror movie Cloverfield to the emerging church in his recent article “Monsters on the Loose.”
While this may sound like a great lead-in to the usual anti-emerging church scare tactics, Detweiler poses a dramatically different question: “A struggling, insecure church has identified emergent Christians as the new enemy. How a small band of smart, reasonably clean-cut ministers like Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt or Rob Bell could inspire so much fear is a tribute to the mania available on the Internet. To some evangelical watchdogs, public enemy number one has a goatee, an earring, and a dog-eared copy of Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christian. How did this get so far out of hand?”
He concludes, “So much energy has been devoted to discrediting the emergent movement, that it can also be disappointing to discover just how modest and meager their changes are. They may do church in the round. They may sit on sofas rather than pews. They may wear jeans rather than khakis, but basically, the emergent movement is a heartfelt gathering of Christians trying to follow Jesus together. At the end of the day, Cloverfield is just a movie. The emergent movement is just a loose affiliation of churches. Neither is a revolution; they’re more like a romp.”
Agree? Disagree? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
UPDATE: D’oh! I should’ve checked before posting this … Part two of Craig’s article was posted today. Here’s a snippet: “Sure, there will be plenty of junk theology and it will take time to sort out the essential from the popular, but in emergent churches leaders would rather learn by doing ministry than studying it just as film students would rather start making movies rather than sit in a classroom. Despite its faults and limitations, the next generation prefers on the job training. This could be their blind spot or their competitive advantage. ...
“Emergent churches are wired by digital natives. Their leaders were raised on the World Wide Web. They’ve all been to the T.E.D. conference. They are utilizing the latest technologies. But they also have a sense of history. Emergent Christians carry a profound appreciation for ancient Christian faith despite all the handheld shenanigans. Sure, they will have their blind spots, and sometimes their style will be nauseating. You may not be the target market for the emerging church or Cloverfield, but try to enter the audiences’ shoes. Listen up. Don’t fear the future. Sit back, relax and maybe even enjoy the show.”
OK, I’ll say it again … Agree? Disagree? Please share your thoughts in the comments!
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The venom that is spit at Emergent would make you think that Emergent is a great threat to the future of Christianity. Christianity has survived 2,000 years of scandal, and persecution. I don’t think a few authors and thinkers, with some churches that wear jeans, and sit in the round will be the downfall of Christianity.