Link: willzhead: A Response to Bill Easum’s Thoughts on the Emerging Church
This industrial cycle is one that Easum stands at the end of, and one that was largely driven by a scientific epistemological approach to ecclesiology. This epistemology affected the way Christians conceptualized being a follower of Jesus and greatly influenced the kind of congregations we created. Thus, theological orthodoxy became accedence to a set of propositionally constructed truths, as opposed to adherence to belief statements. And, as proof that “form follows function,” a kind of methodological orthodoxy crept in as well, enabling an ongoing conversation about which model is right. Thus was born the need within the Church for firms whose sole purpose is to help churches connect with the right model and grow, with growth generally being measured in economic and consumer terms as more: more people, more buildings, more giving, more small groups, etc.
Good post from Will Samson. I submit that you may agree or disagree with his assessment of Easum’s assessment, but I think it is a good engagement with the core issues at hand in the shifts taking place in the church.
