Emerging churches tend to place a high value on community. For the many dictionary enthusiasts, I’ll point out that it is definition 3b I’m using: “Sharing, participation, and fellowship.” According to Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger in their book, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Communities in Postmodern Cultures -
Emerging churches destroy the Christendom idea that church is a place, a meeting or a time. Church is a way of life, a rhythm, a community, a movement.
Emerging Church types recognize that it’s not possible to live a true Christian life apart from sharing life with a group of people who are seeking to live in the way of Jesus. Emerging churches often meet in small groups, not only to have Bible study and prayer, but also to just spend time together in general.
Small groups are not new to the American church scene, and not all emerging churches have them. However, Emerging churches tend to have small groups more often and place more emphasis on them than other churches do, often to the point that it’s in the small groups where “church” really takes place. This demonstrates the trend in some Emerging churches to de-emphasize the importance of the Sunday morning service (the center, if not the sole, event of many churches). This is done in order to focus more on other events throughout the week, such as the previously mentioned small groups and activities that seek to connect the church with the non-believing communities they find themselves in.
Community is not just something that is merely surface level, but it seeks to be authentic, allowing people to be honest and open about themselves and the problems they are facing. In some churches, especially those influenced by prosperity “gospel,” people find this difficult to do. Emerging churches highly value this type of transparency.
This sense of community is not merely important for the sake of the people of the church, but it is also the best witness to the non-believing world. As Lesslie Newbigin put it:
How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it.
“Community is not just something that is merely surface level, but it seeks to be authentic, allowing people to be honest and open about themselves and the problems they are facing. In some churches, especially those influenced by prosperity “gospel,” people find this difficult to do. Emerging churches highly value this type of transparency.”
Jasen, I wonder if you wouldn’t mind explaining exactly what you mean by this. I’m not disagreeing with you, I just want clarification.
If emergent churches have anything going for them that other churches do not, I suppose it would be in the area Jasen talks about this week.
Sure, we know Christian community is not at all a new thing–think monasteries. But, now somehow it seems so optional for many who call themselves believers.
The most introverted person I’ve ever known answered a question on the Myers-Briggs personality test “incorrectly”: Would you rather attend a party with a lot of people or just a few friends? The correct answer for introverts is “just a few friends.” But this guy knew what people who attend large churches know–if you attend a party with a lot of people you can go the whole evening without talking to one person!
I think community (and its sister accountability) is probably the best reason to attend a small emergent church–to have the opportunity–nay, even the expectation–that you must participate, rather than just observe.
“I think community (and its sister accountability) is probably the best reason to attend a small emergent church–to have the opportunity–nay, even the expectation–that you must participate, rather than just observe.”
I agree. I once attended, what I would consider, a very large church. It was so easy to detach, and personality lends itself to that. Certainly, if a person wanted to plug in, they could. There were Sunday school-type groups divided according to age and marital status, etc. And sometimes they had special events for the specific groups. But I only went to the Sunday school thing a couple of times because I thought it was corny. For people like me, smaller groups force accountability.
“smaller groups force accountability.”
Or they just quit attending. Those who are willing to be held accountable will plug in if it’s a big or little church, and those who don’t want to accountable will not participate in big churches and will just leave small emerging-style ones. Accountability can not be “forced.”
“Accountability can not be ‘forced.’”
Yeah, I see what you’re saying, Darius. I didn’t mean that something can force you to be accountable in the literal sense; I just meant it can have the effect of giving you a gentle push, when the environment is such that it facilitates interaction.
Some people have good intentions, but are not encouraged so they fall away. That’s not to say that they have no responsibility in the matter, that is simply to say that it is a two-way street. All have a duty to be of service, but if the leadership makes it easy for people to find their place, it can have a positive effect. Do you see what I’m saying? After all we are laborers together and should bear one another’s burdens, whether or not it is our “job” or not.
I agree that churches should do their best to make it easy to become a part of the community, but I don’t go as far as saying that big churches can’t have community and little churches always have great community. My church has a very good community feeling and though I may only know 15% of the members, those I do know get together regularly and help foster sub-communities within the church.
It’s hard to hide in a little church like a big church, so those who attend a small church are more likely to be held accountable, but only if they are willing to be.
I agree, Darius. My wife, my mother, and I visited a large church this summer when we were on vacation, and it was perhaps the warmest welcome I have ever received anywhere - including the small church I attend. Everyone went out of their way to make us feel at home. In fact, if I lived there, that’s where I’d be going to church - not just because they were nice, but for a number of reasons.
I’m not against big churches. In fact, I think every church should be growing in some way. I just wanted to point out some potential disadvantages to larger church bodies in comparison to smaller ones. I think there are pros and cons with each.
I’m not saying big churches can’t have community, although I do think they often have to try harder than smaller churches to have it.
Chris - I’ll try. What I mean is that in the “Christian bubble” people are sometimes unwilling to mention their struggles (both with sin and with things in general). They sometimes get caught up in playing the role of the good church person.
Although this can happen anywhere, it’s especially a problem in churches influenced by the prosperity gospel, where anything bad in a person’s life (being sick, losing money) can be attributed to a lack of faith. Being “real” is a major value in the emerging church.
Thainamu, you’re going to make it impossible for me to answer personality type questions.
“Chris - I’ll try. What I mean is that in the “Christian bubble” people are sometimes unwilling to mention their struggles (both with sin and with things in general). They sometimes get caught up in playing the role of the good church person.
Although this can happen anywhere, it’s especially a problem in churches influenced by the prosperity gospel, where anything bad in a person’s life (being sick, losing money) can be attributed to a lack of faith. Being “real” is a major value in the emerging church.”
I will concede that your argument is not without merit. However, I don’t think it should reflect negatively on what the Bible clearly teaches about faith and prosperity. Perhaps what has happened is that some have become imbalanced, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Gospel in favor of a pet doctrine.