Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Methodolgy and Theology

Imagine two approaches to the emerging church:

1. A Mark Driscoll quote (paraphrase: quit youth ministry and start your own church) inspired young person decides to leave his unsatisfying modern church to go out and blaze a trail in the emerging generation and start a purely postmodern church, ignoring the modernist society that still dominates the mainstream.

His theology revealed here, is that God values the postmoderns, perhaps even at the expense of the moderns. His methodology revleals a high value placed on the work of God in postmoderns lives, and a low value place on the work of God in modern lives.

2. Another young person stays in his youth/college ministry position in a thoroughly modern style church and attempts to bridge the gap between the generations. This, of course, will have a double negative effect in appearance - A. there will long be frustrations between the two generations as they seek to understand and, hopefully, love and appreciate each other; B. this church will not be "one of the fastest growing church in America" and may even become smaller numerically, because of shallow church goers leaving to find "easier" pastures elsewhere, where all ministry meets my "needs."

His theology reveled here is that he believes that the Biblical method of ministry is to bridge generations and for the faith to be passed down as God makes his appeal to generation after generation. He shows less partiality generationally and vlaue God working in the universal church.


No doubt, you can even read into my writing my own theology, and judge by the method of my writing, where I place my emphasis and value. My methodology, through stories, electronic media, in a somewhat scholarly place for those who love youth...shows my theology through in my value for God's working, value of community and value of the next generation.

I am deathly afraid that method one may be unbiblical!

Not even in a judging way or a condescending way. I am simply finding myself often afraid that the methodologies used do not line up with a Biblical theology. I see methodolgies that look incredibly successful and I do not doubt that God is working...but I wonder if the leaders are leading from a Biblical theology or a pragmatic theology?

Perhaps that is my greates question - whose answer may be my greatest fear.

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