“In things essential, unity; in doubtful, liberty; in all things, charity.” Thomas aKempis

I’ve been following a debate that is raging in the church world. I think I need to stop following it. But then I think it will follow me. You can read some about it here and here and here. There are pros and cons, just as there are in any good debate.

What strikes me about this debate though is the heat that’s coming off the institutional church. The fear. The defensive posturing. And what I can’t believe is some of the real almost hate. For instance when a youth pastor who was associated with the emerging conversation died in a terrible electrical accident, there were some in the institutional church who claimed this was God’s divine judgement on the whole “emergent” movement. That horrified me. I hope those judgements did not cause any hurt to that young man’s family. The only thing I can say is that those statements are going to come back to haunt those people.

I have to say that I think the way the so-called leaders of the emergent movement are handling it all is good. They are trying their very best to maintain the conversation, to keep the lines of communication open and honest. They are doing this despite continuing attacks. I don’t understand the need of the institutional church to attack the emerging folks. Really. I don’t get it. I thought that the God who created the universe had hands big enough for all of us.

But here’s my biggest problem. It would seem that in the midst of this great Institutional vs. Emergent debate it has been forgotten that collectively we are the Bride of Christ. It has been forgotten that collectively, we “are.” Collectively. We are collectively something. We are supposed to be altogether a community of one in Christ. I don’t know quite where else to say this. But I think right now, of her own doing, this Bride is dressed as a harlot in rags. Is it any wonder that the world has no interest in her?