In the comments on my Ultra Contemporary Post, Rachelle writes: It’s interesting to me that the same words keep coming up to describe PoMo/Emerging type services. Well Rachelle, it’s interesting to me that the same words keep coming up to describe PoMo/Emerging ANYTHING – the stuff, the experience, the stories [I mentioned this before in a post on critiquing all of this emerging stuff].
When I’ve been around “emerging”-type people, you tend to hear a great many of the same buzzwords [many coming from my own mouth]: alt.worship, liquid, experiential, infusion, organic, pomo, labyrinth, missional, resonate, authenticity, alternative, McLaren, story, “it’s about the journey,” storytelling, ooze, metanarrative, etc.
So, is it a bad thing? I know it’s a rather humorous thing, and from what I’ve heard, there are some videos at the Emergent Convention that poke a bit of fun at it, which I’m glad to see [it’s important we not take ourselves too seriously…]. But is it something that we should be irritated about? I know when this first hit me, sitting in a room of 20 or so people, and it seemed like everyone had the same story (bad church experience, pissed at the church, and then throw in there McLaren, relevant and missional, and you have an “Emergent” person). Is it bad? Can it be a trap for thinking we’ve arrived at the new, cool, hip thing. Once I get the lingo down, then I’m in – I’m following a new wave of the Spirit…
Yes, I think it can be a trap.
But, can it be something more? Could it be simply a collection of words and phrases that are drawing like-minded people together to, in fact, listen and follow the Spirit’s leading? Not something that you need to “figure out” to be included on the inside, but words that are simply helping people communicate similar experiences…
I know I’m not saying anything profound here, but I think I needed to sit down and write this out. I’ve often got irritated at others (more so, at myself) for just throwing out a few of the “right” terms, reading the “right” books and thinking that I was in tune with what is really going on here with Emergent, with the Holy Spirit – all in our(my) desire to be included, cool and in.
