The first worship experience I went to at the Emergent Convention was put on by here.
They describe their community as iconic, apocalyptic, heretical, emerging and failing (for a description, go here). I’m interested in heresy. I’m interested in the truth that can be found in the fields of heresy, on the borders, on the edges. Just as the ultimate Truth (Jesus) was often found in the most unexpected places with the most unacceptable people, so truth will be found in places we would never even think to look.
IKON describes themselves as heretical in the following way:
In addition to this we acknowledge our heretical stance in relation to the larger Christian community. Unlike the terms ‘unbeliever’ and ‘infidel’, which traditionally referred to those from a different religious tradition, a heretic is one who comes from the same tradition but who reads it in a different way. Not only do we acknowledge and celebrate the multiplicity of ways that one can read Christianity, we actively employ these diverse readings in order to help ensure that no single understanding is taken as the only true understanding. By doing this we also endeavour to be a place of refuge for those on the edges, or outside, the traditional church system, yet who desire God. While this can often place us in tension with more established forms of religion, we view this as a creative force that allows for a critical, two-way interaction with the larger church, challenging while being challenged.
Let us strive to live this out. Let us make room for the diversity that exists. Let us look for truth in places we’d never before thought of looking. Let us make room for heresy.