NW Women Leaders Inadvertently Reveal Transformational Secret

If the Christian church is into keeping secrets, then the women at the NW Emerging Women’s Leadership Conference, Convergence let a cat out of the bag in a big way at the end of January. I have written about this conference already within the contents of this blog and it is not my intent to belabor the point however, I find myself unable to leave that weekend. I had an epiphany as I was driving home from the chiropractor this last week. I tend to have lucid moments as I stave off migraines.

As my mind was dodging all over the place trying to occupy itself so that it was not focusing on the pain of the headache, suddenly the lucidity came. It occurred to me that during the weekend at Convergence the women had inadvently revealed the secret to discipleship and transforming a life for Christ. (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone.)

A couple of years ago, I had read an interesting book by Alice P. Mathews entitled Preaching That Speaks to Women. Please understand that I am oversimplifying one of the premises in the book but simply stated the science in the book showed that women learn best by a combination of teaching that speaks to their life and relationship with other women. Probably the word most often used for relationship is mentoring but that word is so often misconstrued that I don’t like to use it. The way that it was described in Mathews book was women modeling what it was like to be women in real and genuine situations in life and that can only be done if you are involved in relationship with those women.

This relationship involves a sharing of life experience. A vulnerability and an honesty to share when we haven’t always handled things correctly or that we aren’t handling things correctly right now and just don’t care that we aren’t. To say that we are fed up with the status quo and just plain angry or moved to tears because we can’t handle the sadness anymore. This relationship means rejoicing when another woman pushes through and gains victory over her circumstances and then coming to terms with our own jealousy because it isn’t us.

What I experienced at Convergence was this very thing. It was a place of being who you were at the moment and a challenge to move beyond it by sisters who knew the pain and who cared enough to look you in the eye and encourage you to push on to reach your potential.

The secret they revealed was that teaching Scripture is not enough. Being a friend is not enough. You would think that as a church we would know this, but we don’t. The combination of relevant teaching and relationship that comes from shared experience is however transformational and it is this combination that will set the world on fire for Christ.

Generalities Drive Me Mad – Jason Carlson’s diatribe against the Emergent Church

“Men are more apt to be mistaken in their generalizations than in their particular observations.”  So said Niccolo Machiavelli and after reading an article by Jason Carlson on the emergent  church, I have to say that Machiavelli is still ’spot on.’  A friend recommended an article to me that appeared near a blurb about Carlson’s DVD by the name of My Journey In and Out of the Emerging Church.  The promotion for the DVD went on to call the emergent church “a new dangerous movement” that is “sweeping though the Christian church in America and around the world.” It went on to say that

“Jason will explain what he learned, witnessed and experienced during his time in the Emerging church. Are you currently active in church ministry? Are you a believer concerned about the future of the church? Do you have a son or daughter attending one of the strange new churches? If so you must view this timely and biblically based session on the Emergent church.”

Sounds like something dangerous is brewing, doesn’t it? I mean, I don’t want my daughter attending a ’strange’ new church.   So I decided to try and find something written by him online to see what was so dangerous about this movement.  It didn’t take me long to locate his article of almost the same name My Journey Into and Out of the Emeging(sic) Church.

Carlson begins the article friendly enough.  After all, he came from the movement, maintains friendships within the movement, and they can all agree to disagree.  He calls himself a ”friendly critic of Emergent.”  I have to tell you though, the reasons that he cites for withdrawing from the movement had me feeling anything but friendly.

In fact, his reasons made me a bit angry.  I was angry because he was maligning the emergent conversation by making sweeping generalities that are blatantly false.  Can you find some adherents within the emergent church for which some of these would accurately reflect their viewpoints or actions? Probably.  Largely however, Carlson has misstated the emergent church’s theology and motive.

I attended a conference this last weekend that included a good number of women who are in leadership within the emerging church and none of what Mr. Carlson stated in his article fit the paradigms that these women were operating under.  Mr. Carlson argued from his experience.  Let me argue from mine.

For instance, he states that “lack of a proper appreciation for biblical authority over and against personal experience or revelation.”  This is not true.  What the women that I gathered with this last weekend do have is a proper appreciation for my having the freedom to choose to believe differently.  This allows for real fellowship among believers because we are not getting caught up in doctrinal differences.  With non-believers, it allows the non-believer the grace to be able to have an open and honest discussion without fear of being beaten over the head with the Bible.

He also said the emergent church openly questions “the relevance of key historical biblical doctrines such as the Trinity.”  Having spent the last weekend with this fabulous group of (horrors!) emerging women leaders, none of the ladies whom I had come in contact with were questioning any such thing.  It wasn’t an issue for them.   What they did allow for, however, was the fact that we would grapple with these issues for all time until Christ returns because we cannot truly comprehend them.  We have enough from the Word to understand that they are true but that we cannot understand ‘how’ they are true.

Jason Carlson said the emergents have “an unbridled cynicism towards conservative evangelicalism and fundamentalism.”  If it is true, could it be because of warrant-less attacks such as this?  However, again, the tone of this last weekend was not one of cynicism but of “how can we work together with the traditional church to build the kingdom.”

He states that there is “little or no talk of evangelism or saving lost souls” among them.  The ladies that I spent time with last weekend saw social action as an opportunity to earn the right to tell others of Christ.  It was the action that led to the question, “Why do you do this?” and gave them the opportunity to share about a relationship with Christ.

And the final  point that I will spend time on, that the emergents believe in “a salvation by osmosis mentality, where if you hangout with us long enough you’re in.”  Again, not true!  A recognition that there is a great number of people who now need to belong to a community before they will believe the truth that they see being lived out in the lives of those around them is quite a different thing than believing that if you hang out enough with us you are in.

I could take any of the points that Mr. Carlson raises in his article and do the very same with them – disagree!  I have no problem doing so because he paints the emerging church with such a wide brush and in such harsh tones that it is not hard to see where his error occurs.  He isn’t arguing from Scriptural grounds.  He is lumping anything that does not fit his tightly held worldview into the label of ‘emergent.’  That can not be done accurately.  Mr. Carlson might want to follow Machiavelli’s advice and stick to particulars instead of sweeping with such broad strokes. 

Free the Slaves

On February 23rd, 2007 the movie Amazing Grace will begin airing in theatres across the United States. This movie is produced by Bristol Bay Productions, the same company that brought us the Academy Award winning film Ray. From what I have seen of the promotional materials, it will be a thought-provoking film. Indeed, it has already generated discussion as it is much more than a movie that details the historical facts of the beloved hymn bearing the same name. This movie tells the tale of John Newton and William Wilberforce and the fight against slavery in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s and, as I said, it does something more. This movie is redemptive in the fact that it also draws attention to the plight of an estimated 27 million modern day slaves.
Imagine that. In this day of technological progress and education there are an estimated 27 million slaves still being mistreated and taken advantage of throughout the modern world and this includes within the confines of the United States.
In conjunction with the release of the film Amazing Grace, a campaign to abolish modern day slavery and allow children and adults around the world to live in freedom has been launched. The hope of the campaign is to motivate students and communities to speak out against modern day slavery.
I am no expert on this subject and I will be honest. Before seeing the promotional material on this film, this issue had not even been on my radar. However, I have been doing some research since and I believe that some action on my part is required by the Lord. Having said that, I also believe that I must not forget the billions on this earth who are held in the spiritual bondage of slavery. While the physical bonds of slavery are dire circumstances and I would not wish them on any one, those who die in spiritual bondage will live in that way eternally with no hope and be separated from God forever.
I will do what God calls me to do in working within the cause against modern day slavery because it is right to do so. Those held within slavery should be given the chance to experience freedom and to experience mercy, love, and grace. Even more so, I have been given the responsibility to be an ambassador of Christ to those who are spiritually in bondage to sin and who have no hope besides Jesus to find freedom. They too need to experience grace, mercy and love.