THE EMERGENT
Andy Crouch is more gracious than I in his analysis of the "emerging church". One of the best quotes in his Christianity Today article is from Robert Webber, commenting on the Emergent Convention (I think it describes the whole movement conversation) -- "They claim to be rejecting the last 30 years of evangelicalism -- and they're repeating the last 30 years of evangelicalism."

I'm not saying that there isn't anything vital or reforming in the "emerging church." There are pockets of freshness and life. But there is also A LOT in there that makes it look like the Jesus Movement all over again -- except with more tattoos, streaked hair, special effects, and affluence. Whether there has been a postmodern cultural shift remains to be seen. But even if there has been, the church isn't going to address it through a new pop-culture fad.

Perhaps I'm so cynical about this because I had such high hopes when some of the first pomo oriented churches started to form. I'm just disappointed that on a whole they've become so much like the rest of us. I can live with that. I don't expect the church to be perfect. But I wish they'd quit talking as though they were the new and improved operating system designed to drive the church of the future. That's what's so scary. Some of them believe thier own hype.