My Generation - Emergent

I have been listening to the music from my father's funeral - 60's and 70's rock music. There is much to learn about that generation from the music they produced and became popular. There was rebellion to be sure, but there was also this sense of freedom bursting forth out of the restraints of the given context. As crazy and dangerous as much of it was, it took a certain degree of courage to break free with such force.

It must have been an exciting time to live in the 1960's. They must have felt like they were on the verge of something great - even if they didn't know what it was.

Fast forward to emergent. What is happening in the emerging church mirrors the tone and mood of the 1960's, only within theological realms. However, there is one major difference.

The emerging church that I know realizes that it needs the older generation.

"Don't trust anyone over 30," was the mantra once upon a time. Right now emergent seeks to learn from those over 30 while at the same time not being ruled by them. There is a sense of context for emergent - an ancient-future awareness that informs its theology and helps to hedge against the grand self-absorption of the 60's. Oh yes, there is an exaggerated sense of self-importance that wigles out here and htere and every now and again, but that is not the main thrust.

What I really like about emergent is that it is seeking to follow God in the way that they see Jesus following God. That means service. That means revolution. That means respecting no institution over people. That means fearless challenges to repressive authority. That means spiritual practices. That means religion is servant, not master. That means morality is what I do as opposed to what I can get others not to do. Faith is lived more than spoken.

I want to see the the kingdom of God penetrate each and every denomination, congregation and community in the world. I want to see Jeus have a good name in the world - the Jesus that seemed to obvious to Ghandi. I want to be swept up into a community of people for whom this kind of love is the normal flow of their day. I want invest my time and money into more than bricks and denominational self-preservation. I want to be friends with people who are not like me. I want to learn how to respect cultural differences rather than eliminate cultural barriers.

I want to love like Jesus did.