"This is what the LORD says:  'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.'"  Jeremiah 6:16

I got to travel home on holiday this last week.  For me, I truly consider home to be wherever my wife and boys are, but if you had to make it a geographical location then I might concede that Atlanta would be what most may call my home.

It's fun to go there and visit, but it sure brings back some memories and rattles my sentimentality at times.  Some things and places I recognize, some it takes me a while to recognize - while others are so different that I have to literally imagine the landscape and surroundings to have it make sense.  Sandy Plains road looks so different that I nearly did not recognize the place I grew up playing baseball.  There were so many "markers" on the journey to the baseball field from my youth that were now gone, so it was somewhat disorienting.  Fortunately, I got my bearings.

Another place of great memories was the back of Kincaid elementary school.  Just walking distance from my house, we used to play an infinite number of creative and cost effective games back in the giant back yard of the school.  Home run derby, football, baseball, track and field, and spotlight tag were some of the perennial favorites.  But when I get back to that yard at the school - the yard that is surrounded by acres of woods on three sides - I can't help but think of the war games we used to play.  So, with my kids in tow this past week, I headed for the woods to see if the paths that I used to run were there.  They didn't quite look the same, but they were there.  Some overgrown a little, others slightly hidden - but all still there.  I could actually run those paths and remember where to turn and what came next from my childhood, and it didn't disappoint - though it looked a lot different.  And therein was the lesson for me.

There is a lot of debate [arguing] about a variety of ways that churches choose to operate.  What version of the Bible can one use, what style of music should be played, how many times Communion should be offered, what style of dress is appropriate, should there be a flag in the place of worship, can women serve Communion or pray, etc. ad infinitum.  Most of the debates are secondary issues - not ones that stand at the fore of debate worthy.  We need energy in other places than our navel (where we tend to be gazing most of the time these things are discussed).  And most of these type of issues stem from the idea that whatever has preceded now is what is right - the "ancient paths" so to speak.  "We have always done it that way" is usually the battle cry of the Ancient Path contingent. 

But here is where we miss it.  The Ancient Paths have changed.  Not fundamentally mind you, it is still the same path - it just looks different.  Sometimes it looks the same - untouched by time.  Other times, it might take a moment to recognize but, alas, there it is.  While others sometimes require all of our imagination because they look so different.  And I would offer that this is not a bad thing - it is good.  God made a changing world.  God made a changing humanity.  And the Creator God will always be, by nature, creative - so that means that the paths we take to accomplish His purposes will look different even though our feet are walking on the same ground of those who preceded us.  It is not about trampling them, it is about walking in, or near, their footsteps.  Interestingly, it is the same thing that was done by the previous generation to the generation that preceded them. 

My prayer is that the forms of the paths, whatever they look like, won't be the primary issue.  The issue is whether or not we stay faithful to the ancient path itself.  Jesus is Lord - period.  The Church is to exist for the mission of every man, woman, and child hearing, seeing, and living the good news of Christ - period.  God's Word is alive - period.  Jesus is the only means of salvation for humanity - period. 

There are more to be sure, but let's try to stay on this path.  It may look different as we travel down it and explain it to others, but, alas, there it is.

"Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long."  Psalm 25:4-5

We are living in a "Post" age where everything seems to lack definition.

Many have labeled the United States as Post-modern, Post-Christian, Post-Conservative, Post-Evangelical, Post-Liberal, Post-moral, or Post-Madonna (ok, so I made this last one up, but seriously, shouldn't we in this country be beyond listening to her at this point........).  My brother laughs at all of this stuff because he hears me getting called post-modern, or emergent, from time to time (usually because of my glasses and maybe the way I dress and/or communicate).  So, he just tells people that I am actually Post-world (that, in itself, is stinkin' hilarious.......I love a parody of the ridiculous).

One of the problems with anything "post" is that it lacks definition.  So we have people that have noticed that we are beyond (post) modernism in a general sense.  Great.  So what does that mean?  Can't tell 'ya.

I understand the inability to define a mindset/worldview when it is still forming.  I think there are some things that can be understood about what is termed post-modernity, but how it all plays out and how the church will be shaped by it are yet to be seen in any real way.  To complicate things, the nomenclature of "emergent" or "emerging" is used of any churches that seem to fit the post-modern worldview (whatever it really is, since it still has not been completely defined).  In some ways this stuff is not helping at all.  For instance, there is some skepticism regarding those who label themselves "emergent" and who question the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement, and the veracity of the Scripture.  I think we should be skeptical about these movements because they defy a 2,000 year old lineage of orthodoxy in the church.  These aren't matters of form or methodology, they are matters of core conviction.

That said, I think there is some good that has, dare I say it, "emerged" from all of this.  Let me see if I can name a few things that the emerging post-modern conversation has done for the good of the church:

1.  It has offered a much needed corrective in our arrogance toward the Scriptures.  The Word of God is inspired and inerrant, our theology is not.  I think there are some things that we can bet our life on in the Scripture (and should), but there are other things that simply are not quite as bulletproof (like eschatology for instance).  Good, godly people see some of these other items with a different view - it doesn't make them our enemy........it should make us dialogue to really seek the Spirit's leadership on the nature of the truth (which assumes, rightly I believe, that there is such a thing as objective truth).

2.  It has pierced a hole in denominational walls.  I don't think that the emerging, post-modern conversation has been solely responsible for this movement that is "post" denominational (this has been developing for some time now, with credit going to the charasmatic streams of faith and even some of the seeker movement toward this end).  What I think the post-modern, emergent churches bring to the superceding of denominationalism is that they are looking at a general worldview that effects everyone.  Thus, every church needs to pay attention if the landscape of thinking is shifting in a demonstrable way.

3.  It is calling the church to examine carefully the definition and role of the church.  This is a huge contribution to the body of Christ, because although it seems that every generation has its own way of understanding the nature of the church, the post-modern, emerging conversation is engaging theology at a more intimate level to answer this question than their pragmatic theology predecessors.

Ok, there are some thoughts as a beginning.

I am so Post-blogging.