is emergent post-evangelical or something else?

An article posted on Alternet raises a few interesting questions about the nature and purpose of "emergent" Christianity and characterizes it as "post-evangelical." While many of its originators and proponents may have come at it from this approach a decade ago, can we still characterize it this way, or is it something different?

Scot McKnight, Professor of Religious Studies at North Park University, has been studying the phenomenon that is pervasive, but as yet little noticed by the general public.  He calls the change ironic.

This new breed of Christian is a product of Evangelicalism and appears to be carrying on the Evangelical tradition; but serious scholars are asking "Is this a subsection of Evangelicalism or is it something quite different?"

The developing ironic faith takes the believer to a fork in the road. Will the believer abandon the Christian faith altogether or will the believer redefine the meaning of being a Christian?

Many of the emergent groups called "hyphens" that exist within denominations would not characterize themselves as "post-evangelical" since they are constituents inside current denominational structures. Nor can we make any conclusive statement that people who would classify themselves as emergent do so as a reactionary stance to a given theological perspective, namely evangelicalism.

Rather, the tone seems to be geared more to what some might call "post-denominational" or what I would call "meta-denominational" Christianity. In the mid-20th century the ecumenical movement was an attempt to join denominational structures in a spirit of cooperation and tolerance of differences. In some ways this is part of what emergent are trying to do. But there is another level to it. There is also the recognition that while denominational structures are normative for many, they no longer are constitutive of one's theology or worldview. It is a conversation that happens in large part above these social structures.

For those who call themselves emergent within denominations, there is a sort of reflexive behavior now taking place. Once the connective tissues between people in different social structures including denominations have been formed in often an indissoluble bond, what happens to the denominational structures that are still greatly endearing, but no longer representative of what has now "emerged?" This is the point at which I think emergent is now. It is the breaking down of American denominational and social pillars in order to build something on what is totally different soil than what was assumed to be true in the mid-20th century.

Bryan Wilson, in his analysis of sectarianism in 1990, is almost prescient in this regard:

An important facet of a sect's shift towards denominationalism is the steady relinquishment of the pristine rigour of its theology and ideology. As the self-conception of collectivity changes from asserting the uniqueness and indispensability of its truth, and moves towards claiming parity of status with other denominations in a culturally pluralist tradition, so the emphasis on distinctiveness diminishes. Unions are proposed as Christians perceive that, faced with the overwhelming secularity of the wider society, different denominations have much in common. Ecumenism, which churchmen (sic.) tend to see as a response to spiritual forces, may be no more than the reaction of weak organizations to a declining market in which secular agencies compete more effectively for the time, energy, and money of individuals (pp. 119-120).

But rather than a mere capitulation to secular forces, is it possible that emergent Christianity is actually a reaction to the encroachment of many secular forces such as bureaucracy, hierarchies of management, consumerist mentality, denominational walls, as well as the perception that church organizations that have adopted these strategies are not as efficient to meet the demands of a world that has change all around it? Is it possible that emeregent is now a response to the old wineskins called denominations that continually resist new wine? Or is this as Wilson says it is – a new capitulation to the forces of secularity in our culture.

Related posts:

1. us religion: post-secular, more secular, post-christian?
2. emergent christians missed the memo that their movement is dead.