http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=2153#comments
In it he addresses the question, "what fear drives the Liberal churches, the Evangelical churches, and the Emergent churches?"(because "what people fear the most tells you most about them. ")His answers:
Liberal churches most fear intolerance.
Evangelical churches most fear change.
And this is what he says about emergents:
"So, what is the emerging movement afraid of? This might surprise you, but I think I’ve got this one nailed. What will surprise you is that it is not theology — Liberal or Evangelical. The emerging movement, no matter how many times I say this it doesn’t seem to convince many, is not a movement rooted in a set of doctrines. It is theological, but not the way either Liberalism or Evangelicalism are. It’s biggest fear is centralization of power and authority. Look, Emergent Village set off nothing short of a firestorm when it decided to centralize and form a National Coordinator (Tony Jones). Tony worked hard to convince folks they weren’t giving away the whole house when they simply tried to coordinate the efforts of emerging Christians around the globe by forming a clearinghouse. No, what the emerging movement fears is institutions, bureaucracy, control, and centralizing authority in a local pastor, a local presbytery, or a denomination. One of our oddities — and believe me it bugs me at times — is that many of us in the emerging movement draw deeply from some of the most hierarchical, centralized and institutionalized churches in the history of the Church: the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. (Not to mention other denominational structures.)"
I think McKnight is right on; but then, I would prefer to cast the question this way: what premoderns fear most is change; what moderns fear most is intolerance, and what postmoderns fear most is authority.
Small wonder that the postmoderns are drawn to Orthodoxy and Catholicism. What we most fear is often what we most need.
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