I like old things. Older men. Antique dishes and jewellery. Quilts. Classics like pearls and linen. If you follow me on facebook, you'll see that my tastes are being mocked and classified as "old lady-ish."
I've been known to wear a broach or two. In my early teens I even had an original wagon wheel decorating my bedroom. Merci, Pepere! I love fancy hats on women. My Christmas tree, when I bother putting one up, is the gaudiest one you'll ever find. Bright and bold and shiny!
Most people prefer the modern. Modern neutrals such as beige and grey to decorate their home and office. The latest fashions. The newest technology. How many people have ditched their perfectly good 36 inch tv's for a flat screen?
Melanie and I were discussing how we tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Tastes aside, there are old things that are new again. Hymns are coming back into fashion. There is a following of young people who have never heard them, and they are unearthing them like hidden treasures! Check out The Hymn Project.
I understand the angst of those who are embracing the emergent church philosophy. Frustrated with a lack of devotion and service, they have perceived the church as pew warmers, listening to the Gospel week after week, and not being moved to action. But to cast aside doctrine and theology as irrelevant makes all who do good deeds equal.
When we make doctrine and theology secondary, Christian faith becomes subject to our own interpretation, instead of Scriptural authority. When works become more important than these Words, we lose balance, and focus.
Oh for a day when churches are so revived that their lip service reaches their heart and hands!
3 comments:
hey michelle,
just wondering, do you think the emergent church has completely thrown out doctrine and theology?
i am not part of the emergent church, but i do think there are some very beautiful things about what they do, and while i think they often question doctrine and theology that has been held by the church for a long time, i don't see them throwing it out. just my personal opinion. wondering if you have any examples of your frustrations. thanks!
hey michelle,
i commented on your blog, but i'll also do it here in case this is the forum where more discussion happens.
do you think the emergent church does cast aside doctrine and theology? i have a much different read on it. i don't see them casting it aside. they do question it, and sometimes to risky and uncomfortable places, but i don't think they throw it out.
there is much beauty in the old ways. the prayers of the desert fathers. practicing the presence of God with brother lawrence. but what i do appreciate about the emergent movement is that they are not willing to sit back and accept things that for to long the church has simply shrugged off as 'the way it's always been.'
i am not a part of the emergent movement by any stretch, so please don't take this as defensive. i am just intrigued by the discussion. do you have any examples of how emergents do this?
Please join me on Facebook, where the discussion about this post is taking place in my notes section. Search for Michelle Porter, from Regina, SK. Looking forward to it!
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