Sometimes I really get why people just outright dismiss the idea of an emerging theology. It’s hard to embrace what isn’t immediately present.
Over the past five years I have been taking a look at my own theology, specifically the theology that I grew up with. My approach was based on the idea that if what I believed were true, it would remain. And if it were a house of cards, it would fall. I think this journey really began in college but was much more in earnest over this last half decade.
And in retrospect, the last five years have been hard. I’ve engaged in more reading, dialog and questioning than I care to admit. Everything was on the table. Nothing was sacred. In many ways the journey felt like walking off a cliff at times. A certain amount of dying had to take place. But now in hindsight, I wouldn’t trade these last five years for anything. By testing my faith, working through it, and really fighting for it, I now hold it as my own. It’s not someone else’s faith. It’s mine.
As I look back at the process, I realize that the emerging theology process requires opening the hand of what we hold onto so dearly. My first dialogs created so much tension. I processed so many times the idea that I was falling down a slippery slope. And yet, now I find my faith more robust than ever. I didn’t die. In putting my faith in Jesus to sustain me, I believe I came out the other side more at peace. So I understand why someone who doesn’t think like me gets concerned for me. I’ve been in that persons shoes. But I realize they haven’t been in mine.
Throughout this process, I have looked at virtually the entire spectrum of reformed theology. From my perspective, the problem stems from our historical understanding of the Garden and the nature of the problem. As we rethink the the nature of the problem, our understanding of the solutions (specifically the cross) will radically change. I believe that in the next ten years, much of the emerging approach to theology will take form and begin to reshape our understanding of Christianity. The last 10 years from my perspective has been a small group who has been willing to tread that harsh ground.
Trust me when I say it will answer so many of the questions regarding original sin, atonement, the cross, judgment, and ecclesiology. To use a pun, it’s truly emerging.
