Thursday, December 12, 2002

Like I Said Read Coop's Blog

Robert Webber has a new book out called Young Evangelicals. I've not read a lot of Webber, mostly articles, but though I like what he says most of the time, I feel like he is just catching up with what has already been said. Jordon Cooper did an email interview with Webber that is worth the read. I may have to read this new book. Maybe Webber has caught up and raced ahead.

I'll share one question and answer here. Go to Coop's for the rest.

1) If I am a leader of pragmatic evangelical church who came from a pragmatic evangelical seminary who is now faced with what appears to be a very incompatible world, what advice for me? Where do I turn next?

I think you have to look at this issue from an immediate and then a long-term perspective. The pragmatic churches have become institutionalized - with some exceptions. They responded to the sixties and seventies, created a culture-driven church and don’t get that the world has changed again. Pragmatics, being fixed, have little room for those who are shaped by the postmodern revolution. A clash is emerging. The younger evangelicals will not have a voice in the pragmatic, fixed mentality. Stay there and your spirit will die (there are some exceptions, pray for discernment). Many pragmatic churches, like old shopping malls are dying. Very few people under 30 are in pragmatic churches. The handwriting is on the wall. Leave. Do a start up church. Be a tentmaker. Build communities. Small groups. Neighborhood churches. Be willing to let your life die for Jesus as you break with the market driven, culture shaped, numbers oriented, Wall-Mart-something-for-everyone church. Be an Abraham and take a risk. God will show up and lead the way.

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