I’m grateful for voices like those of Brian McLaren who are clearly articulating the values of the emerging church. I saw this article about two months ago but just got around to posting it here:

My linear Liar-Lunatic-or-Lord arguments, either-or propositions, and watertight belief system didn’t enhance the credibility of the gospel for my new friend; rather, they made the gospel seem less credible, maybe even a little cheap and shallow.

Oh no, I thought. That way of thinking I encountered in grad school has caught on, and Christianity as I know it is in a heap of trouble.

Since then, I’ve grown less anxious and much more hopeful about the future as I’ve discovered how many opportunities arise along with the challenges of the emerging culture. (Modernity, after all, was no Sunday school picnic for the church.)

The way we traditionally expressed Christianity may be in trouble, but the future may hold new expressions of Christian faith every bit as effective, faithful, meaningful, and world-transforming as those we’ve known so far.

Go read the whole thing.