All Over The Map

The subject line, "All Over the Map" is a phrase some may not be familiar with, but is probably pretty self-explanatory. It means to cover a lot area, to be rather broad. In light of today's theological climate within Christianity, I'm all over the map.

I am:
emergent - Open to change and God wanting to do a new thing. This doesn't mean that God no longer operates within "traditional church"...but, with that being said, the "traditional church" way has hindered Him to a great degree by putting Him in a box and making Him predictable. God is stable and the same yesterday, today and forever, but He is anything BUT predictable.

missional - The belief that all Christians (not just "professional missionaries & clergy") should be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. For too long the "traditional church" has been the "pastor's church". This is a result of a mindset that comes from a person being paid to do something. This idea is that, if they get paid to do it, they must be better at doing it...this is not only logically wrong, but Scripturally wrong. I have a friend who is an incredible business man. Very successful and unafraid to try new ventures. He has no formal training or schooling whatsoever. Training is not a bad thing, but it is not the only thing.

evangelical - A rather broad definition is: a Christian theological view emphasizing personal faith and the authority of the Bible. This is by no means an exaustive definition because then you need to look at "what is personal faith?" and "how encompassing is the authority of the Bible?" My personal view on these two criterion is probably even MORE stringent than most who consider themselves evangelical.

As with any labels, they don't nearly say enough, yet at the same time, they can say too much. This depends on the knowledge of the person using or hearing these terms. For instance, there is a man who comes into our bookstore who seems to think that the "emergent church" will be the downfall of Christianity. I couldn't disagree more. Greater movements with armed soldiers have tried and failed miserably. There are those who label themselves "emergent", (who, quite honestly need to rethink why they even bother with Christianity anyway) who seek to change the Biblical model for being a follower of Jesus for what they "feel" to be right. This would be a Christianized Relativism...this is NOT a Jesus mindset...sorry if this offends you.

I give these perspectives and use the labels to give some of you an idea of where I am. I actually wear no nametag, no label other than I am a follower of Jesus. The apostle Paul warned about wearing a label. He mentions "Apollos-ism" and "Cephas-ites" and "Paul-ists" and points to Jesus as the eraser of these labels...Jesus Christ ALONE is our leader. No pope, prelate, priest or pastor other than Him...period.

So, in looking at how I am "all over the map", I find that I am in Christ's territory; I am well within the borders of His Kingdom, where all roads lead to Him. If I were outside His Country, there are roads that appear to lead to the same place, but they are detours and, sometimes outright wrong roads that lead to hell. The Bible tells us that there are ways that seem right to a person but they lead to destruction.

So...emergents, missional folks, evangelicals...measure what you believe and what you do by the only source we have...the Bible. As far as what you currently believe, I would encourage you to...

Think about it.