![\"Cho\"](\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/uploads\/QI\/F7\/QIF78ccHuupqupL49572Ng\/Cho.jpg\")
Cho said the movement\u2019s \u201cmessy attempt to contextualize the gospel\u201d was a tension that always must be lived. \u201cI love tension,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s exhausting, but I think tension can be a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\nCHICAGO, IL (February 2, 2007) \u2013 Living the gospel will always be messy, and any attempt to make it \u201cunmessy takes it farther from the gospel,\u201d Eugene Cho told a packed forum in Nyvall Hall at North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) last Thursday.
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\nCho, who serves as pastor of Quest Covenant Church in Seattle, Washington, and Ray Aldred, a pastor in Canada and member of the Swan River Cree Nation, responded to questions about the emergent movement (EM) during a forum that was open to undergraduates at North Park University as well as students at the seminary. They spent much of the time addressing what they describe as misconceptions about emergents.<\/p>\n
Cho said the movement\u2019s \u201cmessy attempt to contextualize the gospel\u201d was a tension that always must be lived. \u201cI love tension,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s exhausting, but I think tension can be a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pastors disagreed with critics who have argued the movement dismisses the idea of \u201cpropositional truth,\u201d or that which can be defined. Aldred said there is \u201ca realignment of propositional truth\u201d among emergents who consider it secondary \u2013 but essential \u2013 to the community\u2019s experience with \u201cthe gospel story.\u201d Propositional truth is best discerned through the entire narrative of scripture, rather than the other way around, he explained.<\/p>\n
The different approach does not lead to a breakdown of biblical understanding, Aldred said. \u201cIf someone wanted to change the name of Jesus to Buddha, even a little kid would say that\u2019s not the same story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything must point to Jesus,\u201d Cho said. \u201cEverything must point to the triune God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aldred added that he critiques each of the services at his church by asking these questions: Have they heard about Jesus and at least one of the stories? Does what we do declare the particularity of Jesus?<\/p>\n
How EM members focus on that particularity will vary greatly because the movement is broad, Cho said. That breadth is one of the reasons \u201cwe\u2019re nervous about labels,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
The pastors also countered the idea that emergents dismiss tradition as a source of understanding the gospel. \u201cI have never heard any of the hundreds of emergent pastors say they wanted to banish tradition,\u201d Cho said.<\/p>\n
He added that emergents are more intent than previous generations on learning from the entire \u201cglobal tradition\u201d rather than those that have suffered from being enfolded by European and American culture.<\/p>\n
The church must continue to be innovative, but informed by the best tradition, Cho said. \u201cThe church is more beautiful as a result of a synthesis of innovation and tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cho said he honors the approach to living the gospel differently than do members of the EM, declaring, \u201cPraise the Lord there are different churches and there are different methodologies.\u201d All Christians must be missional, however, he argued.<\/p>\n
Questioned as to whether the EM missional approach hasn\u2019t already simply become reactive – or guided – by culture, Cho responded, \u201cThe church can be reactive and pro-active. It has to be both.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the church is to be both, however, it must know how to relate to the people around it, the pastors said. \u201cWhat we really have lost is the art of conversation,\u201d Cho explained. \u201cWe don\u2019t know how to have a normal conversation with the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cho added, \u201cYou have to be aware of the rhythm and pulse of the culture to see how Christ is moving in the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aldred acknowledged, however, \u201cThe quest for relevance actually is a temptation. Being relevant is not the point; it\u2019s about communicating heart to heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
The movement has been dismissed as something that will soon pass, but Cho declared,
\n\u201cThe emergent church is no longer a fad.\u201d He said many of the people most involved in promoting emergent ideas have been dealing with the issues for several decades.<\/p>\n
A major weakness of the movement, however, are the people Cho calls \u201cquitters.\u201d Idealism prompts them into ministry, but they are shattered by the messy stuff and then want to disconnect from the church altogether. \u201cI tell them you have to suck it up – that\u2019s the way life is.\u201d<\/p>\n