Guarantee, they'll be running conferences on multi-ethinic churches within 2 years. :-)
Todd H
· 4 years ago
Well... yes, we will get everything Willow Creek foisted on us, maybe including a new "how to be multi-ethnic" workbook, but good for Hybels for having the guts to admit a mistake. There are probably plenty of others not yet willing to say something like that.
Marlin
· 4 years ago
Interesting quote and great analysis. I always get frustrated with people who have made it one way and then say from their mighty position: it should all have been done different. If they would have done different, maybe they won't be talking to me. So, thanks for the post.
blorge
· 4 years ago
Mark, I think you're being a little harsh in saying "The problem is, the example and experiences they'll be offering will be mostly worthless." Even if you were using hyperbole. For better or worse, they 'set the standard' that massive numbers of people in Evangelicalism look up to. I'm nervous about giving that much "power" to one small group, but at least Hybels and others are willing to publically repent of erroneous thought.
Missio Dei didn't get everything perfect in the beginning. We're still learning and growing so we should allow others to do so as well.
Van S
· 4 years ago
I guess I wasn't clear enough. My point is that their experiences will be worthless because no one else can mirror their process. In other words, the way they arrive at at multiethnicity will be fundamentally unduplicateable. I am glad they are moving in the right direction. Where they come from doesn't destroy the good they can do now. However, it is difficult to take them seriously as a guide in this area, since they made the change after amassing great resources and clout, and they made the change in such a way that only mega-churches can duplicate their process.
So, my statement of their example being worthless is in regards to their contribution to church systems implementation, not in regards to their example being one worthy of emulation.
pat k
· 4 years ago
Very cool to hear Hybels saying this. I'll be the first to admit that I don't have the multi-ethnic thing figured out, and I agree that the way Willow Creek does it will be different than will work for us, but it's nice to hear him say it.
will
· 4 years ago
"the example and experiences they'll be offering will be mostly worthless" - wow, dude, that's perhaps the most arrogant thing I have read today.
I wonder if one of the reasons people think that the emerging church is nothing more than a group of men pissed off about the failures of evangelicalism and the church growth movement is because sometimes that is all we are. One of the lessons I am constantly having to learn is that I have no idea where God is at work. That I am part of work of God in this age, but perhaps not the only part.
Van S
· 4 years ago
Will, please read my clarification. By the way, I don't consider myself emergent. I am pretty dang evangelical.
All Comments
Guarantee, they'll be running conferences on multi-ethinic churches within 2 years. :-)
I think you're being a little harsh in saying "The problem is, the example and experiences they'll be offering will be mostly worthless." Even if you were using hyperbole. For better or worse, they 'set the standard' that massive numbers of people in Evangelicalism look up to. I'm nervous about giving that much "power" to one small group, but at least Hybels and others are willing to publically repent of erroneous thought.
Missio Dei didn't get everything perfect in the beginning. We're still learning and growing so we should allow others to do so as well.
So, my statement of their example being worthless is in regards to their contribution to church systems implementation, not in regards to their example being one worthy of emulation.
I wonder if one of the reasons people think that the emerging church is nothing more than a group of men pissed off about the failures of evangelicalism and the church growth movement is because sometimes that is all we are. One of the lessons I am constantly having to learn is that I have no idea where God is at work. That I am part of work of God in this age, but perhaps not the only part.