Dear Emergent, were we ever friends?

For a Tall Skinny Kiwi, Andrew Jones seems to make quite the noise.

The past few days the web has been a flutter with his announcement that he is leaving/ending the conversation with Emergent. Plenty have been speculating the end of Emergent and proselytizing...er...prophesying it's end.

For some, Emergent was nothing more than some liberal hippies who love gays. For others, like myself, it was a narrative and a language for some of the things I was wrestiling through. Though I don't know if Emergent and I were "friends", I would have readily stated that I found myself associating more closely with their critique of the Evangelical Church and the emphasis on mission then the Christendom that I knew at that time.

At the beginning I found myself somewhat mystified at what Emergent really was. I found that the mega-phones of those opposing it often shouted inaccurate information. I found the replies of those defending often didn't help. Personal study and interest clarified my understanding, but for those less committed to figuring it out (or less compulsive as I) it is unclear how anyone could really make sense of it all.

Is it Driscoll vs Mclaren, Paggit and Bell or Tony Jones vs The Virgin Birth or the Reformers vs the rest of us?

And maybe that was some of the problem.

Maybe most people just never understood what Emergent was about. People were disappointed with it, miffed by it, but most likely never really understood what was going on in the first place.

With some rather notable people "leaving" the conversation/ending the friendship, there are some moments of reflections for me with the movement:

1. In my opinion the obvious lack of women highlighted in the movement proved to unnerve me at times. Granted, I am sure many woman were and still are engaged with Emergent, but I unfortunately didn't hear their voices that often.
2. There were a lot of American, white, North American men involved with Emergent on many fronts. I can't see how that would engage a "global movement" but I need not digress there.
3. As I have stated before, I never saw Emergent being something that was to take over the world, or even stay here long term. Perhaps the break up with Emergent for some, could lead to new relationships much stronger and more Kingdom minded then their previous love interest. In the words of Semisonic "Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end" Perhaps this could be Emergent's new anthem.
   

Whether Emergent and I stay Facebook Friends or not, is yet to be unseen. It is another chapter in the interesting post-modern Christianity that we find ourselves fumbling through. And whether you liked them or loathed them, Emergent has given many great years, great debates and great missions to the church, for which I will forever be grateful.

♫"So, gather up your jackets and move into the exits, I hope you have found a friend. Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end."♫