The Church In The Emerging Culture

I finished reading “The Church in The Emerging Culture” this weekend. The book, edited by Leonard Sweet, is a collection of thoughts on the subject by five Christian speaker-thinker-writers. Len Sweet writes a concise introduction clearly describing four general clearings: the Garden, The Park, The Glen, and the Meadow.

Those in the first clearing (Garden) use only tried-and-true seeds that have been inherited. They do everything they can to retain the purity of the seed stock and to pass on the rituals of planning as they’ve inherited them. We call this the “preserving message/preserving method” clearing.

Like the first, those in the second clearing (Park) use only the seeds that have been passed down from their ancestors, but they exploit new methods of planning the ground. We call this the “preserving message/evolving methods” clearing.

Those in the third clearing (Glen) feel free to fortify the Seed stock and to adapt it to meet the challenges of new environments. But like those in the first, they sow this new seed in traditional furrows and with traditional plows. We call this “evolving message/preserving methods” clearing. Those in the fourth clearing (Meadow) are open to augmenting the seed stock, even using new techniques of cross-fertilization, hybridization, aquaculture, and the like. Plus they use the latest John Deere tractors, combines, and other equipment. We call this “evolving message/evolving methods” clearing.

One of the problems I have with the entire book is when the analogies break down. For instance, a meadow is what occurs naturally, without people taking the effort to plant seed or cross-fertilize plants. What level of control do the “evolving message/evolving methods” group actually have? What level of control do any of the groups have, considering that we can only plant the seed, and whether the plant grows is up to God (as Len points out). The five authors are Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Frederica Mathewes-Green, Brian D. McLaren, and Erwin Raphael McManus. While I respect and was challeneged by all the authors, I found myself resonating the most with Erwin McManus essay, while I appreciated the comments of Brian throughout the book the most.

Has anyone else read this book? What did you think of it?