Why We're Not Emergent (by Two Guys Who Should Be)
Moody Publishers, 2008 

[See the site http://www.notemergent.com /]

 Reviewed by Mike Finical

Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck have teamed up to write an excellent book that interacts with and responds to the emergent phenomenon as it is experienced today by many people at a street level. Their book seeks to point out some of the glaring (often theological) deficiencies of the emergent movement, as well as some of the self-refuting tendencies of postmodernism that the emergent church has embraced – again all at a “street level” of interaction.  This book is not about dissecting postmodernism in an abstract theological manner. There are no abstract discussions about the thoughts of Michel Foucault or Ludwig Wittgenstein in this book. But make no mistake; there is plenty of insightful discussion here for the thoughtful Christian who is intrigued by the emergent movement. The main interests of the authors are the “popularizers, practitioners, and pastors of the emerging movement” (p. 23). The authors’ desire is to manifest the teachings and thoughts of the practitioners of the emergent church in their own words – through their sermons, books, podcasts, conferences etc, and then to point out the many dangerous tendencies. The authors seek to answer the following types of questions: How is the emergent church experienced by those attending emerging churches today? What does one see, hear, and experience when one walks into an emergent gathering of say a Brian McLaren, a Rob Bell, a Leonard Sweet, a Doug Pagitt, or some other currently popular guru of the emergent phenomenon? What are some of the main messages conveyed to typically young Christians or seekers in the sermons and books of the emergent movement? The answers to these questions are sometimes hopeful, but most often deeply troubling. 

In the forward to the book, David Wells points out that this book seeks to answer “the central issue of our time … the idea of truth as something that can be known and that does not change” (p. 10). The authors quickly point out the difficulty in “pinning down” emergent speakers who adhere to the “uncertainty principle” of certain and true knowledge. The authors suggest it is often like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall (p. 17). Why is the emergent church so purposefully elusive? Kevin Deyoung states “But when your movement avoids definition and doctrinal boundaries as one of its defining characteristics, it should not be surprising when people start to wonder aloud what you really believe” (p. 24). Rather than become exasperated, the authors often take the tack of humor and indulge in sections of humor/parody themselves via their personal interactions with the movement. The humor of the situations described are quite useful in demonstrating that, in the emergent desire to be “cool” and “with it” and “relevant” and “postmodern,” emergent zeal quickly turns into a farcical parody of itself. In chapter 11, Ted Kluck describes what it is like to be in a class led by Tony Jones: 

…Tony encourages us to “lie on the floor, walk around, dance, or type emails” while he is praying and speaking. One guy with sideburns and a cup of coffee attached to his palm gets up and awkwardly goes to sit in the windowsill in an effort to appease Jones…  “Some of you, if you read my blog, may be surprised that I don’t have horns and a tail,” he [Tony Jones] says of his critics. “But my heretical nature comes out in more subtle ways.” This is another example of a sort of forced “shockingness” I’ve come to expect from some in emergent circles. Throw out a word like “heretic” and see how people react (p. 226). 

Two pages later in the same chapter, Kluck has this to say: “Humility, to Jones, means admitting that ‘we could very well be wrong about all of this.’ Call me old-fashioned, but it doesn’t fill me with hope and warm feelings to hear my pastor (or my overpriced conference speaker) suggest that he may be, and probably is, wrong about all this, as per Jones’s postmodern definition of humility” (p. 228).  It does not surprise us, the reader, to find that the last chapter written by Ted Kluck is entitled “Why I Don’t Want A Cool Pastor.” 

The bulk of the more serious theological discussions in the book are carried out in the chapters written by Kevin Deyoung. In his opening remarks, Deyoung refers to the “emergent world of mystery, journey, and uncertainty – the perfect porridge of not quite fundamentalist, not quite liberal” (p. 14). By the end of the book, many readers will wonder why he used the expression “not quite liberal,” when in fact huge chunks of the emergent world do in fact appear to be quite liberal – in a postmodern context. Deyoung is quick to point out that not all in the emergent world is wrong headed. In fact, there is good indeed taking place in the emergent world. But these authors wanted to focus on what is wrong in the movement. Hence, there is very little mention of the efforts of Dan Kimball and Scot McKnight, although both get mentioned briefly in a somewhat positive light. And they do not, for the purposes of this book, make any attempt to distinguish between the words “emerging” and “emergent.” They use both words interchangeably.  

Kevin Deyoung and Ted Kluck repeatedly make the point throughout the book that it is the horns of a false dilemma to suggest that you have to pick and choose between orthodoxy on the one hand, and reaching today’s culture with the gospel message on the other. And that may be the key error of the emergent movement – the suggestion that defending the faith, once for all delivered to the saints, needs to be tempered with “postmodern humility” in its expression. Because buried in the expression “postmodern humility,” there lies a horrible possibility of destroying the core of the gospel message itself. Even if the postmodern culture in which we live is deeply suspicious of the ability to find absolute truth, or ultimate reality, the gospel message at its core deals with just such truth.  

The authors have been invited to speak as guests on various Christian podcasts and radio broadcasts about their book. In these broadcasts, the authors have talked about their target audience for the book. The authors wanted to reach the mostly younger Christians who are dabbling in the movement, or are curious about the movement, but sense that something is not quite right. They tried to have as friendly a tone as possible in the book and be as charitable with the movement as they could. But they wanted to convey in a friendly way that all is not well in the emergent movement. In the last chapter, the authors brilliantly use the description of the seven churches in the book of Revelation to convey just how important orthodoxy really is. By all means, the authors suggest that you should do what you can to connect and resonate the gospel message with the culture of today. But do so without abandoning the truths of the gospel message. Wise Christians will attempt to do both. The authors have largely succeeded in providing a friendly but firm book that warns of the many pitfalls and shortcomings of the emergent movement.