"Emerging" Thoughts

I picked up a book while we were in Kansas City on account of I had a little time to do some light reading. "Why We're Not Emergent...By Two Guys Who Should Be." I expected it to be a book about the positive virtues of attending a "traditional" church. Not so. Turns out the "Emerging" church is more than sofas in the worship center, rock music during service, and a coffee shop in the hall. The movement these gentlemen are critiquing is less form and more substance. Seems there is a movement of people out there who are reaching a great number of people, but may be comprimising the gospel in order to do so. I've been quite critical of the book itself as I've read, on account of not knowing a great amount regarding the movement beforehand I don't think a critique is a good way to indoctrinate myself to it. At least insofar that I don't feel comfortable feeling I have all the facts, obviously only those that support the thesis of this book. Having said that...if what they say is true we must all be very careful not to forgoe any part of the gospel in an effort to win someone to it. There seems to be a sect popping up that is tearing down the fundamentals of the Bible, saying it needs to be "reworked" for our generation. Not so. Jesus hung with the sinners, and loved them anyway. Never, though, did He lead us to believe they had not sinned. He just didn't care. If the Emerging church is teaching that we dont' even know if God thinks we've sinned (which this book suggests) then they have removed any need for the cross. I held fast throughout the book, and the authors validated for me, that there are many churches out there that are hip, comfortable adn progressive, and are preaching the Bible. These are the churches I want to be in. The ones that reach out and not in, the ones that honestly don't care what you've done, not because they don't think it might have been wrong, but because it isn't theirs to care about. They let God do the loving and Jesus do the mending. This is the church I want belong to.