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What is the submerging influence?
September 12, 2007 |
Posted by michaelp · Filed Under Submerging Posts
Emerge: “To rise or come forth from or as if from water or other liquid.”
Submerge: “To put or sink below the surface of water or any other enveloping medium.”
The Submerging Influence: (sub-emerging) The product of the sub-emerging theological conversation which recognizes the validity of both the postmodern and modern ethos. Subermergers find themselves in an awkward situation in an ocean of despair holding on to two anchors at once. The modern anchor sinks because of its reliance on absolute certainty in all things. The postmodern anchor sinks because of its lack of certainty about anything. Sub-emergers hope to keep both anchors from setting so that theological progression can continue, all the while trying to keep themselves from going down with either (which is not easy).
Find out if you are a submerger . . .
Scale: A total of 100 points needed.
You don’t take yourself to seriously. (10)
You do take Christ very seriously. (10)
When you are around modernists, you become postmodern. (5)
When you are around postmodernists, you become modern. (5)
You have been called a flaming liberal and a bible thumping conservative. (10)
You love to hate the emerging church. (5)
You hate to love the emerging church. (5)
You have not got everything figured out. (5)
(But you do have a lot figured out). (5)
You complain about how much complaining there is in the church. (5)
You divide with people because they are too divisive. (5)
Your ecclesiology is the weakest part of your theology which makes it the strongest. (5)
You have both John Piper and Scott Mcknight in your RSS feed . . . and you like them both! (10)
You fight for people’s right to drink alcohol, smoke, and curse even though you don’t do so yourself. (10)
You fight for people’s right to drink alcohol, smoke, and curse and you do the same yourself (5)
You believe that the essentials of Christianity have to do with the person and work of Jesus Christ. (10)
You are willing to disagree with some non-essential teachings at your church. (5)
But you also recognize that, since they are non-essential, you need not make a big fuss about it. (5)
You have been though The Theology Program. (10)
Your least favorite theological subjects are eschatology (end times) and creation/evolution because everyone thinks they have all the details of the past and future figured out when you cannot even figure out the details of the present. (5)
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I think that list is great, and I think I qualify! BUT, is such a person a “submerger” or a sub-emerger”?
It is both!! It is most certainly a play on the word emerging.
If you have anything to add to the list, let me know.
Since you are liking couplets, how about:
You are willing to disagree with some non-essential teachings at your church.
But you also recognize that, since they are non-essential, you need not make a big fuss about it.
That is awesome. I will have to add it.
Submerger…mmm, I think I qualify for this
I got a 95. Can I get 5 grace points? Does that make me almost a rebel:-)?
Lisa, you know what? I have been meaning to tell you that you are a flaming liberal. Did that push you up?
Wait, you can just enroll in TTP and that will put you up above the mark!
Extra credit…I like it!
I got 135 points! Yeah, I must be submerged entirely!
Sharon D.
Some thoughts on the submerging concept. I am trying to get the visual here, and you can tell me if this helps or is not at all what you are getting at.
The water is the Christian faith, with all of its complexity and richness. The “emerger” is one who has come out of the water, thinking he has “broken free”, but really is just not availing himself of the full richness of the experience. Down below the surface is a beautiful, but complex and varied, coral reef.
If we stay submerged, we are still fully engaged in the diversity, the richness and the complexity, but it is also a struggle to avoid either sinking down to the depths (bad) or just rising above the surface and missing out on the full beauty (bad). Thus the tug of both modernism and post-modernism which have to be properly balanced and healthy to stay engaged but not drug down.
But the double-anchor imagery is a bit difficult. If you are holding two anchors while submerged, you are most likely going down. I think either one of the sides, the post-modern, must be a bouy or life-preserver, which seems to provide the safe answer, but really just removes one from the fullness of truth. But modernism is the anchor which can help help keep us grounded and solid in what IS true, but if not “bouyed” in some way, can drag us down into scientific fundamentalism.
By holding BOTH the bouy/lifepreserver AND the anchor, we are able to remain SUBmerged, down among the richness and complexity of the coral reef where things are sometimes difficult, and there is tension, and we have to struggle to stay there, but the payoff is the beauty, richness and greater truth.
Hey, I just saw an Imax on the coral reef, so . . .
Anyway, just some ponderings.
Oh, and of course, a program like TTP is just the thing to provide you with help in keeping both in balance!
Wonderful analogy. Problem is some of us are more buoyant than others.
Yeah, those items tugging in different directions will need to constantly change weight and pressure as we go along!
Some of us tend more toward modernism and its fundamentalism/legalism and need to lighten that anchor and allow the buoyancy of some post-modern flexibility and openness keep us from sinking into rigidity and error in that direction.
Others of us tend more toward post-modernism and the relativism that can come with it, and need to allow the anchor to hold us down a bit more firmly in certain areas.
As always Vance, you bring balance, so to speak.
Like a good song, we can interpret it many ways and should be careful about revealing our hand. (In truth, I don’t have the concept worked out very well either. I just liked the name and the anchors seemed cool).
Here is the way that I see it:
We are those who see the value in the modern ship of influence and the postmodernship of influence. Yet we believe that both can only be effective if they don’t “anchor” their beliefs where they are at. Each wants to set anchor. We are on the ship “Semper Reformanda.” We have sent sailors into the water to submerge and bring the two anchors back to surface.