Book Review of The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier (Part 1--The Author)

As long-term Diner patrons know, the "emerging church" has been an area of interest for me for quite a while. My fascination with how generations interact within the Church began in my Youth for Christ days, continued through seminary studies and been maintained as I've been fortunate to work in the same church for over a decade. I've been reading books on this topic consistently for a number of years now...

...so much so that the very mention of the topic can give me tired-head. It's the same-old back and forth with straw-men and ad hominem stuff from every side. From my vantage point of being a proud, card-carrying GenXer it seems that once was a fruitful discussion has devolved into a defensive pigeonholing that squelches dialogue.

But I got early word that the new book from Tony Jones (scroll down for his bio) entitled The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier was a significant contribution to any works on this "movement." So, I picked it up not long after the retail release.

So, let me say up front that if you Google Tony, you'll likely find that the author has people that love him passionately and rave about him on blogs and web sites and all that jazz. You'll also find folks who declare him a heretic and want him burned at the stake. There's not a lot of middle ground as far as I can tell.

Maybe it's my punk rock sensitivities, but that's usually how I know I'll be endeared to someone. See, some folks who stood on the outside of the punk thing in the U.S. in the 80's immediately associated it with violence and chaos and anarchy. Those of us who got into it saw it as a movement that was about something (even if that something was of little importance to yourself) and a stark contrast to the musical stuff that was out there. We looked past the dive clubs and poor sound boards and dumb jocks who wanted to start fights and saw that some bands were expressing our angst. Later in the late 90's I saw the same things about the "rave" subculture.

So, let me state up front that after reading this book that I find the author likeable and knowledgable. He's very intelligent and outspoken. Not that he'd care what I think, but I'm of the opinion he's a faithful follower of Christ and certainly deserves a hearing. If somebody like Joel Olsteen shows up at our "family" reunions and we view him as the uncle who is the worst-case-scenario sterotype of one who sells used cars, I think we've got room in the family for the "flannel wearing coffeehouse misanthrope" (thank you writers of Grosse Pointe Blank) in the corner pointing out our flaws, trying to use his "inside voice" and failing...even if it makes us uncomfortable.

In fact, let me do you one better: Much like Jane Goodall lived with the chimps and gorillas and then wrote with respectability (and with significant controversy) about their habits and conditions, that's what Tony Jones does for The Kingdom. He's likely been to more churches and studied this up-and-coming generation in the church more than anyone else going today, and he's earned a hearing from those in leadership positions in the Church.

In sum, Tony Jones, as best I can discern, loves Christ, loves his wife & children and is trying to serve. I'd like to hang out in coffee shops with him.

More on his work over the next few days...but I wanted those of you who take the time to Google him where I stand with him. Apparently, folks in our Tribe are polarized by his work--and I'm not sure from reading this book exactly why.