Baptist Press has just released an opinion piece by Ed Stetzer on the emerging movement, "Understanding the emerging church". Stetzer assists us all in clarifying the emerging movement by dividing it into three types:

1) Relevants
2) Reconstructionists
3) Revisionists

Relevants want to communicate the gospel to today's culture in an understandable way. Reconstructionists also hold to the gospel, but question and reconstruct church. Revisionists question and revise both the church and the gospel. Stetzer's response to these three groups is worth quoting:

To be in this conversation, we need to think biblically and critically. We should journey and partner with the “relevants,” seeking to make the Gospel understandable in emerging culture. We can and should enter into dialogue with reconstructionists -- learning, discussing and applying together what Scripture teaches about church.

But, we can and must speak prophetically to revisionists that, yes, we know the current system is not impacting the culture as it should -- but the change we need is more Bible, more maturity, more discernment and more missional engagement, not an abandonment of the teachings of scripture about church, theology and practice. Every group that left these basics has ended up walking away from the faith and then, in a great twist of irony, is soon seen as irrelevant to the world they tried to reach.

I wholeheartedly agree, and I appreciate Stetzer's insightful article.

(Originally posted at the A-Team Blog: http://ateam.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/1/7/1630319.html )