At the end of Zero Movement, McManus leaves a few things that are “Fuel for Thought”, number 3 is: “ How well does our approach toward worship and evangelism reflect the needs and culture of our unchurched community?”.  But this entire chapter is all about how the Church has declined because we are so concern as to how a Church will meet our needs.  I don’t think that focusing on the unchurched community is the solution to the problem being presented.  There is no call to repentance, no turning from sin, no focusing on God.  By this account the churches main sin is against the community around it and not against God.  We can switch our focus for self to someone else, but we’re still not focusing on God.  Again, I do agree with his assessment of the Church, and I do agree with how he thinks a church should function in the world around us, but the answer is to be found on our knees first, and on the streets second.

I’ve just started to read a book by Erwin McManus called, An Unstoppable Force.  It was leant to me to restore my hope in the Emerging Church, and I weep as it does the exact opposite.  I am only a few sections in and already I am overcome by the lack of God in this book.  I agree with McManus’s diagnosis of the church today, and I can even agree with what we would think that the church should look like or how it should function in society, but my heart breaks at how he determines we are to achieve that end.  The entire first section lacks God’s sovereignty to an alarming degree. 

Is it ok to say that “Pastors have the unique task of leading the people of God to become who they really are.”?  (pg 14) Is it ok to determine what a pastor is supposed to do, or what a church should look like with out reference to the scripture or to God’s glory?  It is as though the author does not believe that God doesn’t know what He is doing with His church; and the failures of the Church in North America come from our lack of ability to change with the society around us.  There is no mention of our lack of faith, our lack of prayer, our lack of passion for God’s glory, a lack of scripture.  No instead there is an overwhelming responsibility placed on the pastors’ shoulders to communicate to the world around us in a way that meets their needs.  Our dying churches are not the result of being “traditional rather than transformational” or of the ‘ritual replacing the radical’.  The numbers in a Church is God’s business, how people react to the gospel is God’s business, living our lives to Glorify God, that’s our business.  I cannot agree with a process for Gods people that does not involve God. 

The last comment I have for today is his mention of worship, “we’ve spent millions of dollars preserving our music and hymnals rather than creating worship that expresses the culture in which we live.” Pg 25.  When did worship start revolving around the people and not around God?  When did it become ok to leave God out of worship as long as it was bringing people through the doors?  If we truly seek to glorify God and worship God with our music, He’ll use it as He wants.