The Emperor's New Clothes and Butt nakedness....!

"But the Emperor has nothing at all on!" said a little child at the edge of the crowd. "He's naked. The man in the crown is naked." ."Listen to the voice of innocence!" What the child said was recognized as the wisdom of innocence.

Soon it ran through the crowd faster than the shuttle of a loom. The fabric of truth was woven and became the snapping flag of reality. "The child is right. The Emperor has nothing at all on!" someone cried out.

Ever read THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES by Han Christian Anderson.

Emerging church for the post-modern era seems so mono-cultural but that is where its success will lie. It is a community for the like-minded, the similar, and the cloned – yes all firing out their little natty brands and tags but in terms of missio dei - firing blanks. There will be those that will not fit in. Those that we are sacramentally called to minister to. Those not like you and me. Those who wouldn’t give a monkey’s about emerging anything because they are fragmented, on the edge, broken people.

But it isn’t really about them is it? It’s about the emperor who buy’s it hook line and sinker and it is about the clever 'spin' of the tailor! Maybe not paid in gold but kudos and recognition is sufficient currency.

Sorry to bang on about this. I still believe that the emerging debate is a dynamic and necessary one, but I think those that feel that they have emerged dilute the dialogue. The debate is missing something, to me at the moment it all seems a little bit too butt naked!

Where’s the fight for true justice, liberty, hope and salvation?

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