Am I "Emergent"

I had a Pastor from a church which is currently considering me for a job write to me saying that, after reading some of my material, it would seem that I am of "The Emerging Church" movement. He then asked if he were making the correct assumption about me. I thought that it might be helpful to post my response to that question here on my blog in case there are any other potential employers (or casual readers) wondering that very same thing.

Here's my response:

Pastor,

As for your question, you've challenged my thinking with this.

The short answer is simply no. I've never before called myself emergent, nor have I tried to identify myself with anyone who does. It's just not a label that I use for myself.

The long answer would be to say that, of all the labels that we throw around in Christianity, "Emerging" is one that is quite vague to me. Though some of my thoughts and writing about "the organized church" could be seen to be in line with the emerging church folks, I assure you that my comments are not intended to be received as an effort to align myself with a movement of ideology but rather a deep desire to do the very best I can to live into a Christianity which grows, loves, and serves in the most Biblical manner possible. To be frank, I hesitate to ever use the "Emerging" label with myself, as well as others, due to all of the doctrinal pluralism that gets associated with it. But I'm not at all hesitant to spell out my own commitment to the whole of Scripture, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and my calling to serve the church who lives out the teachings of her King.

Grace and Peace