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Emergentism Theory: Christian Participation


Emerging  Christ flanked by Saints
Christ's Message Transmitted to the World

It is my perception that today there is a broad cultural taboo associated with bringing overtly Christian philosophies into the formal vision and mission formulating process and as a precursor to the organizational decision making process.


My personal observations seem to agree with Miller (2012) who explains that “prior to modernism, the predominant worldview of the West, the overarching story, assumed a transcendent, infinite, personal God who existed before all else… the consensus of this worldview began crumbling in Europe and England during the Age of Enlightenment” (pp. 24-25). There are many other worldviews besides the monistic theism advocated by Miller, and many of them are heavily involved in a process of trying to influence today’s modern (or post-modern) culture. Yet it appears that at a fundamental level Christians have removed themselves from a serious cultural engagement.


For over 2000 years the Bible has been an organizing source of information that has had profound impacts on culture and society, “There is a consistency between reality and worldview, and thus between empirical and metaphysical. Because of this, science and technology, a moral philosophy for economics, civil society, and a comprehensive philosophy for education are all possible, waiting to be discovered by man” (Miller, 2012, p. 103). In light of this perspective, it seems reasonable the a Christian business leader, or a Christian leader in any other field of endeavor, would want to understand more clearly what the Bible says in an effort to discern God’s will for the decisions he or she was about to make.


There is (and ought to be) fierce competition in the realm of cultural worldviews. Christians believe that all truth flows from a single source in Jesus Christ. The goal is not propaganda and cultural hegemony; it is a call for a recognizing and participating in the contest of ideas. The goal should be a pursuit of deep truth, rather than a shallow pursuit for power.


References


Miller, D. (2012). Discipling Nations. YWAM Publishing. Seattle Washington.


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