Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Jesus Cropped from the Picture

need to become rooted, but not constrained . They need to be free in Christ, but not crop Jesus, or the devil’s kingdom, from the picture .

They are right to declare an emerging sense of the Holy Spirit’s work in the Church throughout history, but that emergence flows from an objective place , like a tree whose Sacred Roots go deep into the ground and whose branches continue to grow in emerging ways. Emergings who have the wisdom to anchor themselves to these Sacred Roots will be liberated to fully explore their existing commitments. Like Jazz musicians who ground themselves in a basic structure from which to innovate, Emergings attached to Sacred Roots can contextualize within Postmodernity, react against Christendom, follow Jesus and his teachings, worship as producers, and continue their theological conversation. Conclusion Jesus Cropped from the Picture is a story of the unintended consequences of well-meaning Christians desiring to fulfill the Great Commission. The church in America, once so dynamic, creative, and vigorous, is quickly becoming lethargic, lukewarm, and shallow as it blends Christian faith with contemporary marketing principles (syncretism). As a result, the common response is to employ a method to build the church, rather than return to the Church’s Sacred Roots . Identification with these Sacred Roots is not a method. It is not some clever campaign to re-invigorate the church for increased attendance, or to be relevant to contemporary culture. It is a call to go back to something ancient, old, trusted, tried, and true.

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