Emergent Enemies

Emergent has some enemies. Really. Not people who disagree with them (though there are plenty of them) but people who seem to genuinely hate them...in the name of Jesus, of course. (I'd point some out to you, but I don't want to give more attention to people who should be ignored.) These people bother me, or at least they used to. I try my best to ignore them now and read people who don't claim to know it all and who engage in helpful and critical dialogue.

Stanely Hauerwas in The Peaceable Kingdom writes, "Our obligation to witness is an indication that for the Christian people there are no 'barbarians' but only strangers whom we hope to make our friends. We extend hospitality to God's kingdom by inviting the stranger to share our story." Interesting, no? So those people we should ignore, you know, the ones I mentioned earlier, I guess I should hope they become friends of mine, eh? I wonder if they want to be friends with the Emergent crowd?