Emergent Tony Jones Wishes He Still Had Friends
There is an article up, reflecting on the past 10 years of the Emerging Church conversation. It interviews some of the top, lead figures of the movement—Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Jordon Cooper, Scot McKnight, Dan Kimball, and Andrew Jones.
I thought this was an interesting quote from Tony Jones:
It concerns me when leaders who were formerly friends of mine back away from me and from emergent because they find my theology too risky. I think that’s sin, plain and simple. Friendship should trump doctrinal difference, and I’m quite sure that Jesus would agree with me on that. [...]
Just like no political scientist could classify me as a political “conservative” or “liberal” because of my unique mix of views, I think we in the church should be particularly wary of classifying others. Haven’t we learned our lesson after the era of hundreds of denominational labels that so many of us now reject?
Dude—you can’t go around saying homosexuality is okay, and denying inherited sin, and expect to not raise some red flags with Christians, of all people.
Look how “grunge” Tony has gone in his photo, too. He used to look all smiley and happy and nerdy, when he still had his emergent friends. It reminds me of a teenage girl who “goes goth” when things aren’t working out as expected. He’s got this new Ben Affleck “angst” look goin’ on. I kind of like it. Matter of fact, my photo looks kind of nerdy as well, now that I think of it. I need a new photo.
I have to say though, I do agree with Jones, to a degree. We should not allow doctrinal differences impede on fellowship. But on the other hand, we are commanded to defend the sheep from false teachers and wolves, which perhaps Tony Jones has in fact now become.
Time for me to find a photographer…
(HT: Justin Taylor)
My name is Aaron Rathburn. I am a senior in philosophy at Calvin College, and formerly studied at Trinity School of Theology (Wales, UK). I am a husband, and father of two. This site is a collection of musings on theology, culture, and more. 
Yep. Where is the line drawn. Paul spent a lot of time warning (e.g. Acts 20:31, 2 Tim 3:16) people about false doctrine. Some people say that loving someone means accepting their views, but for Christians, there is a line – though I’d agree with his point that we should be wary of just abandoning friendship. There’s definitely a place for questioning, but ultimately if someone abandons their belief in the essential tenets of Scripture, we should make a noise about it, confront them, and if they refuse to accept it, to warn others. (How we know whether we’re right though is a different issue.)
Yeah, absolutely.
Dan, I don’t know if you got the notice or not, but Simon Ravenscroft, Daniel Story and I have started a new co-blogging venture! You can find us over at http://DustAndLight.wordpress.com.