not offended, skeptical

this is in response to a friend of mine who asked, "what is it about the emerging church that you find offensive?" in fact i don't find it offensive at all; the word i used was "skeptical." i'm reading a book by dan kimball (simply called The Emerging Church) now and a lot of the ideas are very important and good (though the "great point, dan!" quotes from other pastors on every other page are quite annoying). i'm skeptical because people are always having new ideas, but i want to see "fruit that remains." mclaren and other "leaders" of the emerging church say themselves that a lot of their adherents just don't get it and are putting more weight on the novelty of it than the Biblical truths behind it. novelty is fun but that's not "where it's at." i don't want to be inspired by new ideas and viewpoints and methods; i want to be inspired by G-d's Spirit. as far as i'm concerned, anything that is getting closer to the Bible and to loving like Yeshua (Jesus), rather than further away from it, is good. anything getting further away is not good. i think there are evangelicals and "modern churches" that are getting closer to the Word, and there are those who just aren't. same thing goes for the "post-modern" emerging church. same thing goes for messianic judaism. same thing will go for any "movement" that crops up. the biblical tests are simple: 1. we will know them by their fruit, and 2. anyone who does not ackowledge the Lordship of Yeshua is not speaking by the Holy Spirit. apparently a lot of "fundamentalists" are mad at emerging-church types for not being clear enough about the Messiah as the only way to salvation. probably some truly believe He is, and some don't. but those who do believe He is the only way shouldn't ever be afraid of saying that. saying it lovingly, receptively, humbly... but still saying it. so i'm skeptical of anyone who can't outright say something like that. Kimball and others have, and they are cool with me. in spite of my skepticism, a lot of what i have been reading has really challenged me to think of my peers and my world in a more compassionate, more relational, more humble way. as far as i can see, that's good fruit in my own life. as with everything i encounter in my journey, i take this before the L-rd and in prayer and discuss it with my own mentors and leaders. for now i am actually avoiding reading stuff by / about McLaren. he's the guy who is credited with starting this whole "movement" and is probably its most controversial / visible figure. i always try to avoid the "famous" ones, maybe just because of my own post-post-modern leanings.