Title: Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)
Authors: Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck
Publisher: Moody Publishers, 2008; 256 pp. $14.99
Recommendation (4-star scale): 
Just when I thought, “do we really need another book on the emergent church?” I visited another church recently.
It’s not an emergent church. But it’s also not a healthy church.
A 75-minute worship service, and there were no Scripture readings and no public prayers (save for a 30-second benedictory prayer at the end of the service).
Again, the church I attended is not emergent, and I’m quite certain that is not leaning towards emergent philosophy. But the church is symptomatic of the poor condition of many churches on the American scene. And for that reason this book is needed.
This book is needed as information about the extreme movements within the church, but as a warning against the subtle shifts that take place on the way to heresy.
While there may be books that are more technical and precise on this topic (Carson’s Becoming Conversant with the Emergent Church comes to mind), few will be more accessible and readable for the average reader.
Written in two different styles (DeYoung is a pastor, Kluck a writer who has written for publications like ESPN: the Magazine) and alternating chapters, they together address the multiple divergences of the emergent church: a denial of Scriptural authority, an embracing of Jesus that denies the centrality of the cross (call this the “culture-transforming Jesus” as opposed to the “sin-defeating Jesus”), a concern for social issues devoid of gospel proclamation (at least as the good news has been traditionally understood by the orthodox church), a denial of God’s wrath and the reality of hell, and an unwillingness to state, “thus says the Lord…” on any substantive issues.
What motivated them to write this book? Kluck answers:
As a Christian man, specifically a husband and father, I need truth. I need to worship a God who makes demands on my character, with consequences. I need to know that Christianity is about more than me just “reaching my untapped potential” or “finding the God inside me.” I need to know that I worship a Christ who died, bodily, and rose from the dead. Literally. I need to know that decisions can (and should) be made based on Scripture and not just experience. These things that give me peace in a world of maybe. [p. 28]
Not every community will have churches that openly acknowledge that they are emergent. But every church will feel the tug and seduction of emergent “success.” And every church member will feel the pressure of condescending sneers from people who mistake gracious dogmatism over theological essentials for so-called intolerance. The question is not whether we will feel the pressure of the warmed-up and leftover liberalism of the emergent movement. The question is how well we will stand against these untruths.
This book, which I highly recommend, will help you to stand well.
Words of Grace 