Emerging Broken: A Look @ the 10-20-30 Virus

Some of my friends have been blogging their 10-20-30 virus. I am riveted at these glimpses into their past. I am also struck. I am struck at the commonality of brokenness in their narratives. Common themes are divorce, distance from one parent, isolation, drug abuse, addictions, disappointment, and neglect. Way too close to home for me. Now we're adults with broken narratives, what does this mean? What does this mean to the emergent community? It means a lot. Broken people break more things for the most part. We can be a dangerous bunch. We don't like the mainstream church! Why? It reminds us of home. Where falsities are rampant. We don't like mainstream church because it feels false, appears false... too familiar for our weary bones. So we criticize. We're adults now and we have opinions. There is much to criticize. But we still feel empty. At times hauntingly empty. We talk about community and authenticity. Would we know community and authenticity if we actually experienced it? How would we? Many of us have never experienced it. We can nail fake though! We're experts. We need a new sacred space called home. That home is our Abba's tent. In our Abba's tent we become the children that we never were. In our Abba's tent, we laugh, cry and express in reality, not family distortion. In our Abba's tent, we are the children sitting on our Savior's knee, as he grasps us close to Himself as the neurotic adults try and rip us away from Him. In our Abba's tent we are safe... we are known... and we are His.