Dealing with Postmodernity

I have to write a paper for my Missions & Evangelism class. The professor gave us a few ideas in the syllabus, but I decided to strike out on my own with a fresh topic. I'm trying to find a way to fill 10-12 pages with how the Emergent Church defines "missions" or "missional". As with everything Emergent, it is difficult to pin this down.

Right now I'm reading D.A. Carson's Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church. I think this is considered one of the standards for the "straights" in this discussion or "conversation", if you prefer. By "straights" I of course mean those who cling to the traditional way of identifying oneself as an evangelical.

I'm only about 100 pages into it, but so far it seems to be fairly balanced. On the other hand, I read a lecture given by Scot McKnight at Westminster Theological where he made a good point. McKnight identifies himself with the Emergent movement and asks that we read some of their own literature before passing any kind of judgment on it. As I'm learning, original sources are always good. I certainly wouldn't want an Arminian trying to explain what I think about Calvinism.

The problem is that I may have to buy some of these books that I'm reading about. My local libraries just don't have much about this stuff. I'm going to email one of my pastors about this too. He once preached a great message on postmodernity, so perhaps he can help me. I will certainly update the blog as I form more opinions about this.

One thing I do know, it is unwise to summarily dismiss anything because it smacks at all of "Emergent". They do make some good points, which Carson concedes. However, I certainly don't want to have to prepend "post-" on everything that describes my theology either :)