Matt at From the Morning interviews staunch "emerging church" opponent Frank Turk. This is an interesting interview, since the questions are definitely geared towards people in the emergent way of thinking. Turk, while I have several points of disagreement with him, takes the opportunity to make some very astute observations. Here's my favorite:

Emergent Interviews: Frank Turk:
The Gospel is still the Gospel when we are sick unto death ? and it is perhaps the most crucial time in which people need to reckon with the Gospel. May God forbid that we ever fail to deliver the Gospel because someone is apparently too sick or hurt to hear it.

But that, to me, is the epitome of Emergent thinking. Yes, we have this thing which is a very nice story, but if you're sick it might offend you; if you find out it means a costly change in your life, it might offend you; if it turns out that it says you aren't fine just the way you are, it might offend you ? and if it offends you, we are going to postpone its preaching until you're not going to be offended.

That's not liberalism: that's spiritual cowardice. It's the seeker movement gone to its logical and completely-false end.

To some degree, I think Turk's criticism is mistargeted -- that is, some of the views he is criticizing do exist (possibly even within Emergent), and are a problem, but are neither defining nor representative of what emerging christianity is. On the other hand, it seems that even people who identify with "emerging christianity" have trouble defining what, exactly, it is. I'll try to write more about that later...