Those who desire to be effective in ministry must be aware of the cultural contexts of their ministries. They must understand the underlying ways people think and especially the way people view truth and reality. Missionaries have known this for many years. Those who minister in western cultures have fairly recently recognized some significant shifts in the way people view truth and reality. This shift has been identified as movement from a modern to a postmodern culture. Is this shift as significant as some profess it to be? If it is, what does it look like and how should we respond to it?
In his book, The Ruins of the Church: Sustaining Faith in an age of Diminished Christianity, R. R. Reno wisely recommended, “If we care about evangelism, then surely we need to get our bearings in this strange postmodern world. If we wish to preach and teach effectively, than we must be clear about where the sharp and double-edged sword of the gospel cuts into the spirit of the age. This is especially important because our churches are awash with disorienting analysis. Some are eager to convince us that our sophisticated scientific culture just cannot accept the simplistic mythological worldview of traditional Christianity. Others are certain that the new global communication makes us so aware of cultural and religious diversity that the traditional exclusivist claims of Christianity are untenable. Still others drink deeply at the well of literary theory and in an intoxicated reverie announce that old ideas of meaning and truth have been transcended. …Most however, offer a straight forward assessment: our postmodern world is so very, very, complex that the traditional forms of Christian preaching and teaching must be updated and revised” (From: Mars Hill Audio Resource, "Postmodern Irony and Petronian Humanism," www.marshillaudio.org, p.1).
Admittedly, there is widespread misunderstanding and disagreement about the label ‘postmodern’. In his article, ‘The Dangers & Delights of Postmodernism’, D. A. Carson wrote, “The meaning of postmodernism is not transparent. Moreover, its range of application (it has been applied to literature, art, communication theory, architecture, epistemology, jurisprudence, the philosophy of science, and more) means that its associations for one person may be very different from its associations for someone else. (From: Modern Reformation Magazine, 2003, July / August Issue, Vol. 12.4).
In his book, The Way of the (Modern) World Or, Why It’s Tempting to Live as if God doesn’t Exist, Craig M. Gay, observed that, “There is very little agreement as yet as to what ‘postmodernity’ means. While the term occasionally simply denotes dissatisfaction with modernity, it is increasingly used to suggest that we have entered into an entirely new cultural situation in which none of the old ‘modern’ rules and habits of mind need be taken seriously anymore. All such suggestions are mistaken and misleading. …the ideals of the modern project are still very firmly embedded in the central institutional realities of contemporary society. Although modernity may well be passé in certain intellectual circles, typically modern ideas and assumptions are still quite effectively communicated within contemporary culture by many of the institutional realities that surround us and by many of the ways we do things today. …postmodernity represents only a kind of extension of modernity, a kind of ‘hyper-modernity’” (pp.17-18).
Along similar lines, British sociologist Anthony Giddens suggested that, “rather than entering a period of post-modernity, we are moving into one in which the consequences of modernity are becoming more radicalized and universalized than before” (The Consequences of Modernity, p. 3). Accordingly, it could be said that we are living in most-modern times instead of post-modern.
Whatever label one chooses, western culture in particular has experienced some significant changes that effect gospel ministry. For the purpose of this article, these changes will be explored in relation to modernity.
Understanding the shift: pre-modern to modern to post-modern
1. Pre-modern: Religion is the source of truth and reality (God’s existence, attributes and revelation were givens in the culture)
2. Modern: Science is the source for truth and reality (religion and morality are moved to the subjective realm)
3. Postmodern: There is no single defining source for truth and reality beyond the individual – not even science or history.
Modernism brought relativism and individualism into the realm of religion and morality. Science (and to a degree, history) remained bastions of objectivity.
Postmodernism radicalized relativism and individualism and applied it to all spheres of knowing – even science. In relation to this shift, a mood change has settled into western culture.
A mood change: from optimism to pessimism
Postmodernity has brought with it a shift from human optimism (based on scientific certainty and technological progress), to a pessimistic mood of skepticism, uncertainty and even angst. The people who fill our Churches have been affected by this shift—-especially the young people. The postmodern mood is basically one of disbelief.
Contrasting modern and postmodern
The following contrasts between modern and postmodern offer another way to consider the mood change.
Modernity was confident.
Postmodernity is anxious.
Modernity had all the answers.
Postmodernity is full of questions.
Modernity reveled in reason, science and human ability.
Postmodernity wallows (with apparent contentment or nihilistic angst) in mysticism, relativism, and the incapacity to know anything with certainty.(Graham Johnston, “Preaching to a Postmodern World” Baker,2001)
Postmoderns on truth and reality
Postmodernity rejects individual autonomy, universal reason and absolute truth. Truth (under postmodernity) is completely perspectival and situational. History, social class, gender, culture, and religion all control the way we understand truth and reality. They shape the narratives and meanings of our lives as culturally embedded, localized social constructions without any universal application. Claims of universal meaning are viewed as efforts to marginalize and oppress the rights of others.
The most important value of postmodernity is the inadmissibility of all totalizing ways of viewing any dimension of life. Postmodernity, as a theory, refuses to allow any single defining source for truth and reality.
Kevin Vanhoozer illustrates the way postmoderns understand reality: “We do not simply look at a rose and evaluate its intrinsic beauty, fragrance and design, we consider ourselves as we look at the rose. The temptation is to think that the color of the rose is a product of our optical nerve, and its scent of our noses, so that in the end there is no rose left.” (emphasis mine) (pp. 75-76, Christianity and the Postmodern Turn: Six Views, ed., Myron B. Penner).
Challenge to gospel ministry
Applying this shift to gospel ministry, D. A. Carson wrote, “Initially, the removal of transcendent truth or values led to a restlessness that was seized for the gospel. Now, the restlessness is moving toward a carefree attitude. Postmoderns seem to have a striking capacity to endure groundlessness and incoherence calmly – to live as ironists with equanimity.” (From: Telling the Truth, ed., D. A. Carson, p. 86).
Kevin Vanhoozer believes that many of the people we desire to reach with the gospel “reject unifying, totalizing, and universal schemes in favor of a new emphasis on difference, plurality, fragmentation and complexity. Postmoderns are suspicious of truth claims, of ‘getting it right.’” (The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology).
The ethic of pluralistic civility is the social expectation. Tolerance is required of all. Lessons on good arguments and detecting error are unnecessary. Those who promote such things are suspected of imperialistic motives aimed at oppressing the weak and less fortunate.
R. R. Reno, perceptively observed the spirit of this age when he wrote, “Anxieties about the closed circuit of dogma, the exhausting weight of tradition, and the crushing force of institutional authority lead our postmodern culture to the extreme of denying the authority of truth itself.” (Ibid. p. 5)
Elements of absurdity in postmodernity
Although people entrenched in a postmodern outlook profess to care little about consistency, it is wise to expose the significant logical inconsistencies in postmodern theory. Consider the following:
- Postmodernity is the worldview that says no worldview exists.
- Postmodernity is an anti-theory that uses theoretical tools to neutralize all theories.
- Postmodernity demands an imposed uniformity in an effort to resist uniformity.
- Postmoderns often use propositional statements to negate truth based on propositional statements.
Discovering and exposing these kinds of logical contradiction often invites the postmodern smirk that says – “poor soul, you are so bound by modernity.” It is perhaps best to express these concerns as sincere questions. Our goal in evangelism is never to win an argument. It is always to lead a person to truth and freedom.
Effective ministry requires us to
see through and gently expose the smokescreens people use to avoid
truth. Many years ago, Blaise Pascal described what we observe in
people today, “Being unable to cure death, wretchedness and ignorance,
men have decided, in order to be happy, not to think about such
things.” The gospel, however, calls us to think about these things and
to turn from death to life.
Postmodernity: A benefit and a danger
“The introduction of postmodernity has proved of some benefit to Christian faith. The Enlightenment sought to relegate matters of faith to the rear of the bus as either insignificant or nonexistent. Postmodernity returns value to faith and affirms the nurturing of our spiritual being as vital to humankind. Unfortunately, with the loss of truth, people will now seek faith without boundaries, categories, or definition. The old parameters of belief do not exist. As a result, people will be increasingly open to knowing God, but on their own terms.” (Preaching to a Postmodern World, Graham Johnston, p.31).
“The willing conformity that characterizes so much postmodern life can give the evangelist hope that the prideful self-sufficiency of modernity has finally exhausted itself. These are, however, deceptions made possible by a fixation on pride as the primary barrier to faith. Sloth and cowardice in reality are just as deadly. Both slink away from the urgency of conviction. Both fear the sharp edge of demand and expectation. Both have a vested interest in cynicism, irony and outward conformity. These vices, not pride, now dominate our culture.” (R. R. Reno, Ibid, p. 8).
Conclusion
Understanding the shift to postmodernity will become increasingly important for those called to minister in Western culture. In changing times, we must be willing to make changes in the way we do evangelism and ministry. But we must never make concessions to postmodernity that compromise the integrity of the gospel or diminish Scripture as the authoritative, univocal divine revelation for humanity. Any moderation of the demands of the gospel to accommodate the postmodern spirit will drain it of the power of God unto salvation. If the gospel is held hostage to the restrictions of postmodernity, it ceases to be the good news that humans so desperately need.
Eight truths for postmodern times
1. We are all sinners who receive the penalty of death (Romans 3:10, 23; 5:12).
2. God has demonstrated His love for all (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).
3. God desires salvation for all (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9).
4. God has made provision for salvation (1 Timothy 2:5-6; 4:9-10; Titus 2:11; 1 John 2:2).
5. God commands all people to repent (Acts 17:30).
6. God will hold all accountable for their response to His provision (Romans 2:4-11; 14:11; Acts 17:31).
7. God takes no pleasure in the rejection of His provision (Ezekiel 18:23, 32).
8. God will save all who place faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16; 11:26; Romans 10:13).
Steven W. Cornell
Senior pastor
Millersville Bible Church
Millersville, Pa 17551
717-872-4260
www.millersvillebiblechurch.org
More resources on postmodernity
Preaching to a Postmodern World, Graham Johnston, Baker, 2001
That’s Just YOUR Interpretation: Responding to skeptics who challenge your faith, Paul Copan, Baker, 2001
The Truth about Tolerance: Pluralism, Diversity, and the Culture Wars, Brad Stetson, Joseph G. Conti, IVP, 2005
Talking about Good and Bad without getting Ugly: A guide to Moral Persuasion, Paul Chamberlain, IVP, 2005
Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept, James W. Sire, IVP, 2004
Engaging God’s World: A Christian vision of Faith, Learning and Living, Cornelius Plantinga Jr. Eerdmans, 2002
The Way of the (Modern) World Or, Why It’s Tempting to Live as if God doesn’t Exist, Craig M. Gay, Eerdmans, 1998
Reclaiming the Center: Confronting Evangelical Accommodation in Postmodern Times, ed. Millard Erickson, Paul Kjoss Helseth, Justin Taylor Crossway, 2004
Postmodernizing the Faith: Evangelical Responses to the Challenge of Postmodernism, Millard Erickson, Baker, 1998
Truth or Consequences: The Promise and Perils of Postmodernism, Millard Erickson, IVP, 2001
The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism, D. A. Carson, Zondervan, 1996
Truth Decay: Defending Christianity against the Challenges of Postmodernism, Douglas Grouthuis, IVP, 2000
Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge of Christian Faith and Mission, Harold Netland, IVP, 2001
The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Theology, ed. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Cambridge, 2003
Re: Understanding the times: a strange postmodern world
REPLY TO; UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES: A STRANGE POSTMODERN WORLD
“Every theology has to enter into the changing conditions of the culture in which it is pursued, perceiving and developing its own concern in those conditions.” - J Moltmann[1]
“Christianity got over the difficulty of combining furious opposites by keeping them both, and keeping them both furious.” - GK Chesterton[2]
Having examined many of the same commentators as Steven Cornell, and agreeing with much of his descriptive analyses of the associated phenomena, I have come to a radically different verdict on postmodernism, and its potential impact on the church and the kerygma. I believe postmodernism must be viewed in antithetical relation to the excesses of modernism and as a necessary – albeit deconstructive - step towards a synthesis which will ultimately provide a more valid platform and context for the gospel. While the immediate symptoms are presenting as alienation, hyper-relativity, unreal subjectivism and a plethora of ‘a la carte spiritualities’, some very significant problems are coming to light in the process. Foundationalism, whether fundamentalist or liberal, scientific or religious, has been shaken and found wanting; and while some rush in with nihilistic glee, others are critically reconstructing a “chastened rationality”[3] and a reformed epistemology.
In this process of deconstruction postmodernity may provide;
a much needed – and overdue - external and systemic critique of the church’s historical engagement with western society
a radical challenge to traditional epistemic/scientific truth claims
a rehabilitation of the individual-in-community as the cardinal locus of choice, relationship and significance.
Postmodernity revisits one of the oldest dilemmas (or opposites) of church history; the fides qua/ fides quae dichotomy. While the faith which we believe is under fire the faith with which we believe is unassailable and maybe more pure in that it has cast off an untenable foundation. In postmodernity the church is facing yet another adaptation in a long line of socio-cultural adaptations: from the Hebraic to the Hellenistic worlds; from Greco-Roman philosophies to Franco-Germanic thought forms; from the medieval world to the Renaissance; from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment; and from developed to developing worlds. It could be said that from the patristic period onwards theology has been formed as a result of the church’s apologetic engagement with prevailing culture. A proactive engagement with the rigours and concerns of postmodernity will afford the church the status of “critical dialogue partner”[4] with society. Indeed it could be said that in the case of postmodernity the context demands the engagement; both at macro- and micro-level. The locus of conversion has shifted firmly to the individual and away from the politico-communal nominalism of Christendom which is critiqued so severely – and justly – by postmoderns.
[1] Moltmann, Jurgen The Way Of Jesus Christ SCM Press 1990 p.64
[2] Quoted in Phillip Yancey Living with Furious Opposites Christianity Today 4.9.2000 p.74
[3] This phrase is from Franke, John R in Chung (2003) p.288, footnote 7
[4] The term is borrowed from Alan G Padgett Christianity and Postmodernism Christian Scholars Review http://www.hope.edu/resources/csr/
Epistemological/Ecclesiastical Crisis.
In my way of thinking, the central assertion of post modernism does not so much undermine reason, as it does the premises from which we reason. We inherit a narrative which serves the interests of the story tellers, more than the audience. One which places the audience in thrall to the narrators.
And darn it, if that wasn’t a central premise of Christ’s witness!!!
“You have heard it said that….. but I say unto you…..” An authority not validated by past narrative, not upon narrative at all, so much as sense and visceral perception. Verily Verily, I tell you, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto that which you intrinsicly know. The erudition of scribes has not brought them enlightenment. As much as not, it has diverted them from the path of enlightenment. You don’t need old stories to make sense of your world. You need an affirmation around which to write the story of now. You need be born again.
I’ve read more of the premises from which this project stems. I find that when the church tries to be church, it fails. Church needs to do church… when its institutional prerogatives are its aim — the narrative become the very sort of power trip that Foucault and Christ both would deconstruct. And rubble is what Christ makes of monuments to institutional prerogative.
A puff away from 3 packs a day
Psalm 9 -- Deceitful Distinctions
My heart sings praise!
I unashamed am wholly Thine,
O Lord, with glee I croon,
Songs of ancient wonders refine,
Despair to sway and swoon.
Thy Justice flays!
Dogma depart!
Bishop, dissenter, and monarch,
Have formulated creeds,
Which bound free men to lies so stark,
That hist’ry scorns their deeds.
Steadfast Thou art!
Justice Proclaim!
The ruler of a nation must,
As World o’er which You reign
Consider what You hold as Just,
That comfort succor pain.
Tyrants Defame!
Lord, lift me up!
A congregation I ought find,
Which You alone unite.
But people flock with their own kind,
And with my kind they fight.
One Loaf, One Cup!
All scandals scorn!
Their snare is set, called stumbling block
Or ‘scandal’ in the Greek,
To guard some priv’lege, under lock,
In prison they stay, bleak.
By own barbs torn!
May Creeds not blind!
Affirmation of distinction,
On marble slabs men etch,
But the rot beneath scoffs fiction,
That one’s not but a wretch.
In God, worth find!
Difficult Transitions
It is tough going from a place of certainty into a realization that the foundation has washed away. I can sympathize with the angst that is felt by those grounded in modernity (as I too am) when faced with the radical shift that is/has taken place.
But, it has happened and perhaps Xtianity has played more than a fair part in demanding its own deconstruction.
Questions answered too glibly, a reliance on philosophies that fail to connect and often have been considered disproved, a structure and function that contradicts the very Person whose name is called, a complete failure to look with hope towards all the other cultures of this world…
The debate on the New Perspective on Paul is a case in point. Carson in particular is still ‘kicking against the pricks’ very vehemently and is one of many of the more conservative, “reformed” scholars that find the redefinitions that have become obviously necessary just too painful to contemplate.
I can sympathise, but it’s time to get over it and get on with it. The Gospel will not become irrelevant and that very fear (that it might) is what seems to be prevailing. Where is your faith? Do you believe in Jesus?
I think “postmodernity” is a great opportunity and we could make a good start by cleaning out the Christain stables.
Live to serve : Serve to live
Irrelevence and irreverence
I think faith cannot accept the premise that the Gospel is irrelevent at any time to any community. Communicated poorly. Resisted fiercely. Never irrelevent. What is in danger is that my skill set that I’ve invested my youth in developing becomes irrelevent, and by implication, so do I.
I recently reflected that more lies were told me in Sunday School than at any other time, by any other group in my life, including politicians and used car salesmen. There is a tendency in grass roots christianity that if something ought be true, then it is presented as true. The context which gave meaning to the stories told me in Sunday School was often as not fabricated from whole cloth — its validation being that it facilitated getting the story told.
That attitude toward truth, so evident in the American political leadership of our time, is not what any would call post-modern. They might call it evangelical. And it is far more dangerous than anything coming out of graduate schools of humanities and social sciences.
A puff away from 3 packs a day
lying for truth
I completely agree! Let me be honest enough to say that I don’t know. Let me be honest enough to recognise that I don’t know. Let me stop denigrating the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of God’s word to speak.
So many cherished ideas and lines of thought have to be reworked from scratch that at my age it is next to impossible. Some roots are harder to get rid of than dandelions! Rebuilding something closer to the word is going to be tough.
With God all things are possible!
Live to serve : Serve to live