The title of this post was the title of a seminar that I recently attended at Northern Seminary near Chicago. I thought I would break from my previous topic (The case for non-violence), and write a few notes on the seminar. The seminar was led by David Fitch, author of "The Great Giveway" and professor at Northern.
Let me just make a few observations. First, post-modernism is a terribly broad idea, and there is no cut-and-dried consensus on what the movement is all about. Consequently, the range of opinion between Christian theologians runs from enthusiastic embrace, to mild tolerance, to outright charges of heresy. That is part of what makes studying the movement and its followers in the church so entertaining - you know there will always be a spirited debate!
The second observation is that I was amazed at how little many pastors know about the movement. Even those in attendance at the seminar were not very well prepared for the discussion.
So - in a nutshell - here is why David Fitch says that postmodernism is good for the church. Postmodernity allows for a critique of the way modernism has captured the church. In essence it frees the church to be the church. We are free from the attractional model of church - producing goods and services for people shopping for services - to embrace a missional paradigm - that we are participating in the mission of God. It frees us from the mega-church mania - and allows us to embrace more organic movements. It frees us from apologetics based on scientific evidence - to embrace hospitality as the way to touch the world.
Here is an illustration David used to outline some of the changes from modern church to the post-modern church.
Gone (Modern)
Must be relevant
Coercive arguments
Consumerism
New and improved
Here (Postmodern)
Compelling ways of living
Hospitality
Deep spiritual formation
Oganic community and ancient traditions
Love to hear some comments. What is your take on the post-modern movement? Why do you like or not like about what you have heard? Will it allow the church to be more like the church, or is it a fad that will soon wither away like other movements?
6 comments:
Postmodernism is here to stay. A few years ago I probably would not have said that. It is more than a movement. It is more like a shift in cultural understanding.
Modernism provided some positive ideas to the church and as always, the Gospel was advanced. It came at a cost. It seems like it was at the cost of community. And so like in previous generations, the pendulum swings the opposite way in response to shortcomings of the current generation.
What will be really fascinating is 40 to 50 years down the road to see where the postmodern shortcomings are evident. And more interesting will be the cultural response.
The church will emerge through these changes. That is the beauty of the church. It has withstood so much over the last two thousand years. It will continue to move and reshape. Hopefully it will always be in the direction of looking more like God intended.
Great questions to consider.
Dwayne,
It is difficult (and to some degree pointless) to predict the staying power of post-modernism. But Fitch's argument seems to be that the real value of post-modernism is that it exposes the faults of modernist thinking.
As leaders in the church, we should be taking advantage of this opportunity to free the church (and ourselves) from the modernist values that have quietly found their way into our theology.
Good post.
Rod
Dwight- great posts. I have loved your peace posts. One of the critiques of Modernity is that it is tied up in theology that served the preservation of powers systems arranged according to racial lines. That is to say that much of the theology done in Modernity was designed to keep white European men in power. This can be seen in the 1493 Catholic church's implementation of the line of demarcation. The world was literally divided up for white men by the church. Such an action betrayed a hubris and arrogance of modernity that always assumes an "other" to whom hospitality is not due. For it is these others who are to be civilized, converted, or prostelytized with the gospel of logic and rationalism. This is why postmodernity holds attraction for me. In fact the ironic thing is that both Protestant Liberalism and Fundamentalism are basically kissing cousins because they are only made possible by modernity's embracement of propositional truth, which underwrites each school of thought. Weird huh?
i could say so much...but instead i will just say...
i am really diggin these awesome pics that come along with each post. that said, if we can get a few of walter wink on here, i think the readers would surely approve. it's no lamb and lion...or librarian...but for sure a good one. :)
I agree with Alan...post-modernism is real and here to stay...it's not a fad in church growth and not just a movement...we really are standing on a major seam in epistomological architectonics.
Studying the Bible leads one to the conclusion that the Gospel is an amazingly durable and transferable Message, so I am very optimistic about how it will be transmitted and received in this new era of thought and understanding....if anything, post-modernism is more consistent with Jewish thought patterns (the basis of our Faith) than the modern (Greek/Roman) thought pattern that have served as a base of technological and culture advancement for the last few hundred years.
Different parts of the Church will fair differently. Denominations that embrace the mystery of faith and don't work too hard to resolve tension (e.g. Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholocism, Lutheranism) will likely do better in a post-modern era than parts of the church like Evangelicalism where there is perhaps too strong of a focus on the "literal truth" of the Bible, and a transactional salvation moment.
Thanks for all of your comments. I agree with Alan and Mark.. it is here to stay. The question will be "what will the church make of it".
I had someone ask yesterday - so what difference does it make to the church right now. What should we be doing differently, if the world sitution is changing?
Good question - where do we start?
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