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Dear
Saints:
I'm
in the process of reading a book entitled The Next Reformation:
Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity, by Carl Raschke.
It's not the most exciting, or easiest, read—yet still quite interesting.
In
some ways it's like reading a technical manual produced by IBM or
TSYS, or a policy manual for AFLAC or CB&T. The author uses a lot
of space reviewing and comparing various philosophies, which have
influenced (and are influencing) entire cultures—much of which
is too complicated for my simple mind to comprehend. He, then, uses
more space to show how these philosophies have influenced theology.
Finally,
he hones in on two relatively recent philosophical/theological
trends that have shaped American society in particular:
1) Modernism and, 2) Postmodernism.
(You
haven't fallen asleep on me, have you?)
Good.
Because I think what I'm about to say will be more interesting; and,
if it's not, well...I guess it will just have to remain uninteresting.
Anyway...back
to the book! In a poor effort to distill Raschke's remarks on
modernism and postmodernism into an easy-to-swallow pill, we might
say that modernism is based primarily upon reason. The modernist's
faith is, at its foundation, factual—based upon empirical
evidence. A good biblical example of such faith is found in John
20:25 where Thomas says concerning the resurrected Jesus, "Unless
I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the
mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
The
postmodern's faith, on the other hand, may be exemplified by Jesus'
remarks to Thomas after he had seen and touched him and believed.
"Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe"
In other words, faith, for the postmodern person, is not
predominantly rational, but relational; it isn't built upon provable
fact, but on promise—God's promise to and for us.
So,
when Jesus says in John 14:6. "I am...the truth," he is,
in Raschke's words, "not making a logical claim about himself,
as the passage is so often misunderstood. Nor is he making a
representation about 'what' he is in an ontological sense. He is
revealing who he is. He is the redeemer. No one knows God except in
relationship to him. He is saying, 'Follow me, walk with me.' For he
is 'always with us,' even until the end of the age" (p. 134).
Similarly,
the modernist (whether fundamentalist or liberal) accepts or denies
the truthfulness and, therefore, the validity of the Scriptures based
upon their ability, or inability, to withstand the rigors of
critical/scientific investigation. The fundamentalist and the liberal
are curious bedfellows. They are two sides of the same coin. Both are
legitimizing their faith through reason.
However,
the postmodernist (the terms fundamentalist, conservative, liberal,
progressive, etc., are not easily applied here) believes the
Scriptures to be true and valid—not because they are factually
inerrant, or mostly inerrant, et cetera, et cetera—but because
they are God's "promissory words" to us. As Raschke says
again, "Scripture is the story of [God's] troth" to his
people, beginning with Abraham and Sarah and continuing through every
succeeding generation (p. 134).
(Still
awake?)
So,
what's the point in all of this? Why did I have to bother you with
all this when I could just have easily written a brief little
something about VBS or the 50th Anniversary celebration?
Why?
Because the society in which we live is increasingly shifting
(rapidly) from a modern one to a postmodern one. And what once was
the bedrock of American Christianity is crumbling beneath our very
feet. The world today is not moved to faith by our Christian
intellectual arguments for the virgin birth, the empty tomb, or how
Jesus could have been both God and human (which are not unimportant
in themselves)—but by the interconnectedness of God's people,
our willingness to work together for something greater than
ourselves, and by an authentic faith that inspires genuine, heartfelt
worship and transformed lives.
Soon,
we will have completed our Church and Community project, and we will
have the opportunity to review and discuss the data. I, for one, will
be very interested in the results. My question to us now is this:
What will we be willing to do in order to reach out to both an
ethnically changing community in which our church is located and to a
postmodern culture? Will "church as usual" be effective?
Hmmm...something
to think about—wouldn't you agree?
Grace
and peace,
Pastor
Larry
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