The battle continues

I’m so sadly reminded the other day that the tug of war between the modernists and the postmodernists continues. Even within the church, conflict arises between these two cultural groups. Unfortunately, pastors themselves are the product of their own culture; while being mostly unaware of how culture has impacted them, our spiritual leaders invariably fall back on their cultural leanings on how to do church. Christian ethicist Jonathan R. Wilson wrote, “Culture is to human as water is to fish. Someone has said, “If you want to know about water, don’t ask the fish.” Similarly we humans are oblivious to the culture that shapes our lives.”

Since the seventeenth century, Reason, which is viewed as a universal personal embodiment, replaced religion as a guide to truth. Largely a response to the devastating wars of religion in Europe, reason was adopted as a means of acquiring peace. Set free from the chains of superstition, religion and all other external authorities, people established themselves as individuals capable of being self-governed by their own autonomy. Through reason, man became the center of the universe and can subdue everything through the powers of the Enlightenment. Postmodernity, on the other hand, is the current reaction to modernity, calling into question all the beliefs and practices of modernity. Reason is not some universal property but something constructed by different cultures in different ways. “Reason” extended into the arena of conflict becomes as much a source of violence as religion. Truth, that natural offspring of reason, is viewed as multi-cultural and varied; in other words, there are many truths, each acceptable depending on the lens one uses. Cultures, not individuals, are the real source of authority. Far from conquering or subduing nature, man is being subdued by nature. Moreover, postmodernists have turned faith into a matter of feeling rather than knowledge.

Yet, modernist illusions run strong. “When we present the gospel as a means to greater control of our lives… when we plot the survival of the church… when we think that church is something to “manage”… when we market the church,” according to J R Wilson, we fall into the modernist illusion.

While I do not profess to know the answer to this cultural clash within the church, perhaps the focus should not be in the gospel’s ability to replace but to transform…