Casualties of Pomergent
It's been said in other places, by people far smarter than me, but I can still see it for myself as well -- postmodernism is no more faith-friendly than modernism. The problems with (the uncritical, wholesale capitulation to) a modernistic version of Christianity are different than the problems of (the uncritical, wholesale capitulation to) a postmodern version of Christianity, but one thing they have in common is that both are ultimately foreign territory to Christianity.
The first casualty of pomergent people could be evangelism. This is not a sweeping generalization of condemnation -- it's meant to be a caution of a potential trap that seems to be lurking about. Pomergent's generally admirable sense of rediscovering the depth of a personal walk with Jesus, as found in many web & blog sites' inclusion of "vespers" and "lauds", and ancient creeds as theological markers, can also be indicative of a self-absorbed, individualistic approach to the faith.
Community is important, no question there, but a potential trap is that our focus on creating authentic community, with emphasis on the spiritual disciplines and the ancient/future nature of our faith walk, could (unintentionally, to be sure) become 'busy-work' that we immerse ourselves in and fail to notice that outside of our little Christian communities, we haven't had much impact or possibly even much interaction.
This would make us acceptable in a postmodern society, where "tolerance" is held as one of the highest values (ie. no-one can claim that their way is the 'right' way -- the 'incredulity towards metanarratives' that Lyotard is famously quoted for). Something that many pomergent Christians have in common with the modernistic Christians they want to distance themselves from, is that both want to be 'cool' in the eyes of everyone -- so any claims to a metanarrative as being Truth (with a capital "T") are avoided.
Generally, I think it's good that we all avoid the attitude of some smug, self-righteous, know-it-all Christians; such an attitude is foreign to the Gospel. However, if pomergent people and communities are unwilling to state that they believe that the Bible holds a true metanarrative -- that God is actually in control and it matters how we relate to Him -- it would be a fair question to ask, as Jesus does in Matthew 5:13, "...if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?".
It's potentially a problem for all of us, and while our individual answers and reactions to this will vary, the question the Jesus asks is one pomergent people dare not avoid grappling with.
The first casualty of pomergent people could be evangelism. This is not a sweeping generalization of condemnation -- it's meant to be a caution of a potential trap that seems to be lurking about. Pomergent's generally admirable sense of rediscovering the depth of a personal walk with Jesus, as found in many web & blog sites' inclusion of "vespers" and "lauds", and ancient creeds as theological markers, can also be indicative of a self-absorbed, individualistic approach to the faith.
Community is important, no question there, but a potential trap is that our focus on creating authentic community, with emphasis on the spiritual disciplines and the ancient/future nature of our faith walk, could (unintentionally, to be sure) become 'busy-work' that we immerse ourselves in and fail to notice that outside of our little Christian communities, we haven't had much impact or possibly even much interaction.
This would make us acceptable in a postmodern society, where "tolerance" is held as one of the highest values (ie. no-one can claim that their way is the 'right' way -- the 'incredulity towards metanarratives' that Lyotard is famously quoted for). Something that many pomergent Christians have in common with the modernistic Christians they want to distance themselves from, is that both want to be 'cool' in the eyes of everyone -- so any claims to a metanarrative as being Truth (with a capital "T") are avoided.
Generally, I think it's good that we all avoid the attitude of some smug, self-righteous, know-it-all Christians; such an attitude is foreign to the Gospel. However, if pomergent people and communities are unwilling to state that they believe that the Bible holds a true metanarrative -- that God is actually in control and it matters how we relate to Him -- it would be a fair question to ask, as Jesus does in Matthew 5:13, "...if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?".
It's potentially a problem for all of us, and while our individual answers and reactions to this will vary, the question the Jesus asks is one pomergent people dare not avoid grappling with.
posted by Robbymac at
10:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home