The Church and Modernity

I was recently listening to a speaker at a Christian conference outline the dangers of post-modernity for the Church. He smugly concluded that the Church shouldn't be influenced by the philosophical systems or worldviews of our culture, but should "stick to the bible." Obviously, this well meaning brother didn't realize that the church has been shaped by modernity for so long that "biblical thought" isn't recognizable outside of this context. Our beliefs are so ingrained in the prevailing worldview that we are unaware how entrenched we really are.

Modernism was a worldview launched during the Enlightenment in the 1700s. From that time on we have been governed by reason, intelligence, and scientific orientation. Knowledge is king and people believe that through scientific discovery and reason they can know everything or at least figure it out. Modernism is marked by extreme confidence in human ability, respect of authority, clear rights and wrongs, and individual rights. Other hallmarks of modernism include:

• More education creates a moral society.
• We make decisions if they make logical sense.
• All knowledge is reachable with our minds.
• People can only trust what is proven through observation and experimentation.
• The needs of the individual supersede the needs of the community.
• Modernity deeply values security and protection.

These themes have affected the church in many ways:

• We understand Christianity through factual research, based on the unshakable foundation of absolute truth.
• Apologetics is a primary tool for evangelism. This tactic can be employed without any relational context.
• Christianity is about "Jesus and me." He is my "personal Lord and Savior." I accept him while everyone's head is bowed and I can raise my hand in private. Community involvement is optional because this is a personal decision.
• We come to Christ through a logical, measurable decision: "I decided to accept Jesus after hearing the facts and making the choice."
• The modern value of security is deeply rooted in minimizing risk, pulling our kids and families completely out of their cultural context, avoiding a missional lifestyle.

Sound familiar? Most churches uphold a modern worldview. And, because of their resistance to cultural influence, many still function with modern values in a society that no longer agrees with the basic tenets of that paradigm. And therein lies the problem. As the surrounding culture has undergone a transformation to post-modernity, we are increasingly communicating Christ in ways that do not make sense to our neighbors.

Churches that are effectively reaching our post-modern culture are doing so after re-thinking their methods of communication and the way they "do church." Some examples of the adjustments churches are making in their thinking include:

• Scripture is applied in the context of the needs of the community.
• Relationships are of utmost importance.
• Post-moderns more frequently seek God in community rather than alone. They might belong before they believe.
• Discipleship occurs over years in community and not in a classroom.
• Authenticity is everything. The appearance of being slick, packaged, or overproduced is suspect.
• Evangelism no longer emphasizes the rational linear decision an individual makes at a specific point. It is a process, a journey, a story.
• Postmoderns guard against consumerism and its effect on church.
• How genuinely a church engages relief work and the care of the poor is everything to a postmodern.

In order to make this shift, churches must first realize that what they think is the "biblical way" of communicating, is really modernism. Only then will they be free to communicate Jesus to our culture in ways they will understand.