The Pre-Something Church (Part 1) - "The Postmodern Mood: You are Here"

We now live in the Postmodern Era, that period of time that comes after the Modern Era. The culture has been progressing toward it in various ways throughout the 20th century. Now, in the 21st century, postmodernism is the predominant worldview in the West. Those who reflect its values are called postmoderns. In general, Generation X (roughly those born in the 60’s and 70’s) was a transitional generation. They were raised by moderns in a postmodern world. Those born since the 1980’s, sometimes called Millennials, have been immersed in postmodernism since childhood. They are the first bonafide postmodern generation. Even so, postmodernism does not discriminate. Some people from previous generations resonate with it just as much as emerging generations. And some younger people do not resonate with it at all.

The postmodern mood is characterized by new ways of relating, thinking and living. Tony Jones, National Coordinator of Emergent Village,[1] points out a handful of sociological changes.[2] Three of them, which I also see in my context as a young adult pastor in Southern California, are the shifts to being communal, pluralistic and experiential. First, postmoderns have shifted from being individualistic to communal. It used to be that one of the most communal media experiences we could have was going to the theater. So many people share the same experience and can talk about it after, reliving their favorite scenes. Aside from a sports game, television was considered a passive pastime. Now, audiences vote in real time, through telephone, text messages, and email, for their reality and game show champions and participate in the outcome. Even news programs regularly read email feedback from viewers as they receive them. Online, communities like MySpace.com have become an addiction to millions who can now easily create profiles to express themselves and connect with a network of “friends.” In our neighborhoods, there is a growing presence of places like Starbucks where even those who go there to read a book and keep to themselves enjoy a sense of community.

Second, postmoderns have shifted from being unanimous to pluralistic. Just next door to me live Catholics from Ireland on one side and Muslims from the Middle East on the other side. I am an Evangelical from Southern California. Among my friends are Pakistanis, Slovakians, Palestinians, Hungarians, and Canadians. They are Christians—Pentecostals, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Evangelicals of all shades—ex-Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, New Agers, Shamanists, and Smorgasbord Spiritualists. In a post-Christian culture, there is bound to be confusion. And in the absence of knowledge about religious beliefs most people default to religious pluralism where they can believe all their friends, being good people, are on good and valid spiritual paths. Even many Christians who believe the gospel may not believe it in terms of its exclusive claims. For many, religious belief may simply be an accident of upbringing that “works for them” but may not, and need not, work for others.

Third, postmoderns have shifted from being rational to experiential. With the Advent of the Internet, we are moving away from linear thinking. And schools are not helping. They regularly graduate mediocre students unprepared for college, thus lowering the bar of excellence for many higher education institutions. Most high school graduates do not know or care about what a liberal education is and see general studies as obstacles to their goals rather than part of being well-rounded individuals. The prevailing attitude about school is not that it can prepare one for life, but that a degree could lead to a higher paying job. That is not to say that everyone should go to college, but to illustrate the low value placed on anything not tied to making money or enjoying life. Thus, the reason bookstores like Barnes and Noble are flourishing is because they have made reading an experience. There is a new element of “vibe” that old booksellers like Waldenbooks never had. Experience really is the currency of our age. In such a pluralistic world, shared experience now replaces common belief as the most significant factor in bringing people together.

In addition to these sociological changes, a few epistemological changes have also occurred in the postmodern mind. First, in a world with such diverse thinking, we have lost a common metanarrative. The Christian heritage of the West is being increasingly disparaged as secularism takes rise in the public square. And nationalism is being attacked by the hobgoblin of cultural relativism. It remains to be seen if the “War on Terror” will be an enduring narrative to shape our global future. In the meantime, Naturalism is the most prevalent basic presupposition of our time. In short, the Theory of Evolution has given credence to the story that all life evolved from common ancestry and there is no reality beyond the physical universe. Even those who reject the story know it well and are likely influenced by it to some degree. It is unfortunate since this worldview robs us of meaning, purpose and moral accountability.

Second, part of the reason for our collective identity crisis is that postmoderns are quite skeptical about knowing anything. They have a deep-seated suspicion that we cannot see, much less understand, objective reality. We see through, not with, our senses. And what we know is limited by the language we use to describe it. The common person may not be able to express it in these terms. But when it seems like every other week a scientific study is published that debunks the last, their confidence in knowledge wanes. Subconsciously, they might figure that if they cannot trust the experts and authorities out there then they cannot trust themselves either.

Third, if there is no reliable objective truth, then, in the interest of sanity and social order, we must make up our own realities. At the very least, this means we need laws that everyone agrees to follow, that there are agreed upon consequences for not following. However, if there is no objective standard on which to base those laws, then everyone will bring their own subjective interpretations. The practical result is a desire for power rather than justice; sophistry trumps philosophy. This principle gets played out in every area of life. Anything can be challenged; everything is up for discussion.

This is especially true in the area of ethics, in which postmodernism has made serious changes. Doing the right thing now means something completely different than it used to. Whereas before it meant doing what is right whether one feels like it or not, it now means doing whatever one personally feels is right. We follow other people’s standard of morality by way of social convention or so as not to unnecessarily offend anyone, not out of any actual moral obligation. Postmoderns live by two rules: Rule 1, do whatever you feel like doing as long as it does not hurt anyone else; and Rule 2, say whatever you feel like saying as long as you do not criticize anyone for following Rule 1. In other words, the new New Golden Rule is be true to yourself. The result is a me-centered, pleasure-seeking attitude toward life. No where else is this so exigent than in our view of sexuality, where marriage, sexual orientation, even gender, are being redefined in fluid terms. When fundamental moral choices are being treated as menu items at McDonald’s we are in grave times.

[1] You can visit the Emergent Village website at emergentvillage.com.
[2] Tony Jones, Postmodern Youth Ministry: Exploring cultural shift, creating holistic connections, cultivating authentic community (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 27, 30-37.