Pastor Tim’s Blog

BEEN THINKING…

I attended a 2-hour seminar earlier this week which centered on the new book Postmodern and Wesleyan: Exploring the Boundaries and Possibilities. The dialogue was interesting, though heavy on the academic view of things (which, granted, is good for me to grapple with but never as helpful to me as the perspective of practitioners). I had read the book, relating with a smile to a term used in it—“pomophobic”—which refers to those who have a natural distaste and fear for the general conversation about the significance of trying to minister in a “postmodern” world. I guess I find it a little troubling that everyone has a hard time even defining what “postmodern” means! What really has bugged me has been those who have inferred that everything the church has been doing for years and years is now suddenly obsolete and irrelevant. And I suppose it’s difficult not to take that a little personal, though I’ll get over that part!

I recognize that our world keeps changing—and certainly it is changing in significant ways. I’m also aware that those of us who have given ourselves to ministering to people through local churches have all along been conscientiously and diligently making adjustments to how we’re approaching ministry in a changing world. We’re passionate about reaching people, so of course we want to make adjustments to how we’re approaching ministry so that we’re most effective! I recognize the indictments upon the church in ways in which she has failed at times across the years in failing to embody the love of Christ in such a way that we’re told the postmoderns are insistent upon, and yet I reflect upon the ministry of my father-in-law in the 60’s and 70’s in which he and my mother-in-law gave of their time and resources over and over again in Christlike love as they endeavored to be the vessels through which others came to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Sure, my father-in-law used tools which I wouldn’t use today (and that I was never comfortable with), but the tools worked for him because of the love he poured out on lost people. I believe we’ve always had those heroes in the church that kept the main thing the main thing, and who lived out Christlike love in the manner in which we’re told postmoderns are longing. Is all this really so radically different?

I appreciated what Carl Leth said in the book (which was a series of essays, a few of which took opposing views on the topic)—

There is very little in these proposals that is really “new.” These themes and ideas can readily be found in the long history and conversation of the Church. That is not to say that there is nothing important being said here. It would be an assumption of modernity that significance is a function of novelty. Rather, these ideas and conversations have ongoing importance—particularly given the creative character of this transitional time…One last observation: While the title of this work identifies it as a postmodern and Wesleyan conversation, there is little in these papers that is distinctively Wesleyan…They could easily be described as postmodern and Christian…

And I was reminded that I’m far more interested in being Christian than I am in being “Wesleyan”—even though I cherish our Wesleyan heritage.

Well…we won’t solve this one over night. There’s sure a lot to think about, but I’m not going to give into the thinking that everything we’ve been doing no longer has relevance. I pray the Lord helps us to communicate and live out the timeless truths of the Word to people today in such a way that they can understand and embrace them.

What are you thinking…?