To Be or Not to Be...
I once posed the question: When exactly does the post modern church become the church of yesterday? I came across this article in Relevant magazine. There were a few of quotes at the end that really stuck out to me.
"Let’s not forget though that in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he called the church both to fluidity and order. To truly be effective we need a blend of both the modernist and postmodernist perspective, we need to be transformists—both fixed and fluid."
"The postmodern mindset has brought with it much freedom. Many churches are in desperate need of more involvement, story, community and round table discussions. However, as with any movement, we can go to the other extreme."
"The modernist needs to focus a bit more on packaging. They need to loosen up a little more on form and method. The postmodernist needs to remember substance. They need to remember that the message never changes."
"It’s kind of funny, but Christ was all about packaging and substance. In fact, He went back to that whole love God love people thing. That was the substance. As far as the packaging, we’re it. He said by our love, all people would know we’re His disciples. "
This was a great article and answered my question pretty well. As long as the Church is always changing with the culture while never changing the message then we will always be the "postmodern church." It's only when we stop being relevant to the community that we will be the "Church of yesterday."
"Let’s not forget though that in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he called the church both to fluidity and order. To truly be effective we need a blend of both the modernist and postmodernist perspective, we need to be transformists—both fixed and fluid."
"The postmodern mindset has brought with it much freedom. Many churches are in desperate need of more involvement, story, community and round table discussions. However, as with any movement, we can go to the other extreme."
"The modernist needs to focus a bit more on packaging. They need to loosen up a little more on form and method. The postmodernist needs to remember substance. They need to remember that the message never changes."
"It’s kind of funny, but Christ was all about packaging and substance. In fact, He went back to that whole love God love people thing. That was the substance. As far as the packaging, we’re it. He said by our love, all people would know we’re His disciples. "
This was a great article and answered my question pretty well. As long as the Church is always changing with the culture while never changing the message then we will always be the "postmodern church." It's only when we stop being relevant to the community that we will be the "Church of yesterday."
Good post mate! I love discussions about how the church should change while not losing our original focus or out "first love".
Posted by
prozaciswack |
6:36 PM
i don't fully agree. see, when they (relevant magazine) refer to modernity and postmodernity, they don't just mean it as adjectives; they are referring to specific time frames and eras. both periods are marked by different views of life, different historical backgrounds and cultural contexts. so you see, the accurate answer to your question "when will the postmodern church become a thing of yesterday?" is: when a new socio-cultural model is established thus marking the beginning of a brand new era.
i get your point though. and it's true, the church was meant to be relevant, culturally, socially, historically, etc. when we stop making a difference is when we can say we've failed.
Posted by
andyaldana |
10:06 PM
I agree with what Andy stated. And I fully believe that no matter what "type" of church it is, modern, post modern, all it boils down to is who can relate to it. We face the exact same problems they face at the shift of generations, keeping the church relevant.
Our struggles in marketing the church now are the same as 500 yrs ago, just different tools.
Posted by
PapaBob |
10:18 PM