Filed under: Madison, Wisconsin, Mission Leadership | Tags: Christians, Church, communication, culture, economy, In Global Good News, Information Age, Madison, materialism, materialist, Michael Budde, mission field, nation, Pastor Survey, Paul, poor, postmodern, Protestant ethic, technology, wealth, William O'Brien
The Madison Senior Pastor Survey conducted in 1996, found eighty-four percent of the congregations placed “some” or “a lot” of emphasis on meeting the needs of the poor. (1996:7) Madison area Christians may disagree, however it is obvious that their standard of living has gradually increased so much that they are blind to the influence of materialism. Living in the comforts of Madison, it is difficult to see the effects of materialism. Until we are shocked into awareness by a trip to a country, and not to the confines of a typical tourist hotel, where the annual income is less than an American child’s allowance. Those who earn more than ten thousand dollars per year share the top ten percent of the world’s wealth. (Barret 2001)
Michael Budde writes, the “Protestant ethic is dysfunctional in the consumption-driven postmodern era.” Budde adds that the apostle Paul’s admonition has been turned on its head in our materialist economy; it “dictates that if people will not eat (and drink, and buy compact discs, the latest in fashions, and home appliances) in sufficient volume, then no one will work.” If the Church in Madison does not allow herself to be shocked out of her slumber, she will fail to be effective confronting the desperate human needs of the world.
The good news is that technology has opened new vistas of communication and broken down centuries old barriers to the gospel. “The Information Age is boundary blind,” William O’Brien writes in his article “Mission in the Valley of Postmodernity” (from the book ‘In Global Good News: Mission in a New Context’). O’Brien adds, “There are no unique continental or regional areas identified exclusively as ‘mission fields’.” Easy access to people of every nation and culture is suddenly made available through the world wide web.
This access provides opportunity for the flow of up to the minute information for prayer, generous giving, and a deepened understanding of the plight of peoples around the world. However, as desperate needs cascade across our computer screens, there may not yet be sufficient spiritual equipping for the Church in Madison to respond appropriately.
Filed under: Madison, Wisconsin, Mission Leadership | Tags: Modernism, postmodern, privatization, reductionist, secularization, university
How does globalization impact the city of Madison? Some may be unaware of the impact. To respond, we need to first understand how our lives have been shaped by Modernism. “During the last decades of the 20th century, an unfortunate overemphasis on pragmatic and reductionist thinking,” significantly influenced by the modern university, “came to pervade the international Evangelical missionary movement.” Responding today requires understanding the way Christians have responded in the past. “Crippling omissions,” such as reducing the gospel to proclamation, created Christianity without regard for culture or the nations. (Taylor 2001:4)
The forces of Modernism created a greater wall of separation between the private and the public worlds. Today, secularization and privatization are powerful influences in culture, which isolate the influence of traditional Christian ministries. The postmodern response appears to reinforce the reaction to modernism. A new response is required.
This discussion continues…
Filed under: Activist | Tags: Business, conservationist, crucify, education, elites, emerging, entertainment, generations, government, hypocrisy, individualism, injustice, marginalized, materialism, media, Modernity, movements, multicultural, neo-pagan, news, patronage, pluralist, political, poor and needy, postmodern, prophets, protest, purity, religious, Second-Temple Judaism, secularism, self-righteous, slum, Tradition, urban
A growing segment of the postmodern Western world is urban, tech-savvy, pluralist, and conservationist. They care for their neighbors through community gardens, recycle efforts, and multicultural celebrations. Rather than ascribe to a single religious creed, this emerging neo-pagan people embrace a credo of caring for the poor and needy, the marginalized who have suffered under modern injustices.
Early penitent Modernists, like prophets, developed the principles of this emerging community through protest movements. However subsequent generations have taken on a more self-righteous rejection of the second-hand values of materialism, secularism, and individualism. The new leaders are proud of their progressive thinking and the supposed tolerance of their movement. Informed by multiple religious traditions, not least of which are select biblical teachings, this community enforces their vision of “purity” for government and business through the “patronage” of allied elites in politics, entertainment, and education. This power-laden religious/political force mimics Second-Temple Judaism.
Jesus makes headline news when miracles occur in his local community, a vast urban slum. He looks in the camera decrying the hypocrisy and injustice of the self-righteous and powerful. Those who once sought for justice for the poor reject Jesus and mount a media campaign to “crucify” him.
Filed under: Church | Tags: Bolger & Gibbs, Commission Groups, Dallas Willard, Discipleship Evangelism, Divine Conspiracy, Emerging Church, evangelism, Gospels, Mark Allen Powell, Multigenerational, postmodern, Worship
Many evangelical churches have blended worship styles, including ancient hymns and contemporary choruses, for multigenerational congregations. This generation welcomes this blend of styles. Spirituality is very popular in postmodern culture. Unchurched people are open to talking about Jesus, however Christianity and the traditional church are not welcome topics. Therefore, style alone will not be enough of a change. The emerging church pattern of merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities is to be applied with the other patterns, especially outside the traditional church settings.
Commission Groups have the flexibility to go anywhere inviting neighbors, coworkers, or other associates to explore spirituality, creating environments with ancient and contemporary elements that allow them to seek and respond to God. Commission Group leaders should be equipped to encourage a holistic and mystical spirituality without resorting to confrontational methods of evangelism. Instead, Commission Groups offer the opportunity for discipleship evangelism as described by Dallas Willard’s book, Divine Conspiracy.
This question of methods of evangelism is probably the greatest fault-line dividing the modern and post-modern formations of Christian church. What should be noted is that the Gospel writers were very effective. That we tell the Gospel story today, the life & death of Jesus as well as the most important historic event which may not easily be tested, his resurrection, is definitive proof of something: the Gospel story changed the way we think and live.
The impact of Jesus upon history begs more than an “objective, dispassionate reception” to the Gospel story, the times and the lives of those who told the story and the life of Jesus. As Mark Allen Powell writes, “We are free to accept or reject, belittle or embrace, but whatever our response, we ought to understand what these books intend to do: they intend to convert us.” (Fortress Introduction to the Gospels, p. 9) Rather than confronting our unbelieving neighbors with a “decision,” a practice that did not gain prominence until the 18th & 19th Century revival meetings, perhaps we should allow the story as it is told in the Bible to do the work of bringing people to Christ.
Non-believing members of Commission Groups will respond to discussions of Jesus and the study of the Bible. Commission Groups should be prepared to “connect and communicate their faith within the spiritual language of postmodern culture.” (Bolger & Gibbs 2005: 234)
Next Week’s Emerging Church Pattern: Transforming Secular Space
Filed under: Church | Tags: Bolger & Gibbs, Neil Cole, Organic Church, postmodern, reformation, Steve Taylor
Many evangelical churches operate with a programmed approach to ministry, coordinated primarily by the pastoral staff. Centrally coordinated programs weigh down the pastoral staff with the constant call upon members to volunteer to “serve the church.” If a pastor is unsuccessful creating space for others to do the work, the staff “ends up carrying the entire responsibility for the tasks of the congregation.” (See Bolger & Gibbs, Organic Churches) While many congregants faithfully attend Sunday meetings, too often they can remain unchallenged by its modern church form. The postmodern reformation of emerging churches is not only about structure; it is a rediscovery of the theology of James, that “faith without works is dead.” If churches restructure to “provide inviting experiences and pathways for people to move from being passive to active participants,” I believe spiritual and numerical growth will be the result.
If nominal believers and unbelievers were welcomed into Commission Groups, they would find greater opportunity to participate, moving from “experiential to experimental to existential converts.” (See Steve Taylor, Out of Bound Church) Group participants will find it easy to invite nonbelievers to service projects outside church walls. This kind of participation also serves to equip new leaders through an “obedience-oriented education,” in simple reproducible groups. (See Neil Cole, Organic Church) By participating as producers, a typical evangelical church can create space for the kingdom to come in their midst.
Next week’s Emerging Church Pattern: Merging Ancient & Contemporary Spiritualities
Filed under: Church | Tags: Bolger, Christendom, Church, emerging, Gen-X, Gibbs, Keel, postmodern, reformation, theology
Gen-X churches are not Emerging Churches, but rather failed attempts to emerge from the Western church form. The Emerging Church is not trying to rebuild Christendom, as some might hear in the larger Gen-X churches. Gen-X gatherings began in the early 1990’s. Within a few years, large churches began to sponsor churches within churches for Gen-X youth as if they were not ready for adult church. By the mid-1990’s, Gen-X church leaders, committed to the rigorous study of theology and postmodernity, began to focus on a postmodern reformation. These emerging church leaders such as Tim Keel, Jacob’s Well, understand that theology is “local, conversational, and temporary.” Many have concluded that if God would not dwell in a temple, neither will He dwell in our theology. Meanwhile, Ryan Bolgers and Eddie Gibbs point out in their book “Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures,” that some are questioning “whether postmodern Christians could still be considered evangelicals.”
According to Bolgers and Gibbs, emerging church leaders are more apt to speak of “what they are emerging from more than …what they are emerging into.” Facing centuries of institutional and cultural strongholds, emerging church leaders are accepting the challenge to counter modernity and its controls through hierarchy, doctrine, or consumerism. These are major challenges that require humility and discernment. In their book, Bolger and Gibbs outline nine patterns, identified by their field research with stories collected from fifty emerging church leaders. Those nine patterns are: identifying with Jesus, transforming secular space, living as community, welcoming strangers, serving with generosity, participating as producers, creating as created beings, leading as a body, and merging ancient and contemporary spiritualities. In the following posts, I will examine these emerging church patterns and propose ways to adopt them for your fellowship.
