Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 3-021 (Leadership Issues)

MINISTRY IN THE POSTMODERN WORLD

by Siu Fung Wu

Facing the challenges of postmodernity ————————————–

There is no doubt that the world has changed enormously in the past decades, and it is undeniable that the way we do ministry has to change. What worked twenty years ago may not work today. Hence it is imperative that we examine the way we do things if we want to make an impact on this generation.

For a long time the Western world was dominated by modernity, with its emphasis on reason and logic. But reason and science seemed unable to deliver morality or meaning of life. This gave rise to a new way of life which many people call postmodernity.

But postmodernity is notoriously hard to define. For a start, there is no agreement on when it began, although many would say that the postmodern generation consists of those born after the mid-1960s or 1970s.

Also, some would say that postmodernity is simply an extension of modernity. For example, the tendency to reject traditions – a feature of postmodernity – was certainly not unheard of in the past.

Here we will not attempt to define postmodernity. Our interest lies in how we should do ministry in this postmodern age, and how this can be done without compromising biblical values.

The following will outline several key characteristics of postmodernity (some of which can be seen as extensions of modernity), and suggest how we can face the challenges that go with them. We shall see how postmodernity actually gives us new opportunities not available before.

Anti-tradition ————–

One characteristic of the postmodern generation is their hatred of tradition. Tradition is not necessarily a bad thing. When I was a young Christian I was told that I should go to church every Sunday, and I have hardly missed church all these years.

There were also all sorts of other “rules” regarding going to the movies, how one should dress, and how one should pray. All these traditions started with the best intention, and were designed to enforce righteous behaviour. (If you are a younger pastor reading this, don’t think that your ministry has no traditions. You probably have already started some.) Those who abided by them without missing their original intention would have benefited much.

Yet increasingly this generation rejects traditions. This may sound like a worrying trend. But instead of fearing that we are losing control, perhaps we should see it as an opportunity.

The primary function of the law is to show us the moral ideals of God and that we are sinners. (Rom 3:20; 7:7) The law is, however, powerless to restrain sin or ensure righteous behaviour. (Rom 8:3- 4; 7:7-25) Instead, it is the indwelling Spirit who can enable love- centred righteous living that pleases God. (Gal 5:22; cf. Gal 5:16; Rom 8:5-13)

Although this generation may not like traditions as such, we will be amazed by how Christians are willing to live a righteous life when their lives have been touched and transformed by the Spirit of the living God. “Rules” seek to control outward behaviour, but the Spirit transforms us on the inside.

Our job is to trust the empowering work of the Spirit and continue to faithfully teach the Word of God (hence his moral ideals). There are traditions to be retained because of their inherent values. But at times we need to let go of other traditions we hold dearly. In doing so we shall raise a new generation of believers who live a holy life without reliance on excessive rules and regulations.

Anti-authority ————–

Although reluctance to submit to authority is not a new phenomenon, it is certainly a growing trend in this postmodern age. Yet we find that people are still looking for role models. In fact, the yearning for role models is probably more than ever – because people really want to follow heroes. The problem is: They can hardly find any.

What kind of heroes are they looking for? They are looking for Christian leaders who are “real” – those who “do what they preach”. Amazingly people today can tolerate sin but not hypocrisy in a leader. We can no longer say one thing and do another. (We could in the past because leaders were not to be challenged.) Our life is being watched everyday.

Anti-authority tendency does not always mean lack of respect. People do want to respect their leaders. But respect has to be earned! The pastor is no longer automatically respected simply because he or she is an ordained minister.

Again it seems that people are not looking for the perfect pastor. They want someone who is genuinely interested in them and cares for them. They look up to leaders who are humble and are willing to admit their own shortcomings and failures.

This calls for extra vigilance on our part as ministers. Yet the good news is that once respect has been earned, it is real, heart- felt, and lasting. Respect is no longer superficial and it gives us much satisfaction as leaders.

Truth is not objective ———————-

While modernism says that there is such a thing as objective truth, this is not the case in postmodernism. Instead, truth is subjective and there can be many truths. As Christians we believe that there is only one true God. But we also believe that truth can (and has to) be “experienced” at a personal level.

In modernity Christians tried to analyse and understand everything. The emphasis was on the thinking rather than feeling. (One wonders whether even the apostle Paul did as much analysis as the “modern” Christian would.)

To reach out to the postmodern generation we need to make the right balance between the Word and the Spirit. We should continue to diligently study the Scriptures and at the same time allow the Spirit to work in our midst, both at a personal and corporate level.

The challenge for us is to experience the reality of Jesus on a daily basis, so that such a reality can be seen by people around us. Similarly, our church services and small group gatherings can no longer focus primarily on finding objective truth. Instead, there has to be a combination of worship, biblical study, and demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that people can experience the reality of Jesus in our midst.

Once people have experienced God, his majesty and forgiveness, they will be open to the objective biblical truth that forms the foundation of their experience.

The opportunity this gives us is enormous. People are going to believe in Jesus not simply because they are convinced intellectually, but that they – like the apostle Paul – have a true encounter of Jesus.

Faith is a private journey ————————–

What goes hand in hand with subjective faith is that it is private. Whether we like it or not, the Western world has become increasingly individualistic, and religion is seen as a private experience of the individual. (But reason is not entirely ignored either.)

Moreover, people today do not normally become Christians through one single decision made at an evangelistic meeting.

Instead, people need time to think about the issues. Often it takes a couple of experiences before someone decides to become a Christian. In fact, after that the person may still want to re- consider that decision a number of times. And because faith is “private”, it does not help if we try to “rush” the person by mere human reasoning and “Bible bashing”.

Faith is thus a private, individual, and sometimes, slow, journey. Church programs should no longer simply aim at leading people to make a decision for Christ. Instead, more should be done to provide people with opportunities to experience the reality of the gospel message.

This takes time and patience – for it may take many discussions, numerous uplifting experiences in church, and ongoing positive relationships with believers, before someone becomes a Christian. Yet the clear advantage is that having gone through such a journey (and continue to do so), people tend to develop a strong faith which can overcome the worst storms in their Christian lives.

Tolerance ———

In recent decades the Western society has become increasingly pluralistic, with people of many cultural and religious backgrounds living in our cities. Tolerance is not only called for by politicians but also believed in by many as an important and necessary moral attitude.

In this environment any form of Bible bashing simply won’t work. This does not mean that we no longer boldly and unashamedly proclaim the gospel, but that the way we communicate our message has to be different.

The key to communicate our message is to show the same kind of tolerance that other people give us. In fact, since people are more tolerant, they tend to let us share the gospel with them – if we genuinely respect their freedom to choose in matters of faith.

As long as our spirituality is real, sincere, and not based on external observation of traditions, many people are willing to hear our faith experience.

Once a trust is built it is a matter of time before the right opportunity comes to challenge the person to choose Jesus.

Cry for acceptance ——————

The cry for acceptance is not new. But increasingly people have grown up in broken families and experienced some kind of child abuse. This demands greater grace and acceptance on the part of the church. (The story in the first chapter of Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace is most telling.)

Often the message we hear at church is dominated by guilt (“you are a sinner”) and repentance (“turn from your wicked ways”). Such a message is obviously not without biblical basis.

But the Bible is far more than sin, judgement and repentance. It has much to say about salvation, joy, and hope of glory. The problem is that even when we preach joy and hope we portray them as things that have to be earned with hard work.

What we need to do in this postmodern world is to demonstrate God’s grace both in words and action! Obviously there is no compromise when it comes to God’s moral ideals, and our life and message have to reflect his righteous standard. Yet let us never be like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son, who worked hard for his father as the “righteous son” but failed to accept his sinful brother whose return the father had eagerly longed for.

Let our life and message be filled with grace!

Multicultural ————-

Today’s Western society is very multicultural. About one in five Australians do not speak English at home. Not only that our society is multicultural, its cultural characteristics are also evolving. While immigrants in the old days spoke little English and retained their traditional culture, their children are quite different.

We have, for example, a new generation of young people who are Muslims or middle-class Chinese. They lead a very decent lifestyle because of their cultural upbringing. Yet in many other ways they think and live like any other young Australians.

This again presents us with new opportunities for the gospel, for the cross-cultural mission field has come to us (while in the past it was found mainly overseas).

This demands our willingness to learn and understand different worldviews in order to contextualise the gospel in a way that people can understand. It also requires us to respect other people’s religious beliefs and genuinely make friends with them.

Above all, relationship ———————–

It should have become obvious that most of the above require relationship building. The challenge for all of us is to build genuine relationships with the people around us despite our busyness.

The tendency for us is to design “new” programs to meet the challenges of postmodernity, but that is often done in a way that makes already-busy Christians busier.

It is better to have a relatively small number of well-organised programs that target at building relationships and/or presenting the gospel effectively. The time saved by not having excessive programs will enable Christians to build genuine relationships with one another, at their workplaces and neighbourhood.

Most of all we need to start from ourselves. Instead of getting busy with activities, perhaps we should delegate work to others (who may turn out to be better people for the job). Instead of spending a little time with as many people in the congregation as possible, perhaps we should spend more time with fewer people, and they can in turn look after those we don’t have time for. Genuine relationships can be built only when we are willing to give people time.

The challenges of postmodernity are great, but the opportunities are enormous.

– Siu Fung Wu <> (JustCHARIS Ministries)

References used —————

Miller, Gordon. “A Beginner’s Guide to Postmodernism”, Leadership Letter (Issue 172; World Vision New Zealand, July/August 2002). McGrath, Alister. Christian Theology (Oxford: Blackwell,1994) 102-5.