On Tuesday I attended a lecture given by Bryan McLaren. Here are a few of his points in no particular order.
Many are rightly against various dangerous risks in postmodernism.
What about modernity? What are the dangers there?
If we are going to complain that postmodernism has terrible side affects, will the church offer an alternative, or will it continue to protect excessive confidence.
This modernity vs postmodernity debate is the tale side of the coin.
Instead lets talk about colonialism and post-colonialism.
How have the things that led to colonialism infiltrated our own churches?
We often package the “West” with the Christian faith.
People of the 2/3 world are trying to figure out how to un-bundle JC from the “West”.
The “gospel” of the west is entirely too thin.
We can say unequivocally that the world is changing, period! Epistemology and postmodern debates are the past; they are a “Western” debate that has nothing to do with where we are emerging to. They can only be useful if they help us move into the present.
My reaction: cautious acceptance. I have no doubt that the way the world and people see themselves has already changed and will continue to do so. What to do about it is the big question. In one sense I have the answer, “be missional”, don’t just do stuff, stuff at times called missions or evangelism, stuff divorced from our regular lives, but rather be something, be missional, be the church, be who Christ created you to be.
Now…what does that look like? I have no idea…ok I have some ideas, but I wouldn’t call them facts, and I certainly wouldn’t prescribe them for your use, what “being” looks like is something you and your community in conjunction with the Holy Spirit will have to decide, and not just once, but maybe everyday.
ok...not really everyday ; )
3 comments:
Kia Ora (Hello) from a krazy blogger down under in New Zealand. I reckon, that we were all put on this earth for a reason, which will be known to us, when He's ready. Each person has their little "job" to do before his number is called up yonder and he takes that "stairway to heaven.
Great blog. I'll be back...
hey there...
thoughts. it's true. we need to read the times we are in. but God is unchanging. His nature remains -- and praise God because life (at least mine!) is constantly changing--I need something solid. I think that as we are filled with His love, we need to go out and just be that. Be love to others. Be merciful, offer kind words and hugs where anger is most often expressed and where misunderstanding reigns. You know, what I don't like about all this emerging rhetoric is that it all gets so dang complicated. Just love.
-laura
Laura, I agree with the "love" lines, and with the idea that God dosen't change.
However, the lenses we see him through do. Consequently, though we can have a certain amount of foundationalism in our views of God, our views of theology need to be malleable, because theology is the result of human effort, and human effort is prone to error.
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