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The Culture of Postmodernism and the Missionary Task

© copyright 2003 Ehud M. Garcia, Ph.D.
Diaspora Intercultural Academy
Lewiston, Idaho

I have reasons to believe I am a half breed between a baby-boomer and a baby-buster. I am an "overlapped" person. In fact, this has a great impact in my being. In many ways I feel that I find myself in a dual position in life: I like to think objectively, but also I find times when I am very subjective and intuitive; I tend to be a left brain scholar, but at the same time I cannot help but allowing my sensitivity toward the arts to almost overcome my worldview; I am both deductive and inductive; I am scientific and at the same time I have a lot of mysticism in my thoughts; I am a theologian and I am a lay person; I am a pastor and I am a sheep; I am a professor and also a student; I am Calvinist, but sometimes I think like a Mennonite or even an Arminian; I am modern and I am postmodern; I have faith and at the same time, I fight against many doubts. Finally, I am a multiple-dual citizen: Brazilian and American, a world citizen and a pilgrim journeying to Heaven. I am a transitional person who walks across fine lines all the time. So, I have reasons to believe I am a half breed; just a normal and contemporary guy.

Existence has been part of my great quest, as it has been the same for most people I have met as I walk through this world. Not that I have doubts about it, but I am a journeyman from the very minute of my days, and I will continue to be so until that day I will be called to be face to face with my Lord Jesus. In this road I have met precious friends and comrades. I have found what I was looking for, but it cost me an arm and a leg. I know who I am, but there had to be a turning point in my life for that to happen: I had to receive yet a new life which enables me to see the meta-everything. I have come to the point of collision between the self I used to be and the new self that I was made through the love and care of God. Yes, I am! I exist and this is the most wonderful discovery in my life! However, I am still a product of an "epoch," a child of a moment of explosion of ideas. I was born in the midst of the most wonderful struggles in contemporary life and I carry with me a legacy of deep turning points in worldwide history.

I am a follower of Jesus Christ, walking on a new path, learning a new life. Although my quest for existence has ended in Christ, for in Him I found the real meaning of life, I continue to learn more about this existence as I walk the streets of this time, bound in space and hoping to see the final destination in my own existence. I am a journeyman who still has a long walk, an exciting path in front of me and I cannot walk it alone. As I follow Jesus, I want to share that joy with others. I am a journeyman with a mission: To make Him known among the nations!

This essay seeks to find a basis for the understanding of the culture [1] of Postmodernism. I approach the issue from distinct perspectives which, at the same time, I think will help us to establish a tentative description of who is the postmodern person and how the Church will respond to one's needs in a contemporary way. These perspectives or angles from which I work will in one way or the other be present in the debate of this series of addresses that we are going to deal with in the next days.[2] I draw some insights from philosophy, music, theology, and then I will try to wrap them with a missiological reflection that will challenge all of us into a new and contextualized way of sharing the Good News among those who have lost their sense of belief and who do not hold any absolutes. This essay is concerned with the understanding of the culture of Postmodernity, but at the same time it opens up its latitude to the major and overall concern for us today: How to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the postmodern culture, which is so predominant in our midst and also growing trans-culturally among the nations.

Postmodernity has a number of definitions.[3] As we may safely affirm, it is almost impossible to define it and come up with a final "dogmatic" explanation of what it really is. Some will call it "supra-modernity," for example. I tend to think in terms of "meta-modernity," which will be discussed below. Thomas C. Oden presents it in a broader way, in which he gives the idea of an ultra-modern period. After discussing the death of modernity, he offers some possibilities for something that is happening after that.[4] David R. Griffin introduces four categories that will help us to better understand the complexity of postmodernism in this yet new stage of epistemological construction. He talks of (1) Deconstructive Postmodernism, (2) Liberationist Postmodernism, (3) Constructive Postmodernism, and (4) Conservative or Restorationist Postmodernism. Our essay does not have enough space for the discussion on each category but it is safe to say that I situate myself in the realm of the third and fourth categories.[5]

The World of Postmodernity

This essay deals with culture as it relates to postmodern issues. Before I enter in the realm of the culture of post-modernity, I want to emphasize that there is a fine line between what we believe about culture and what we think it is a Christian culture. On the one hand, culture in general is the learned traits of behavior that someone acquires from the very first minute of life until that person dies. Culture in this sense is what we are and contains the core of our very being in society. We call this "Worldview." A person's worldview is the center of his or her cultural being and dictates the values by which that person lives throughout life. On the other hand, culture is mostly linked with the core of one's worldview. In the West, Christianity plays a significant role in most cultural views, even among people who do not share our faith in Jesus Christ, but have lived all their lives in a Christian, Judeo-Chris>ian, of post-Christian environment. H. R. Rookmaaker, late professor of the history of art at the Free University of Amsterdam, once made a very interesting comment on the relation of both, that is, the relation between Christianity and culture, which will help us to set the stage for what I want to discuss below: "Christianity and culture can, of course, mean two things: what attitude the Christian should have to the surrounding (non-Christian or secular) culture; or what kind of a culture will be the result of the Christian's way of life."[6]

I was kindly asked by the coordinators of this symposium to come up with some introduction to the context of postmodern culture and how we could engage in ministry for that particular context. It is a very challenging task and I hope we all will learn out of this. I start with the assumption that we are in the fringe of two major eras, the modern which is still in full swing and the postmodern which is in the making for at least the past forty to fifty years. It was, for example, Michael Polanyi, a distinguished physical chemist and philosopher from England, who probably introduced the initial possibility of a postmodern epistemology[7] in his book Personal Knowledge back in 1958. In his book, he opens the doors for an apparent paradox: here a person needs to concede to the fact that just by seeking personal knowledge, one goes beyond the mere objectiveness of classic epistemology of modernism. Then there is a dilemma posed before us: "personal" is a more subjective thing, whereas "knowledge" calls for a more objective way of building up understanding. He, nonetheless, calls the attention to the fact that a personal inquiry is not necessarily subjective. It calls to the personal verification of the phenomena, as we may consider through what he has to say:

Such is the personal participation of the knower in all aspects of understanding. But this does not make our understanding subjective. Comprehension is neither an arbitrary act nor a passive experience, but a responsible act claiming universal validity. Such knowing is indeed objective in the sense of establishing contact with a hidden reality.[8]

In his book, Polanyi suggests a post-critical approach to the theory of knowledge, thus debunking an old modernist episteme. This is the beginning for a new paradigm shift that has been taking place in many places of the globe in the past decades.

I contend that what we see today is the result of this post-critical philosophy. It has a lot to do with the line below despair that Francis Schaeffer talks about in his classic books The God Who is There and Escape from Reason,[9] which has set the tone for confusion and for the big "jump" into the depths of post-modernity.[10] As such, David J. Bosch stated that "the 'Post-' phenomenon is not just a fad. We have truly entered into an epoch fundamentally at variance with anything we have experienced to date."[11]

We are indeed in a world of postmodernity. Its reality is present and we cannot afford living as bystanders in this new paradigmatic world. What has been changing in mission theory in the past years up to the present needs to be reevaluated almost yearly now.[12] Everything is changing in a pace never seen before; we are stepping into an ever evolving situation, and the Church needs to catch up with the fast revolving door of paradigm shifts that take place almost at the speed of light.[13]

Ralph D. Winter, founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission, has also helped in the understanding of how modern missionary development can be traced and put in perspective for the days to come. He talks about three important eras in modern mission, which are crucial for a better understanding of our missionary task today.[14] The first is the Coastlands Era (1792-1910), which was initiated by William Carey. This era was under an European dominance, and had a time span of about 118 years. The second is called the Interior Mission Era (1865-1980), which had Hudson Taylor as its main character. It was linked with the creation of China Inland Mission, S.I.M., the Student Volunteer Movement, and also the advance of many denominational mission enterprises, such as the Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian. It had a time frame of 115 years. This era was predominantly under the American dominance. The third is called the Hidden Peoples Era, also Bypassed Peoples or Tribal Mission Era, (1934-present), with its emphasis on the unreached peoples of the globe. Two important names are linked with this era: Cameron Townsend, founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators and Donald A. McGavran, founder of the Church Growth Movement. The dominance in this era seems to be more the Third World so far.[15] It has a time span of more than sixty-five years. One important thing to note is that between one era and the other, there has been a significant overlap in time. Between the first and the second eras, there was an overlap of forty-six years; between the second and the third there was a forty-five year overlap. Now, the third era is overlapping with at least two different eras, which I will introduce below.

There seems to be more than three eras in the missionary advance of the Church. Paul E. Pierson, former dean of Fuller School of World Mission, talks about a fourth era, which has begun sometime around 1980, the Urban Mission Era.[16] Three prominent names are linked with this era: Ray Bakke, Harvie M. Conn, and Roger Greenway. It is a movement that is taking over most of the missionary effort because of the fast urbanization and globalization of the world. By the year 2010, according to many urban experts, it is expected that over eighty percent of the world will be urbanized.

I suggest that we are overlapping with yet another important "era" for missions: The Transgenerational Era. The shrinking of time span is visible in these past two decades. The emergence of this transgenerational era is the focus of our attention in this symposium because it deals with the tremendous challenges of "post-" phenomena in all aspects. The generation gap is closing in a vertiginous way; by the very fact that we see new computer generations every year, we start detecting new generations of people almost in a five-year basis lately. Prior to World War II, we find the "Older Generation." The Baby-Boomer Generation goes from 1945 to about 1965. The Buster Generation is from about 1965 to 1975. We hear about the Generation X, which is between 1975 and 1995, and now we hear of the Generation-@, from 1990 to present. I would like to mention even another generation that is here in our midst today: the Millennium Generation. For that matter, I should call the attention to some characteristics that will help us understand our context of this Transgenerational Era. It is primarily a North Atlantic phenomenon, but because of the fast globalization taking place, it has entered the realms of Two-Thirds World contexts already. We are facing a "no-name" initiator who is globalized and permeates the most distant corners of the Earth. It crosses distant "frontiers" and yet, it makes the world into a "frontier-less" village. It is urban and suburban, there are no walls. Its spirituality is alive and misguided; but at the same time is concerned with some form of truth.

I see it as High-End Modernity and Meta-Modernity. The presence of Modernity is still there: there is a high technological engagement, but at the same time, there is a search for that which is beyond Modernity. It is also Meta-Modernity because it transcends the machine and opens up for the invasion of the "sensate,"[17] the "spiritual," the "out-there." It seems to me that to call the entire world a "Postmodern World" is an arbitrary decision. The population of the world turned six billion on October 12, 1999.[18] I suggest that no more than twelve percent of this population live in the North Atlantic Western world and can be labeled as postmodern. Postmodernism is basically a Western phenomenon. As I mentioned above, globalization is probably the main contributing factor for the spread of the postmodern ethos worldwide. But this does not reach every group or individual yet. I would like to submit that the distribution of the world's population should be viewed through the following grid[19]:

In this case, there is still a lot of missionary work to do in non-postmodern societies. We need to learn how to evaluate the challenges before us and then allocate better our efforts for mission work accordingly. All of those challenges reveal a growing concern about the development or spread of the postmodern "virus" in the world system. It easily permeates all kinds of systems: societal, cultural, ecological, philosophical, and religious. The response of the Church to such challenges seems to be still that of denial. Robert N. Nash, in a suggestive title for his book, deals with the presence of the Church in a postmodern society. He delivers a powerful message right on: An 8-Track Church in a CD World: The Modern Church in the Postmodern World.[20] Tom Sine suggests that due to the crescendo of globalism, we are in a Mac...World. Bosch, however, chastises the Church with the following statement,

Although the New Age movement and related groups seem to thrive on the contemporary cultural crisis of the West, the church only too frequently responds by digging trenches and preparing for a long siege, hoping against hope that, somehow, the threat will go away.[21]

The same seems to be the case for postmodern related mission strategizing. Somehow, missionary efforts seem to delegate this kind of mission work to youth ministries alone, but this is a dire mistake. The postmodern mind can be as old as an older Baby-Boomer. There are postmodern persons who would be around sixty years of age today. To make my point, I decided to take examples from some sources that probably many of our College students do not know about because they were born much later than those sources. However, most of what is being articulated in the minds and hearts of the youth today is a result of the sixties and the seventies because of the trans-generational phenomenon that is taking place in contemporary history.

"The Dream Is Over"

John Lennon is considered to be one of the key voices for world peace in contemporary world even today. Although he died in 1980, he still holds the lead position of a peacemaker for thousands of fans all over the world. His song Imagine was considered the most played and sang tune in England in the Twentieth Century.[22] Yet these are the words he left in a song entitled "God."[23]

God is a concept
by which we may show our pain...
. . . I don't believe in Hitler
I don't believe in Jesus
I don't believe in Kennedy
. . . I don't believe in Yoga
I don't believe in kings
I don't believe in Elvis
I don't believe in Zimmermann
I don't believe in Beatles
I just believe in me
. . . That's reality,
The dream is over,
What can I say,
The dream is over,
Yesterday... I was the Walrus,
but now I'm John.
And so, dear friends,
We just have to carry on,
the dream is over.

This characterizes the picture of postmodern life. For many, the dream seems to be over. One of the main characteristics of postmodern thought is the inability to believe. It has become a society of desperate unbelief. People have lost their hope in the future. One of the aggressive reactions of postmodernity is the revolution against all kinds of pre-established statuses and traditional values. It is a subconscious reaction against modern epistemology but at the same time, it is a return to some sort of pre-modern spiritual practices. As an example, one will notice that there has been a return to the Gothic, mainly through the Punk lifestyle.[24]

Symptoms of decay are visible in European music. Krafwerk, a German Rock band, suggests that we are showroom dummies in a society of consumerism. We have been deeply affected by the post-War and Cold War "Radio-Activity." An endless trip in the Trans Europe Express mirrors a narcissist society which is rather disappointed with itself.[25] Pink Floyd depicts the state of a decadent Europe through the many lyrics that the group has created, although most of their work was devoted to their friendship with the founder of the group, Syd Barrett, who left the group due to mental disorder, along with drug abuse. The climax of this devotion is the album "The Wall," which describes the life of a Rock star, Pink, who ends up in a state of total mental disorder. In that opera-like album, Roger Waters goes against the increasing sarcasm that was going on in the British school system, however: "We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the classroom, Teachers leave the kids alone. Hey, teacher... leave us kids alone. All in all it's just another brick in the wall."[26] The Who, another English Rock group, calls the attention to "Tommy," a "messianic" figure, who is healed by "powers" beyond the powers of Jesus. Then he becomes a figure of "jesus" for a desperate and impaired postmodern world.

Using an old version of the Bible, it is easy to understand that "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Prov. 29:18, KJV). In the same way, when the dream is over, the people will perish too.

"I Still Haven't Found"

Should one spend time looking for Christianity in pop music, one will certainly find a wealth of information for a thesis suggesting that apparently many musicians are very religious and, to some degree, good Christians. Then one will find Paul Simon talking about a young lady who told him about the Pentecost; elsewhere, another will find him and his partner Art Garfunkel singing "Silent Night." Yet, in a different release, one will hear them say that "Jesus is the answer for the world today." Very impressive for two Jewish guys! I have just bought a CD of Elvis Presley singing Christmas songs. Although I do not necessarily think Elvis is a bad person, his singing is inspiring, and -Why not? he is the "king"!- I think he did not convince me about his spiritual walk with Jesus either. John Lennon and Yoko Ono released "Happy Xmas" in the early 1970s, a track that questions what have we done. It is interesting to note that the background carries a chant to Hari Krishna, instead of Jesus Christ. In my home country, one will find numerous pop music artists singing about Jesus as well. One of them, since I am covering one particular era, is Roberto Carlos, who wrote several songs for Jesus. Lately, he is taking advantage of the tremendous revitalization of Roman Catholicism in Brazil and has included some tunes in honor of the Virgin Mary as well.

A popular singer in Brazil, Raul Seixas, once released a tune in English with the following words:

Reformulation, re-arrange the game you're in
Let us start from the begin (sic) with confidence you'll win
That's the reason you were born
'Cause Jesus Christ, man
Won't be coming back no more
He set up his proper laws
And you know well that he did
Just what he should have done...[27]

Seixas represents a person who has a confused view of Jesus as do so many other artists who want to show some knowledge about Him.

But I want to bring forth yet another group which I find very interesting: U2, from Ireland. The first time I heard U2 was around 1985 in Los Angeles. Let me explain why it took me so long to listen to their music. I came to Christ in 1977 and after that time I was told that everything "rock'n'roll-ish" was devilish... So I quit listening to secular music for many years. Upon my missiological studies, I came across a liberating issue, that of "Critical Contextualization," taught by one of the great contemporary missiologists in North America, Paul G. Hiebert, from Deerfield, Illinois. After making a critical evaluation on what secular music meant to me, I found it honest, and above all biblical, to realize that there is secular music that is "blessed" by God under the common grace principle.[28] Thus I was able to make a significant change in my Christian worldview and accept the fact that there is good music out there which will not necessarily send me to hell.

I was told in the beginning that U2 was a Christian group. Not necessarily a church-related Christian group, rather, they were professing Christian artists. I learned later that they have some tunes that clearly show their Christianized background. But one of them in particular, shows a deep message that represents a generation of post-Christian or nominal Christian people who are in a journey of findings in their own spirituality. It is part of an album that is probably the most religious among all their other releases, the Joshua Tree album.

The title of the song is quite significant because it really depicts the anguish of a society that is looking for something more in Christianity, but they even do not know exactly what it is. In some aspects, because of the beautiful lyrics, it is highly theological indeed. Some of the most impressive lines of the song could be verified here:

I have climbed the highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you

I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
Only to be with you
But I still Haven't found
What I'm looking for
But I still Haven't found
What I'm looking for
. . . . 
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
But yes I'm still running
You broke the bonds
You loosed the chains
You carried the cross
And my shame
And my shame
You know I believe it
But I still Haven't found
What I'm looking for
But I still Haven't found
What I'm looking for.[29]

The lyrics of this song is a prophetic word for the Church today. There is a tremendous and significant import in what the people around us think and what they do with their faith. In the same way that James Dean symbolized a wandering humanity, not only through his portrait of a rebel but also through his death in the way he wanted to live, so is the generation that surrounds us with so many questions about their own existence and purpose in life. More than that, the postmodern world is probably believing but without knowing whether or not they have found what they are looking for.

Holism and the Global Village

Another aspect of Postmodernism is the turn to anything that is holistic. In a parallel path, it is interesting that only today we Evangelicals are paying attention to the idea of a global village as well. In fact, globalization and holism cannot be separated. One depends on the other and should one decide to seek knowledge in this area, one needs to spend time in both camps. While many are looking to Globalization as an eschatological proof that the End is near,[30] this trend is here to reshape the missionary strategy of the Church for the 21st Century. Globalization means opportunity for ministry, not a motif for quitting doing mission because of eschatological reasons.

Globalization has opened the door for a number of multi-phenomena: multi-ethnics, multi-culturalism, Internet-related global commerce (e-Commerce), and also Religious Pluralism. Here the issue becomes even bigger and this essay does not have the time to discuss it. However, I would like to introduce, again, a Brazilian pop singer, Raul Seixas (1946-1989), who has become the "guru" for the New Age movement in Brazil. This helps us to understand that Religious Pluralism is not a phenomenon that happens in the West only. He actually teamed up with Paulo Coelho[31], a Brazilian pop philosopher, who is probably the most read New Age advocate in Brazil today.

Seixas was born in Bahia, one of the most mystical states of Brazil, where most of the African-Brazilian cults proliferate. Not only that, he seemed to have had a very interesting spiritual pilgrimage himself. He was baptized as an infant in the Roman Catholic church, but his first wife was a daughter to Presbyterian missionaries in Brazil.[32] Later, he left his first wife and, as his career became more successful, he delved into a more philosophical and New Age lifestyle. He clearly exemplifies the postmodern mind in many areas. One of his hits is entitled "Gitã," which talks about a pluralism of mystical cosmic power. It deals with creation, evolution, spiritual progression, Karma, and Nirvana. Another tune is entitled "I was born Ten Thousand Years Ago." This is an interesting story of an old man who saw everything, from Noah's Ark to Christ's crucifixion to the burning of witches in New England. He saw Moses cross the Red Sea and Mohammed give birth to Islam, Peter denying Christ in Jerusalem, and the Holocaust in Hitler's war. He saw candles being lit for the Pope, he also saw Babylon being destroyed. This shows how religious-oriented this song is and at the same time how it is pluralistic in its approach.[33]

Yet another tune of his talks about an "Alternative Society." Here he suggests that people should do whatever they want because this is the law of his alternative society. That alternative society is an attempt to liberate people from any sign of guilt or any sense of commitment. It disengages people from responsibility and gives them a wrong idea about what could be seen as lawful. Again, it has a philosophical and religious tone and carries the seed of rebellion that is a result of his own time. A last tune that I want to refer to is entitled "Walking Metamorphosis." He says, "I choose to be this walking metamorphosis than having an old fashion opinion about everything." He demonstrates to have a paradoxical way of thinking and this should be his lifestyle. He talks about being the antithesis of the antithesis and the thesis of that antithesis. However, he does not come to any point of convergence or closure, and does not provide any opening for a synthesis at least.

Holism is the key element of postmodern spirituality and it is only possible because of the increasing globalization taking place nowadays. We need to be attentive to this trend because it can become an important open door for a more complete communication of the Gospel both in mono-cultural and in cross-cultural settings. The main challenge for holism and pluralism is the uniqueness of Christ, which is the sine qua non factor in mission today. A word must be said about the importance of raising a Christological mission theology that will suffice for the great challenges of religious pluralism today. Christology must be revisited and seriously restated for a relevant and transforming mission. The postmodern world already knows significantly well about the pop theological Jesus spoken through different media. What they need is a Christological message that introduces Jesus Christ as the only person with the power to save and give eternal life. Time has come when Jesus needs to be introduced with power that transcends the modern view of His transcendence. This will be accomplished only under the power of the Holy Spirit. Mark Driscoll, a pastor from Seattle, said that "The church is the greatest resource we have when it is full of the Holy Spirit." It is now, more than ever, that we must learn how to depend on the work of the Holy Spirit in the missionary advance of the Church.

At the same time, we need to come to the understanding that a new vision for mission is called for. I think that mission theory needs to go beyond the cross-cultural paradigm. It is trans-cultural, trans-generational, but above all it is multi-cultural in its core. It is naïve to say that missions is something that just cross cultural barriers. It goes far beyond that. The mission field is right at our doorsteps and it comes to us with multifaceted makeup. Globalism and holism are part of the new paradigm for mission; they are present both in urban and suburban settings, and many of the so called "hidden" cultures will be affected by these phenomena in no time soon.

Religious Pluralism

A word must be added to the most important aspect of globalization, which, in our case, becomes the major challenge at this segment of history: Religious Pluralism.[34] Along with it, we must include some important missiological implications that should be taken in consideration along with the reflection in the next heading.

The main characteristic of Religious Pluralism is its high commitment to a relativist view of religion. Suddenly, there has been too many "gods" to choose from. Religion is becoming a major part of the Western cultural makeup and as such it has opened the gates for a wide and diverse religious shopping mall. In the same way one has the freedom to choose a specific television channel out of hundreds, one is free to choose whatever religious "channel" that might be available in religious window shopping. Relativism takes care of any orthodox or dogmatic views on God; let alone on Jesus Christ Himself. There seems to be a "Jesus" for every spiritual quest today; but that "Jesus" is rather diluted into a vast list of preferences, which makes him equal with other great spiritual leaders in the world. Not long ago, I met an urban pastor in Chicago, who told me that sometimes he prays to Jesus, other times he prays to the Buddha, to Krishna, or whoever deity he feels like praying to.

Another important thing to note is the fast spread of world religions among westerners. One of my students was doing some field work at the University of Calgary not long ago. While he was talking with one of the university's chaplains, they realized that it was time for the Muslim students to pray. So they noticed that among the several Muslims there were a considerable number of Caucasian worshipers of Alah. This shows not only how Islam is growing in the West, but also depicts the invasion of world religions into the religious core of North American values, which obviously helps to change the center of the North American worldview. The same can be said about England, for example, which is to be considered mostly Muslim than Christian nowadays. The growth of Spiritism in South America is also reason for further investigation. When Argentina became an open door for the Gospel in the 1980s, it also opened up the gateways for Mormonism and African-Brazilian cults, such as Umbanda, Candomblé, and Kardecist Spiritism. Germany is today deeply involved in the occult, so is Southern California. Zen-Buddhism is the religion of choice of many people who shape society today, such as movie stars, NBA coaches, and other personalities. The same with Scientology, which seems to be the preference of other notorious people, among them John Travolta and Tom Cruise.

In this pluralistic society, the Gospel has been weakened and compromised to the point that its message is not relevant even for Christians in their churches. A key question must be raised at this moment: "Who is Jesus Christ anyway?" This question leads to yet others: "What is the Gospel all about?" or "Why do we need to preach the Gospel?" Yet another crucial question should be added here: "Is there a Gospel that claims to be the Truth?" This all depends on how we deal with the whole issue of pluralism and how we also deal with the issue of the uniqueness of the Gospel and, mainly, the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in contemporary religious scenario.

Another missiological implication in pluralism is that there seems to be a crescent confusion between what is religious and what is ethical; in other words, there seems to be an equation between what is religious tolerance and what is moral tolerance. They seem to be the same. In this case, issues such sexual preference, for example, have invaded the realm of the sacred and it cannot be touched as something that will go against the moral attributes of God. Suddenly, the deconstruction of Christian ethics have allowed for a growing misunderstanding of God's Law as well as God's Grace. Along with that, there is a growing dissatisfaction with the Christian Faith. Slowly we are facing a rather cynical Christianity in our midst. Christians have increasingly become cynical in their views of the world and in the promised hope for the future. In a conversation with a theologian from Detroit, I had to conclude that my new friend was very postmodern in his theological views and the key aspect of that was observed by his fragmented view of hope, a totally deconstructed eschatological view which tries to survive by the fragmented perception of Jesus' presence in the world around him. I believe that Peter's admonition to the churches in Asia Minor is very appropriate for today (2 Peter 3) and we should spend time learning from the prophet-philosopher-poet Habakkuk again, because the righteous shall live by his or her faithfulness (Hab. 2:4).

This leads me to realize that the challenges that are posed before the Church are indeed crucial for these last days. Among them I want to point out the urgent need to deal with the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in this pluralist and postmodern world. As we will explore later, we need to come up with a Christocentric mission theology. Also, we need to have a phenomenological approach to world religions, to bring the whole Gospel to the whole person; healing for our minds in a dysfunctional world through a deep showing of theological integrity, and finally through a critically contextualized missiology.

The Postmodern Challenge and the Missionary Task

We come now to a brief missiological reflection that brings forth a strategy for relevant missionary work in the postmodern culture. We need to learn more about that culture so that we may engage in serious mission work among postmodern people.

We will not learn the postmodern culture through a literary and academic exercise, we must get a grip and live intentionally among postmodern people (or at least realize that most of our neighbors are already postmodern). For that matter, it is necessary that a significant change take place in our own epistemology, that is, we must come to the realization that we need to allow room for a new paradigm shift. I do not believe that the Church at large is ready to minister to postmodern people yet, but it is imperative that we move quickly in learning how to do so in order to reach out to them more effectively in a contextualized way.

A few key characteristics about the postmodern culture are: relationship, relativism, holistic mind set, intuition, and honesty. Postmodern culture is primarily a relational one. PostM people are looking for relationships that go beyond the individualist way of life so present in Western culture and worldview. Community is key and the PostM church is concerned about social issues in the same level of what we dichotomize as being spiritual. This brings forth the whole issue of holism in their societal expectations. They want to experience life together.[35]

One of the main frameworks in postmodern epistemology is its relativistic view. Because it has a reactionary position against Enlightenment and its modern presuppositions, PostM has a wider and more relativistic approach to philosophy, lifestyle, and so forth. One needs to be aware of it and guard oneself against this episteme. If on the one hand postmodernists react against dogmatic absolutism in Modern philosophy, they, on the other hand, are also dogmatic in their relativism.

Also, PostM culture is intuitive. Instead of following the modern view of seeking truth, which is rationalistic, logical, with more informational preaching, they are non-rationalist, relying on experience, emotions, and friendship.[36] They welcome a more "mystic" preaching, which is demonstrated by authenticity.

One of the reasons for their search for an honest truth is that they want to go in depth in their emotions and they want to explore truth in a different way. Instead of a programmatic church they want a natural church environment where they can grow together. PostM culture is more of a right brain society, leaving the left brain behind. The high reliance on emotions, feelings, experiences is due to the right brain creative approach which lead them into a relationship with God. In one sense, this is also part of their non-rationalist attitude toward the value systems that have for so long tried to guide their existential values. Here we find a culture that is looking for a faith that works, not just a faith that estimates on people's future with no visible results.

Healing of Our Minds

One missiological question demands an answer at this point: "What to do in terms of theological integrity?" This is a very crucial question if we want to minister in a culture that basically does not believe; that is, a culture that is void of a value system that provides a relevant locus for its own faith system. Remember that we are in a society that has lost hope and still joins John Lennon in saying that the dream is over. This is a generation of nihilism, shaped by people who are totally alien in a moral, philosophical, and spiritual desert; people whose escapism is such that the best appeal is the possibility of an outer space amorphous help, instead of a factual and real possibility of truth and faith in an Absolute God.

As I come to a conclusion I want to discuss the very essence of the Fall. It all started in Adam and continues in Adam. It continues to effect its power on humankind. No matter how difficult the next generation is, the symptoms of the Fall are the same. Without getting into the debate of Evolution in itself, I concur that humankind actually has evolved in its philosophical sophistication, in its technology and science. This is inevitable because we bear the image of God, which includes creativity. The only different aspect of Humanist evolution, is that we are not evolving for better in our relationship with God. The first Humanist was not Immanuel Kant, nor was he Aldous Huxley, but our first parent, Adam. Since then, we are trying hard to do better, but we always end up going even more distant of our Target, God Almighty. This is sin and we need to deal with it in the cross, there is no other way.

However, this is not that simple. In order to reach the PostM world, we need to first come up with a suitable theology that will confront their contemporary epistemology. Here we need to grasp better the issue of making the Gospel alive for each generation, specially for a specific generation such as the PostM. We cannot assume that the Enlightenment-based theological presuppositions are the ones that dictate the correct theology for each and every future generation before us. Actually this requires a rereading of the Bible that will transform our generation in the same way that it did to the people of Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. At the same time, we need to understand that the same happened with the Reformation movement, but now, maybe the Lord is waiting for a new Reformation to take place.[37]

Our message needs to be around three basic principles. First of all, the assurance that the Word of God will prevail forever. As such, it will continue inspired, infallible, and transforming. But we need to read it with a hermeneutic that will bridge to the people of today, not for those of yesterday. God works today and never ceased to amaze the elect with the power of His Word.

The second principle is that of the Holy Spirit and His work in applying God's salvation upon those who come to Jesus Christ. (This is "old Systematic Theology"!). It is the work of the Holy Spirit that brings people to Christ and nothing else. This has been happening all the way through pre-modern, modern, and now PostM eras. All of those who come to Christ will come because the Holy Spirit first of all will grant them life (Eph. 2:1-5). If one is not born of the Spirit, one will not receive the Kingdom of God (Jn. 3:3, 5). If we do not see the Holy Spirit working in our midst, we better have a serious evaluation on our mission theology and principles. This second principle takes for granted that mission must be Christological, because the Holy Spirit was sent from the Father and from the Son in order to glorify them both.

A third principle is given by the Apostle Paul. We need to be transformed in our minds as a result of our living sacrifice to him (Rom. 12:1-2). This applies to both missionary and the recipients of God's Good News. The problem with PostM epistemology is that it is as bad as the problem with Adam's epistemology: there is no difference between them for both come from fallen hearts (Jer. 17:9). We are facing a new form of distorted views of God (Rom. 1:18-32) and only God has the power to correct that problem. This is done through the preaching of the Gospel and, as we learn from Paul, through the hearing of the word of Jesus (Rom. 10:17). We must understand that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against bad logic, sophisms that are built against the knowledge of our Lord Jesus (2 Cor. 10:4-5), and what we need to do is entirely under the scrutiny and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

For that matter, our message cannot be compromised. Therefore, we do not preach forms but content. The absoluteness of the Word of God must be kept as it is, plain truth. But the forms we may use for a better conveying of that message need to constantly be evaluated and critically applied in the mission field. This is critical contextualization, which is done under the guidance of the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the missionary, and his or her given community.[38]

One needs to understand that one does not have to follow a nihilist epistemology in order to convey the truth. This would be bad contextualization. The message of the Gospel, even though should be contextualized, transcends the boundaries of the context. It is here that the Gospel will be transformational and healing. All of us, missionaries and mission field, need God's supernatural healing for our minds. This is called by Jesus "conversion," which is in its New Testament meaning a complete change of mind.

Finally, I want to make clear that the mission frontier keeps moving. Viv Grigg, an urban mission strategist from New Zealand, has suggested that the frontier has moved to the city, which I agree entirely. I will go a step further, however, in suggesting that the frontier has moved even further to the Internet, to the local schools, to the next door family, to my own family. If I may use some Star Wars terminology, the force is stronger now than never before, because it is here in the air, in our computer systems, in our TV sets, even in our churches. The reality of PostM is more than just a fiction on contemporary public library shelves, it is here to stay, and as Bosch has said before, "it is not a fad." If we do not act now, we will not be prepared for the generations to come. Somehow we are not even aware that we are loosing at least two or three generations to Postmodernity already.

End Notes

[1] Although it has been suggested the term "Postmodern Culture," I am dealing with the culture in a primary basis, with or without the adjective "Postmodern." There is a postmodern culture, but before it came to be part of our daily lives, it has been a culture that is post-everything: post-Christian, post-ideological, post-theological, post-structural, post-Western, Post-critical, and so on. It is about this culture that I am interested and I will develop my ideas around it until I can unite the two terms.

[2] This essay was originally written and presented at a symposium on Postmodernity and Mission at the Prairie Bible Institute, Canada, in November, 1999. It has being slightly modified in this revision.

[3] I am dealing with this subject mostly from a missiological perspective and not necessarily trying to define what Postmodernity really is. This will be put together as we move on in this essay and also through the help of my colleagues in this symposium. However, it is opportune to quote Alister McGrath at this moment. He points out that, "To give a full definition of postmodernism is virtually impossible. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify its leading general features as they are likely to be encountered by the Christian apologist, especially on North American college and university campuses" (Intellectuals Don't Need God [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993], 175). It is my intention in this essay to gather enough elements that will illustrate the possible definition of what Postmodernity may be.

29 Bono/U2. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The Joshua Tree. (New York: Island Records Ltd., 1987).

30 This is a debatable issue, which is not welcome at this point. Some suggest that Globalization equals the whole movement toward the agenda of the Anti-Christ and therefore, everything that's global should be abandoned into that idea of the End. Although I may see the point, I believe that before anything happens, the key signal of the End is the worldwide spread of the Gospel, according to Matthew 24:14. "And then the end will come," said Jesus in the Mt. Olivet sermon.

[38] For a better understanding of Critical Contextualization, refer to Paul G. Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues (Grand Rapids: Baker , 1994), 75-103.

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