Brian McLaren sent a good email out yesterday, recommending a read of Wendell Berry’s article, In Distrust of Movements and giving some good thoughts:
“There won’t be postmodern churches (or better put, churches that deeply engage with postmodern cultures) until there are Christian theologies that are not written/spoken in modern-ese. Post-modern-ese THEOLOGIES may have been conceived; they may be in the second week of prenatal development; but as far as I can tell, none have yet been born. These things take time, and premature births are risky. It’s better to let the womb of the Spirit take proper time to give birth what must come in the fullness of time.”
well said, as usual, brian! and thanx for sharing this, andrew.
perhaps there is a need for a virtual gathering or blog to connect those of us who are already gestating such post-postmodern-ese theologies of which he speaks, using categories and language and epistemologies and apologetics styles indigenous to our own post-emergent cultures. (or is it already out there and i missed it?)
i think this goes far beyond dialoguing on the details and intrigues of how to be church in this era, which seems to be dominating the theological horizon. and it even goes beyond the language of “being missional,” which often asks the rather singularly modernist “what is THE mission of God?” instead of something like “what are the missions of God?”. and … and i better stop now or i’ll clog your blog. oops, already have. sorry…
any post-postmoderns [or however you label yourself] out there interested in participating (not just spectating) on this different discussion?
check out open source theology
i haven’t been there in a while but as i recall that’s what they are attempting.
sure, count me in.
I see Brian’s point. Once again, it is a blessing to read the ideas God allows his brain to generate. I do believe that how we do ministry will ultimately flow from our theology. However, do we really need to have our theology written down in “postmodern” language in order to minister? It seems to me that one of the very traits of a postmodern way of thinking is not requiring to have everything written down in perfect little boxes to move forward. God can use us before we get it all figured out. We won’t ever get it all figured out anyway.
Here’s the deal, I’m there. Much of my time is spent wondering about these things as a pastor. But as I begin to dialogue about them amongst conservative circles, I see a storm brewing. This is not something that the Christian world will buy into easily. I see mud slinging already beginning to take place. And worst, defame people’s spirituality and it makes it easy to throw away the reality of their questions and struggles which often are part of the “gestation” period of this theology. Regardless of all that, I look forward to what God is doing and will do through men and women wo will surrender to the Spirit’s moving and leading.
Thanks for posting…
Hi Kiwi
Thanks for a great blog – I really enjoy reading through the posts.
I am a little weary of all the labels and titles flying around. The less we define Christ, the less we will fall into movements, as He should be the centrality of all we are an do in Him.
In the Son
hiya Andrew. I enjoyed Berry’s article to. Welcome to my watchlist.