AZ Youth Workers Conference Session 2 of 3

Speaker: Garland Owensby

Topic: Postmodern Church/Emerging Church
Postmodern is a philosophy

Postmodern Youth Ministry

Book: Soul Tsunami - Leonard Sweets

Modern world says I don't need proof, post-modern says prove it.

Postmodernism is the reaction to the unfulfilled process of modernism

Science, education and rationalism were supposed to end war poverty and sickness.

Modernism:

• Learn truth
• Reality is out there to be discovered
• Individual emphasis
• Progress undeniable
• Logic is convincing

Postmodernism:

• We make truth
• Reality is simply to be constructed
• Team emphasis
• process is highly questionable
• stories are convincing

Earl Creps AGTS July 2003

1. Objectivity is out

• The FBI would not ask for your son if there was a bomb to go off if the bad guys ordered for him OR a box of chocolates and a case of beer. There is either another option or there is only ONE way.
• Postmodernists do believe in truth, their truth is 't'ruth, ours is 'T'ruth.
• Any time we see certainty they see arrogance, hard to be a win-win.
• Feelings are subjective, truth is objective, postmodernism basically stands on subjective source over objective truth.
• Mandy Moore Seventeen 2003 p187, "Truth is discovered from passion."
• We should discover Truth then become passionate about it.
• We must proclaim truth in Love, if we feel guilty then we must search our heart for subjective thoughts.

2. Question everything/Try anything

3. You will know me if you know mt story. (Experience)

• When we read the epistles, every rule is about a real life situation.
• Every dumb rule in life is about a real situation.

4. Tolerance is a necessity

• No absolutism, we must be tolerant

5. Multi-culturism and Pluralism

• Many faiths all competing together.
• Greg Steir about Starbucks Christianity quote, this is a generation that embraces a "Starbucks spirituality. Teens today are used to customizing every aspect of life, so why wouldn't this spill over into the areas of their spiritual lives...

Modernism: Facts - influence - belief - influence - behavior
Postmodernism: Experience - influence - belief - influence - behaviors

Modern truth affects relationships experiences and feelings, postmodern affects the others.

How do we reach the Postmodern World.
1. Invite them into the body of Christ, ecclesia
2. Invite them to experience God
3. Use authentic Language
4. Speak Love before Judgment
5. Relationships
A. What's it like to be ______________?
6. Build Community - small groups
7. Train students to share their testimony
8. Emphasize Dialogue

My thoughts:
There are emergent theology and emerging praxology. One has rebuilt it's foundation while the building is standing, the other is always making sure the building will continue to stand shoring up any areas of question. Emergent theology saw the postmodern movement and changed it's foundation of theology, the emerging praxology saw the postmodern movement and changed it's ways of teaching it's theology, these are big differences to be noted. When we have exchanged our core theologies to match the desire of our culture we risk huge losses when we cash in our stock, however when we realize that the culture has changed and we begin to chase it and adapt our inadequacies to meet the demand blessing ensues and the one being chased recognizes the relevancy or at least the futile attempts and realizes the status quo has changed. The average, typical person that has set his mind against the church has perfectly adequate reason, we have met every doubt in his mind, as I always say, the worst of us (the radical rights) represent the best of us. Paul said it best, follow him as he follows Christ. Case in point, it was also Paul who recognized this when he was in Athens in Acts 17. He recognized that the culture had changed, not that culture changed literally but his surroundings had changed. He picks up right from their belief system and applied biblical theology to their pagan praxology. The theology stayed the same that he had instilled but his praxology changed to using Greek mythology and an altar that had some writing on it. This is one of the most beautiful chapters in the bible for cross-cultural communications. The bigger admittance is realizing that we live in a cross-cultural nation, no longer do we need to go over seas to recognize this. And I don't say this due to the many languages in America nor the skin tones, but the modern thought versus the post-modern thought.

Let us not change our belief to accommodate all thoughts. Yes it is true that all truth is God's truth, his inspired truth. Yes, this truth can run deep in the pagan practices and ruthless extremists, even they wouldn't approve of you raping and pillaging their families. We can't assume that morality leads to God if different religions all agree on common morals. All truths definitely share common thread but those threads eventually weave ropes of theology that are tied to anchors of religions... we can agree in the midst of truth but must not be ignorant to realize that they all lead to their own individual 'gods'/God. I love my fellow Jew and even the radical Islam, the Jewish person deep down inside might even find love for me and the Islam and same for the Islam, that doesn't mean our belief lands us all on the same cloud with the same harpist as be knock on heavens door, let us not be so arrogant/ignorant.