In the culture of today, there are ‘Buzz Words’ that become an a large part of our public conversation and this is never more true than during a presidential election cycle.  We have been exploring some of these words: Fair, Faith, Grace, Mercy, Orthodoxy, Liberal, Conservative. As we have discovered these words are often used with the assumption that we know what they mean and one the interesting parts of ‘Buzz Words’ is that opposing sides of an argument use the same words to reveal why they are right.

Today, we introduce one more word- Postmodern. 

Postmodernism is a term that is very much in vogue these days especially in political and academic circles.  Like any ‘buzz word’ and there is a considerable amount of influence wielded by this particular word on culture and Christianity.  The questions for us today are what exactly is the postmodern world and how should we live our faith in the midst of this postmodern world? 

If we are to understand the influence of postmodernism, we must first arrive at a reasonable definition. The difficulty is that there is considerable confusion as to just what postmodern is.  There are few terms as commonly used, and just as commonly misunderstood, as postmodernism. 

Author and theologian Tyron Inbody compares postmodernism to "intellectual Velcro dragged across culture" which "can be used to characterize almost anything one approves or disapproves." 

Umberto Eco, himself classified as a postmodern writer due in large part to his novel The Name of the Rose, has written of postmodernism stating: "I have the impression that it is applied today to anything the users of the term happen to like."

Postmodernism is the cultural worldview that penetrates and owns most our society. Postmodernism is characterized by the digital as we communicate globally and instantly with computers and smart phones via the internet; Cultural ideas are primarily transmitted via audio-visual means and not the printed word; the world is now characterized by that which is fast or slow.   

Allow me to further summarize the characteristics of Postmodernism:

1) There is no absolute truth.  One of the most prevalent characteristics of postmodernism is the idea that there is not any kind of absolute truth. Truth cannot be known in the context of postmodernist thinking, and those who claim to know truth are either lying or foolish.  Therefore, Biblical truth is irrelevant and it is okay to dismiss whatever doesn’t "feel" compatible with your personal ideology.

2) Facts and falsehoods are interchangeable because one of the characteristics of postmodernism is that there is no absolute truth, a natural outgrowth of this is that facts and falsehoods are interchangeable. What is accepted or claimed as truth today could easily be proven wrong tomorrow, and vice versa.

3) Frustration with modern thinking is dominant.  The modern generation's failure to accomplish their goals has caused postmoderns to harbor a great deal of distrust.  Postmoderns are frustrated with the modern generation's inability to deliver on their promises of peace, advancement, and knowledge.  As we conquered the globe, building and creating more and more, all in the name of progress, people have responded, "Progressing towards what?"  We have reached a point in history where are all indications are that are children – the next generation will not be better off.

4) Rationalization is the norm.  Because of the scientific method's shortcomings in resolving the problems of the world, distrust of what is presented as fact has led to embracing opinion as the driving force of thought.  One of the primary characteristics of postmodernism is therefore that if a person can rationalize their understanding or opinion, it is worthwhile and as true as is possible.  As a result, opinion now equals fact.

5) The Global community is more important than nationalism.
Rationalization, frustration, and the thinking that there is no truth beyond personal and corporate opinion has resulted in the postmodern tendency toward the belief that the global good is more important than national interests.

6) All religions deserve equal recognition. One of the most controversial characteristics of postmodernism is the idea that all religions are equally valid. If, as postmodern thinking dictates, there is no absolute truth, then no one religion offers a "right" way. If no religion is true, then all religions are equally false, or equally valid, depending on the person's point of view.  The new tolerance in religion means never questioning the propositions of another religious point of view.  There is one exception.  It is okay to censure any religion that is arrogant enough to claim that it knows the truth. They must be stopped before they gain the upper hand and begin persecuting other religions again. Therefore, the marginalized religions of non-western civilizations must be given a voice.

7) Morality is individualistic.  If there is no true religion, and if there is no absolute truth, then each person's ideas about morality are also equally false or valid. This characteristic is most clearly seen in the common statement, "it's right for me." Every person's morality belongs to them alone, and morality that is imposed by another, whether by religion, government, or another person, and anything that claims to be absolute truth is to be distrusted.

Postmodernism permeates everything we interact with as we study, work, watch current movies, and relate to friends.  This influence of the postmodern should not be considered surprising, for the postmodern is a way of recognizing that the world is in a period of transition.

All this could lead you to believe that as Christians, we should reject the idea of postmodern thought.  I would say you can’t do that anymore than you could jump in the ocean and not get wet!  But I believe while we jump in, we can prepare ourselves so that we do not drown.  Perhaps postmodernism is a life ring for us. Brian D. McLaren, pastor and author, has even proposed that postmodernism is the road to take in order to move on from the current stalemate between conservative evangelical and liberal Christians.

The postmodern cultural context in which we now live is very similar to that of the New Testament world the disciples lived in.  Jesus spoke to the disciples about the changing culture they were now a part of when he said:

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.  No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’  Luke 5:37-38 NIV

While we aren't familiar with the details of wineskins, Jesus' hearers were. He didn't have to explain fermentation and the aging of leather. The image of wineskins that Jesus uses in his parable is foreign to our culture and in many cases had been incorrectly taught. The leather wineskin we imagine is the tear-shaped leather container the Spaniards used to carry wine and squirt it into their mouth. That was not like the wineskin Jesus refers to.

Wine was made by treading barefoot on the grapes in a wine press. The juice flowed through a channel into a wine vat which functioned as a collecting and fermenting container for the grape juice. In the warm climate of the region, the juice would begin to ferment quickly. After the first stage of fermentation, the wine was poured into lined clay jars or animal wine skins for storage and continued fermentation. 

Wineskins were made of whole tanned goatskins where the legs and tail were cut off and sealed. The entire large skin would bulge nearly to the point of bursting as the carbon dioxide gas generated by the fermentation process stretches the skin to its limit. 

Fermentation in the wineskin might continue for another two to four months until the process slows down and stops.  By that time the skin has been stretched to its limit. The alcohol is probably about 12%, similar to today’s wine.  Jesus is making the obvious point that you can't join the new to the old or you'll ruin both.  

The disciples would be left in a new world.  The old way of thinking and doing things was changing.  That is not to say that Jesus' threw out the Old Covenant or the traditions.  Jesus made it very clear in the Sermon on the Mount that he came to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it (Matthew 5:17). 

Jesus also told his disciples, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." (Matthew 13:52)

At the close of his parable Jesus adds this: "And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better'" (5:39).

It is easier to fall back to what is familiar and comfortable, and justify that, rather than launch out into something that is new. The disciples would be constantly facing that as they encounter those followers of Christ that still wanted to follow the laws of Judaism and the rules of the Pharisees.

We grapple with the same words spoken by Jesus. There is value in the old way of doing things, but times are a changing. Culture is changing. In today’s English Jesus says, “We need to get with the times!”

But how do we do that?

Following Christ is not something we accommodate into our lives in order to be comfortable.  WE must take the message of New Life in Christ and ‘pour’ it into the container of todays. While it is certainly true that our faith must be viewed in the context of culture, it is also true that faith and theology will stand in judgment over culture.  Theology, at least as we understand it in the Christian sense, does have its parameters - Orthodoxy.

Following Christ is a life changing activity.  It is counter-culture.  It was counter-culture in the lives of the Disciples, it was counter culture in the era of modernity and it will be counter-culture in the postmodern world.

The message for the disciples was to be uncompromising about their faith and the work of the Spirit in our lives. If that meant honored customs and habits, and the structures of our society must adjust to that, then so be it.

What are the structures and ideas of the past that we continue to hold on to that cannot coexist with the new wine of today’s culture?

What have we tried to ‘pour’ into Christianity that will cause it to burst and undermine Christianity itself?  In Jesus' day it was the legalism of the Pharisees. What is it in your own life? What is it in your work, your community, your school, your environment that you have been adding to the Orthodoxy of the faith taught by Christ and revealed in Scripture?

We cannot reject the Orthodoxy of our past nor can we simply try to place our Orthodoxy in the context of something else. We cannot take that which old – the concept and teachings of Christ – and blend them with today as a part of some other truth.  We have to find the balance between the absolute truth of the Gospel message and the emerging culture of the postmodern world.   

That leaves us – here and now living squarely between the times of modernity and that which is yet be truly defined – postmodernity-  and that is never easy.  In the interim what do we do?

We must continue to take a fresh look at the central core of the Christian message. This requires a direct return to the sources of revelation -- the Scriptures -- especially to the person of Jesus Christ as we see him in the gospels.  We must be able to define faith, grace, mercy and we must do it in a fair and honest way.  We must ask what must I do to live my faith in the here and now?

Postmodern thought is having a direct effect on education at all levels. To best reach the new postmodern culture, it is suggested that the best way is to teach through imitation or modeling.  This is revealed in project-based or hands-on learning models. In other words, the best way to teach a postmodern world culture is to learn to model what we expect from others.
We need to learn our lives of faith in such a way that we would want all Christians to live as we did.  The number one complaint of those who reject Christianity is that Christians are hypocrites. In other words, they do not live what they proclaim.  If we want to reach a new generation with the Gospel message, we need to learn to become better, more authenticate, modelers of the faith we claim. 

But, that’s not new, we have known that for decades.  Maybe this postmodern world isn’t that hard to figure out afterall?

In the postmodern world, we must learn to live our faith in manner that seeks to make a difference now!  Faith is not just about eternity or something saved for another day.  We must learn to model for the world what Christ looks like as we become more like Him learning to live life by faith … fairly … while modeling grace and mercy to all – liberal and conservative – in such a way that we can uphold the orthodoxy of our faith.