Postmodernity necessitates a
different approach than has been the case historically. We cannot assume any
biblical literacy or any understanding of sin, good, God, Bible, heaven or
hell. D.A. Carson states that Paul’s address in Athens is construction of a
biblical worldview, from God as eternally existing creator to Jesus as the
sacrificial Lamb.[1]
This was important in Athens or Greek culture in order for the Gospel to make
sense. Our culture is a modern day Athens with religious pluralism as a
defining characteristic. Postmoderns are accustomed to religious or spiritual
talk, so introducing the Gospel is not too difficult. But we must steer clear
of vagueness and ambiguity and point directly to Christ as the remedy for sin.
Carson writes, “saying God loves you may carry a very different set of
associations than for Christians.”[2]
Postmodernity’s obsession with
spirituality demands that our Gospel presentations be more comprehensive and
coherent that ever before. When these presentations are the subsequent action
of the church being culturally educated and creatively engaged the collateral
effect is Gospel centered communitas (an intense community spirit, the
feeling of great social equality, solidarity, and togetherness).
These presentations must be
comprehensive in that they point postmoderns to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ
as the sinless Son of God who came and died for the sins of humanity and His
resurrection verifies the transaction and imparts life to us in this present
world. There is no other religious system to make such a claim but as Ravi
Zacharias states in the opening essay of Telling
the Truth, “What our (postmodern) culture needs is an apologetic that is
not merely well argued, but also felt. There has to be passion in
communication. There must be a felt reality beyond the cognitive, engaging the
feeling of the listener.”[3]
Cultural education and creative engagement affords the church an opportunity to
incarnate the Gospel through acts of compassion and sacrificial service that
engage the feeling of the listener. The collateral effect of such a strategy is
immeasurable but God is Sovereign and accomplishes His glorious and immense
will with our acts of Gospel-driven compassion and sacrifice. May it all speak to the
uniqueness and supremacy of Christ as Lord as postmoderns find in Christ, and
His body, a spiritual coherency and consistency that is, at once, intellectually hard
to deny and emotionally enticing as well.
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