Postmodernism: The Times Are Changing - Radically!

There is a major cultural shift that’s happening today. This major ideological shift profoundly influences the way new generations, on a global scale, will either accept or reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

The shift occurring is probably as radical as the changes that happened when the Renaissance occurred after the Dark Ages. Leading up to and following the Industrial Revolution our society believed that progress was built on reason, education, and the “absolutes” of science. The supernatural was consider total myth that could be explained away by science. Today, however, we are coming into a time where 72% of the population under the age of 35 believe that there are no absolutes (or truth), plus there’s plenty of room to believe in “aliens” and the supernatural. This new age, called Postmodernism, promotes affinity groups where what the group believes becomes the “truth” for them (truth is relative). Truth has been substituted with “power”: you don’t necessarily play fair – you play to win. In terms of religious thought, the postmodern individual is very comfortable in combining parts of many different religions and even mythology to form a belief system based on “what seems right to me”.

With this major philosophical change in society the traditional Christian apologetic no longer addresses society’s current belief system. Consequently, Christians are often marginalized in this new era as intolerant radicals and seen as being a “fringe” element on the “right.” They see Christians as: 1) trying to “push” their values on everyone else, 2) being judgmental, and 3) being narrow-minded by thinking they have the only truth.

On the other hand, postmodern individuals have a love of family and cherish their children. They are hopeful, with high expectations, and are unabashed about having fun. They evaluate things by their entertainment value. They are great fans of all kinds of media including television and the Internet. Consumerism is important to them (“I love to shop.”) Being “tolerant” is an important issue since in their mind all things are relative. They respond well to mentoring, participatory leadership and team play. They don’t care how much you know (about God) - until they know how much you care (about them).

When we, as Christians, are attempting to reach out to young postmodern families, this shift should impact our methods, if we are to be effective. We must live out the love and care of Jesus Christ and establish credibility. The postmodern person may be attracted to the care of the Christian community (i.e. church) before he/she accepts the saving message and Lordship of Christ Jesus. We need to meet people at their point(s) of need and be concerned for them as individuals. By seeing the light of Jesus in us they become ready to accept the Truth as their truth and they join the affinity group called Christianity.