Over the years I’ve taught preaching in university courses and mentored a number of preaching apprentices and preachers-in-training. This series summarizes some of the most basic yet most useful preaching points I’ve emphasized in these settings.
I hope you’ll join the fantastic Jim Martin and me as we teach “Preaching That Connects” at Harding School of Theology (Memphis, TN) Feb. 28-Mar. 7, 2013. This D. Min. course promises to be practical and inspiring.
Preaching Point #16: The Missional Factor – In an increasingly post-Christian and post-Modern culture, the church is struggling with its mission and preaching needs to inspire and equip the church for this mission.
The Western world is in the midst of two “cultural revolutions.” One cultural revolution is the shift from Christian to non-Christian. For increasing numbers of people, the Christian faith is less and less central.
A second cultural revolution is the shift from Modern to Postmodern. “Modern” and “Postmodern” are different worldviews, different ways of thinking about life.
1. Modernism believed that reason, not religion, offered the best hope for understanding and explaining life.
2. Modernism believed in human autonomy. It said that humans are independent from God, do not need God.
3. Modernism believed in the positive progress of human history. Through reason, science, technology, and effort humans could create a bright future characterized by prosperity and peace.
But this Modern way of thinking about life is being replaced by a Postmodern way of thinking about life. In my book Preaching to Pluralists I use seven characteristics to describe Postmoderns:
1. The most dominant characteristic is pluralism. Pluralism is the belief that there is not just one Truth, but many truths. As a result, postmoderns are turned off by what they view as the intolerance and exclusivity of Christianity.
2. A second characteristic of the postmodern culture is its anti-institutional bias. That is, postmoderns are not interested in the institutional element of Christianity—the church.
3. Pragmatism is a third quality. In terms of spirituality, they are primarily interested in having a better life before death, not in securing a better life after death.
4. Fourth, postmoderns are uninformed about basic Christianity. Because they are growing up in a non-Christian culture and not pursuing a faith within Christian institutions, they know little about the Christian faith.
5. A fifth characteristic concerns their spirituality. Postmoderns may not be Christian. They may not be in church. But they are interested in spiritual matters.
6. Sixth, Postmoderns are experiential. When it comes to their spirituality, they do not care if a place offers the correct doctrine about God. They care more if a place offers a stimulating experience of God.
7. Finally, Postmoderns are relational. Of those who do darken the doors of a church, many say they are looking for some kind of community.
And here’s the challenge: most established churches developed a way of doing church and engaging in mission that fit a Christian culture filled with people who had a Modern worldview. But that Christian culture is turning more toward a non-Christian culture. And that Modern worldview is being replaced by a Postmodern worldview. As a result, the church is wrestling with how to do church and mission in a new culture. Preaching needs to help empower the church in this new frontier.
How do you do this? How can preaching help empower the church to minister in a changing culture?
