|
Cultural Pluralism In the postmodern world, all beliefs and belief systems are considered to be relative. We are told that there is no absolute truth. Faith is just a matter of private opinion. One person's faith is no more valid or unique than anyone else's. So, how do we preach in a world that is culturally pluralistic? We do so by being aware of: 1. The spirituality of postmodern people 2. The uniqueness of Christianity 3. The need to be spiritually faithful yet also socially tolerant 1. The Spirituality of Postmodern People Today, the postmodernist conceives of faith as a mystical spirituality that is distinctly non-creedal. As one phrase puts it, "My karma ran over your dogma." Matthew Fox, the so-called postmodernist ‘creation theologian,’ describes this new development in such books as The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, where he asserts how personal mysticism is replacing theism. The result is the postmodern belief that (1) faith is whatever a person makes it to be and (2) each person’s faith is valid, but not unique. The spirituality of postmodern people is the consequence of a long philosophical trend. Friedrich Schliermacher (1768-1834) confined faith to the realm of feeling. If faith is a matter of what one feels, then one's actual belief about Christ does not really matter. Then, Horace Bushnell (1802-1876) began saying that we are unable to understand God using language or doctrine. Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930) also cast doubt on doctrine by saying that Christian doctrine was invented to meet a need and therefore it can be reinvented. In more recent times George Lindbeck in The Nature of Doctrine concluded that religions are all just “languages.” Doctrines provide the “grammar” for these “languages.” Since each grammar belongs to its own language, a particular set of doctrine is valid only for its own religious community. These philosophical developments have resulted in a postmodern spirituality in which people may believe in God but they are left unable to speak about God. Indeed, postmodern people have trouble defining their spirituality. The trendy Self magazine ran a poll in 1997 and asked its readers, “Would you describe yourself as spiritual?” Of 2,100 respondents, 70% said “Yes” and another 27% said “Somewhat.” Only 3% replied “No.” But most of the people in the magazine report described their spirituality as psychological self-actualization. Although many postmodern people may say they believe in God, their faith is vague and undefined. When they are asked what they believe about God, they are unable to articulate anything specific. Their non-creedal spirituality leaves them knowing nothing about God. When we preach to postmodern people, we should not assume that our listeners understand basic Christian doctrine. Much of the preaching task to postmodern people is to inform and to instruct. 2. The Uniqueness of Christianity Cultural pluralism challenges the preacher in another way. It suggests that the difference between world religions is superficial. It makes us feel that our choice amongst these religions is as trite as choosing an item on a restaurant menu. Dr. Daniel Brown argues that the difference between the world's religions goes much deeper than that. Each religion represents a different worldview that affects all of life. For instance, postmodern spirituality often confuses God and the created world. This makes people confuse psychological self-actualization with God. But this understanding is based on a worldview called pantheism. It's wrong to simply think that all religions are the same. Each religion is unique because each reflects a fundamentally different worldview. The process of choosing a religion, then, involves understanding which world and life view one wishes to adopt. It is in this way that we can understand the uniqueness of Christ. Like Islam and Judaism, Christianity believes in the transcendence of God: that the essence of God lies totally beyond the created world. But unlike Islam and Judaism, Christianity also believes strongly in the immanence of God, namely that in the Incarnation, the Word became flesh. Judaism and Islam reject the Incarnation because it they feel it violates their sense of the transcendence of God. In Christianity, however, the Incarnation and the cross is what balances the transcendence and the immanence of God. Because of this, Christians have a worldview in which we believe the transcendent God can be known and can act to save us. John Stott in The Cross of Christ describes how the transcendent God saves us. He asks: "How can God be holy without consuming us, and loving without condoning us?" He concludes that nothing in heaven or on earth can satisfy the demands of both God’s holiness and his mercy short of God’s own self-substitution for our sin. "How then could God express simultaneously his holiness in judgment and his love in pardon? Only by providing a divine substitute for the sinner, so that the substitute would receive the judgment and the sinner the pardon." (See John R.W. Stott, The Cross of Christ, pp. 130-134). Christianity is unique among the religions of the world because in it the transcendence and the immanence of God — his holiness and his love — become perfectly blended. As a result, the Christian worldview teaches that God is not the created world, but God can be known because he entered into the created world. 3. The Need to be Spiritually Faithful Yet Socially Tolerant The cardinal sin of the postmodern world is intolerance. Yet, through the centuries, intolerance has characterized the followers of Christ. This is a handicap to the Christian message in a postmodern world. Some Christian thinkers, to avoid being intolerant, have bought into the pluralistic vision that all religions are the same. But pluralism undermines Christ's claim that he is Lord of all. When we adopt a pluralistic vision, we end up respecting other religions but not our own. Is our only choice, then, between faithfulness and intolerance? David Clendenin thinks not. He points out the difference between what he calls "social tolerance" and "intellectual tolerance." (David Clendenin, "The Only Way," Christianity Today, 12 January 1998, 40). Intellectual tolerance is when we say that all beliefs have to be respected as valid. This is the typical postmodern view. Social tolerance is when we say that all people have a right to their own belief, but not that all beliefs are valid. Clendenin's distinction helps Christians to be tolerant toward others, yet without fully buying into the pluralist vision. Being socially tolerant does not mean we have to sacrifice our own integrity. We can show respect toward all people while still disagreeing with them. When we adopt an attitude of social tolerance, it enables us to discern the good in other religions. As socially tolerant people, we are free to find common ground with those of other faiths, even as we also affirm the uniqueness of our own faith. For instance, as Trinitarian Christians we may be willing to admit that many people who are not Christians have some knowledge of God as their Creator, but then we would also want to encourage them to know God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Even Paul displayed a social tolerance toward others. In Acts 19:31 we read of the asiarchs, provincial authorities who were responsible for pagan cultic ceremonies. It says that Paul was their friend. In another place, as Paul gave his Areopagus address, he was both faithful in his proclamation of Christ yet also respectful in his tone toward the Athenians (Acts 17:22-31). Preaching in a pluralistic context is only as old as Paul. Since the cardinal sin of the postmodern age is intolerance, we should make efforts to avoid it. We can do so by being socially tolerant in our attitude. The Bible is very clear that Christians are not to judge others. Judging is God's right alone. When we truly understand this, it frees us. Our job is just to be faithful to God and to love people and to leave all the judging up to God. For Further Reading
John R.W. Stott's classic on the atonement helps to define the uniqueness of Christianity in a postmodern world.
|
