Steve Hollinghurst Jan 11 Postmodern Conversion Evangelism in the Matrix

Steve Hollinghurst Jan 11

Postmodern ConversionPostmodern Conversion

Evangelism in the MatrixEvangelism in the Matrix


Unravelling the issues• How do we understand conversion?

– Different theological, psychological and sociological theories

• What is the relationship between conversion and culture?– Is conversion the same for people in all times and places

or does it change?• How do we understand the history of cultural

change?– Can we talk of a post-modern era?

• What is the relationship between our understanding of conversion and our understanding of the gospel?– Does the concept of ‘post-modern conversion’ have any

meaning?


Mission and change?

400 BC

600 AD

1500 AD

2000 AD

Judaism

Early Chur

ch

Christendom

Reformation

?

Eternal Gospel

Changing expression – David Bosch ‘Transforming Mission’


Is Britain Post Modern?• Or ‘Late Modern’ – Anthony Giddens

– The pace of change has increased but society remains modern

The Consequences of Modernity (Polity Press 1991)

• Or ‘Liquid Modern’ – Zigmut Bauman– Shift from Solid production orientation to Liquid

consumer orientationLiquid Modernity (Polity Press 2000)

• Callum Brown notes attempts to deny the end of Modernity are linked to Modernist approaches to secularization

The Death of Christian Britain (Routledge 2001, p195)


Post-modernity? Modernity to Postmodernity

I tell my story

I choose my beliefs

I buy my identity

The logic of consumerism


What is ‘Truth’?• Towards the post-modern

– Nietzsche• The Death of God (the madman)

The Gay Science 1882

• The displacement of the real

‘Down with all philosophies that speak of a real world’

Twilight of the Idols 1888

– The Matrix

‘Welcome to the Desert of the Real’


From Text to Hyper-Text

• Reader response – we tend to read our own meanings into texts

• Deconstruction – texts have meanings under the surface which are as ‘true’ (Derrida)

• Computerized communication– Changeable– Open to all– Overwhelming volume of shorter work– Difficulty of assessing content


The post-modern problem• The truth behind ‘the many truths’

– ‘All is the Will to Power and nothing besides’Nietzsche Beyond Good and Evil 1886

• Post Modernity as Liberation?– Richard Rorty, Henry Giroux & Francois Lyotard – We are free from the tyranny of the norm, we can celebrate

being black, white or… women, men or…Gay, Straight or… Kosovan, Serbian or….(The critique of the tyranny of modernism)

• Or Essential Violence – Darwin? Capitalism?– ‘Humanity does not gradually progress from combat to combat until it

arrives at a universal reciprocity, where the rule of law finally replaces warfare; humanity instils each of its violence's in a system of rules and thus proceeds from domination to domination’

Foucault A Foucault Reader Penguin 1984 p85 – ‘The advent of democracy, international courts instead of war, equal

rights for women (are all signs of) the slave morality of the herd’ – ‘the hero will come to lead the herd in replacement for the dead god’

Nietzsche On a Genealogy of Morals 1887


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Age in 2005

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

under 15

monthly

Post-Christendom?

9% monthly

26% De Churched

65% Non Churched

76% of New Christians Come from 26% De-Churched

finding faith today 1992

This section of the population is older and decreasing over time

Church attendance 2005


Post-Christendom?Not just about church attendance– Grace Davie,

- Believing without belonging and vicarious faith• But changing belief• Fading of occasional office• Decline in Christian identity

– Stages in the decline of Christendom not a new way for it to persist


Builders (born 20s+30s) in 2005

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60

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80

90

100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +

christianaffiliation

raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Boomers (born 40s+50s) in 2005

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10

20

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50

60

70

80

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100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +


raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Gen-Xers (born 60s+70s) in 2005

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10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +


raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Gen-Yers (born 80s+90s) in 2015?

0

10

20

30

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50

60

70

80

90

100

raised inchurch

nowattend

monthly +


raisechildren

to believein God

believe in

life force

personalGod


Post- Secularism?• Post-modernity - multi-faith in a post-secular age

– Post-modern move from truth as fact to truth as experience - From universal truth to true for me may be different to true for you.

– Rejection of objectivity for subjectivity– Personal belief re-enters the public square– Any and every belief …. All are equally unprovable– All of this much to the annoyance of Richard

Dawkins…….and Christians?

– Religion once more on the agenda but any religion with no way back to Christendom …..indeed is Christianity disadvantaged compared to the alternatives?


‘Spiritual’ experience in 2000 Vs 1987

55% saw a patterning of events – up 90%

38% felt God’s presence – up 41%

37% had answered prayer – up 48%

29% felt sacred in nature – up 81%

25% the presence of the dead – up 39%

But what are they But what are they experiencing?experiencing?

25% the presence of evil – up 108%

1987 48% report a spiritual experience - 2000 risen to 76%


Believe in the soul

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Believe in an afterlife

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Believe in restless spirits

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5

10

15

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25

30

35

40

45

50

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Believe in Karma

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Experience of fortune telling, Tarot, astrology, psychics, palmists

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+


Australian Gen Y – like Britain?

Floating 46 %

‘new spiritual’ 23%

Religious 17%

Non believing

14%

Rationalist humanist

Includes neo pagans and followers or frequent participants in the esoteric/occult

Moral relativism, pick ‘n’ mix, truth in all religions but not just one, something ‘out there’ occult and paranormal experienced

BUT open rather than committed or seeing as important


Japan Britain

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religiousattendance

reigiousaffilitaion

belief inGod

religiousattendance

religiousaffiliation

belief inGod

percentage population 2000

annual

festivals

monthly


Consumer Christianity?


Consumer Christianity?

• God the cosmic therapist?• Cruise liner – or Battleship?

John Wimber

• Church shopping?– Looking for what I get out of it– Looking for the one that does things my way

• Buying religious product?– Baptisms & weddings– Rosaries– Retreats– Christmas Carols


Paul’s two gospel messages

• Jesus is the expected messiah who will fulfil the prophets and law

• He was killed as a sacrifice but rose

• He has been appointed judge and we must now change the directions of our lives

• We are all searchers after God

• The God of the universe doesn’t live in temples

• That God has set a day to judge the nations so we must now change the directions of our lives

• The judge will be Jesus who was raised from the dead

Mission in Christendom is like Jewish Mission

Jews …….and…….Greeks


Mission: shift to Christendom• Early Church incarnate in local culture

– Greek Church - Paul uses poetry to Zeus– Roman Church - Jesus as Orpheus– Coptic Church - the image of Isis becomes Mary– Celtic Church - Jesus the Druid (Columba)– Germanic Church - the Heliand

• Christendom one faith one empire– The Saxon Church and the war band– Synod of Whitby - the date of Easter; monks hair– Mission ends within empire, – becomes conquest beyond it

• Modernity evangelism recovered in Christendom– Individuals called to belief in a Christian country– Aimed at intellectual conviction and crisis conversion


What is conversion? • Modern?

– Sudden– Social construct– Active– Individual– Intellectual– Events– Crisis

• Post-modern?– Gradual– Mystical expereince– Passive– Group– Experiential– Relationships– Quest


Who are on the way?

Bounded set ? Or..


Who are on the way?

Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?


Who are on the way?

Bounded set ? Or…….Centred Set?


Network theory and evangelism• Culture formed through relationships

– Those around us raise us with views like theirs– We tend to follow these unless we also form relationships with those

of different views– In a multi-cultural setting this can lead to lots of challenging

relationships– But minority opinions are kept out and taboos that make such views

embarrassing or offensive are employed

• In some cultures very hard now for Christians to enter other networks unless they keep faith quiet.

• Danger Christians create a protective ghetto that may protect Christians but kills mission

• Ghetto tends to reinforce negativity to the church• But also danger that those in the world lose their faith• We need confident supported Christians who can enter

other networks for effective mission


Restoring the whole story of salvation

The transformation of people linked to the transformation of creation – Romans 8, 2 Cor 5

sin salvation

creation

New creation

Individuals savedIndividuals saved

Creation savedCreation saved


Religion in post-modernity• Religion expresses the issues facing culture

(Strauss, Durkheim)

• Religion as expression of consumer choice– New Age? Prosperity Gospel? Spirituality?

• Religion as celebration of ontological violence– New Atheism vs. fundamentalism?

• Religion as an answer to the problem of unity and diversity– Contemporary Paganism? Gaia?


The return of God?• Douglas Coupland (Gen X) – Girlfriend in a

Coma; Life After God.

• 'paradoxically, we can only remain with the unsurpassibility of temporal difference, with mundane 'political' reality, where we affirm a giver of difference in excess of the totality of differences happening in time.’

John Milbank problematizing the secularIn Shadows of Spirit –Berry & Wernick (eds) Routledge 1992


Christianity as Unity & Diversity

• God as Trinity– Embraces diversity– Creation as an outpouring

of relationship– Salvation as a

reconciliation to God

Ephesians 1; 2 Cor 5– Embraces the Pagan yet

is not absorbed into it but transforms it

– OT language, Paul, Col 1, Early Church mission


Christianity as Unity & Diversity

• The body of Christ– Many parts one body– Diversity– Potential conflict– Local and global– Living and organic– Christ's human presence

now


Lessons for sharing faith• People increasingly come to faith through experience rather

than changing thinking• People want to grow spiritually and will take support in this

seriously• Sharing faith is welcomed. Telling others what they share is

wrong simply closes the conversation• People aren’t interested if Christianity is true but if it is

inspiring and life changing• with the internet everything is public be consistent• We need to know how we will handle issues of gender, the

environment, evil, other-faiths• Avoid Christian language like sin, salvation, redemption etc

people don’t understand it or misunderstand it – but we still need to talk about them but with different words

• We need to live as if what we say really does work• Remember God transforms people not Christians


Evangelism is…..• Not getting people to Church ………………..….……..

but getting people to be Church• Not taking God to people …………………………………

but seeing what he is already doing in their lives• Not first about getting people into heaven ……………

but getting heaven into people• Not saving people from the world ..…………………..

but allowing God to transform them

as part of a plan to transform the world also

Your Kingdom come your will be done Your Kingdom come your will be done

on earth as it is in heavenon earth as it is in heaven

Documents

Steve Hollinghurst Jan 11 Postmodern Conversion Evangelism in the Matrix