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If I wanted to stereotype your average “modern” and your average “postmodern,” one of the things I would say is that moderns tend to desire a simple way of describing complex ideas. On the other hand, one could argue that postmoderns desire a complex way of describing a simple idea.
Moderns equated Christianity with salvation and nailed salvation down to a few easy steps. Just follow the plan and you too can become a genuine, bonafide, justified, rectified, born again Christian. And once that step is done, what else do you really need to worry about? Postmoderns would argue that there’s so much more to Christianity than salvation. (As a “pomo” myself, I agree). When Jesus came to give us life, He came to give us life in the now and in the after-now. Salvation’s only the first step in an incredibly long, arduous, and yet ultimately joyful journey. Of course, neither “side” would make salvation into such a simple idea or such a relatively small part of the Christian experience. In this case, we can learn from each other (something I think we ought to be doing as it is). What are we to make of the other concepts in the larger context of the Christian life? Look to Jesus. (If there was ever a simple answer to life’s complexities, there it is). Look at what He said. He never gave us a how-to guide. It’s more of a “who-to” guide. He never defined things for us in a way that there could never be any argument whatsoever about what He meant. Jesus was an artist with His words. He painted pictures about the things He wanted the children of Israel (and the rest of us) to know. More than a few times He said “The kingdom of Heaven is like….” and proceeded to paint a picture of the way things are. He didn’t say “The kingdom of Heaven is…” He just said it’s “like” something else. This is such an amazing thought. I imagine there are no words that exist in any of our thousands of languages to adequately express what the kingdom of heaven is. That’s at least one reason why God had to send Jesus to us. To tell us, somehow, some way, that a loving, caring, righteous God exists. Jesus had to use pictures because we wouldn’t be able to understand in any other way. So when we talk about things that we don’t really grasp with all our being, or ideas that no language could adequately express, we ought to paint pictures. It’s both the most simple and the most complex thing we can do. Go To Page: 1
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