POSTMODERNISM MEETS CHRISTIANITY MEETS COASTLANDS

We live a time period where we are seeing major transitions occurring in the way we view life and religion – and more importantly how we "think" (our epistemology). We are now beginning the shift from one time period to another, as we are going from ‘modernism’ to ‘postmodernism’. Although there in no exact date where these shifts have occurred, we can observe changes happening. You see this in the cultural landscape of music, in the arts, in the new philosophers and at the university level. This is the first generation in American history that has been born into a world, where Christian truth is no longer the reference point for defining the story of man. This, along with many other cultural factors is creating a new paradigm for how we view reality and how truth is defined and deconstructed. As we wrestle with postmodernism, we need to ask ourselves, "Do our motives emerge from the desire to give a place to the mystery of faith, or rather, to conquer mystery?" This is why the postmodern moment is so terrifying to us. It is a reminder that we are out of control, and in a place where we are invited to trust a God who is beyond our comprehension.

Modernism, on the other hand, is a way of thinking which attempts to tame and reduce God to logical categories so that our worlds will be predictable. It is a quest for the absolute presence of God, that we can use our minds, our reason, to prove the existence of God. Modernism, at it's extreme is the belief that the human mind can comprehend reality whether it be something as lofty as God ar as mundane as weather patterns. The Modernist way of thinking puts an end to mystery by bringing closure to all the questions, ending the story.

Postmodern thought comes upon the scene to remind us that faith is the dance of presence and absence, grace and tragedy, assurance and doubt. Postmodernism is a reversal in rationalist thinking which opens the door to mystery. Postmodern thought would argue that God cannot be encircled, surrounded, or encompassed with language. We need to be open to the fact that God can reveal himself in mysterious ways that we can never imagine. Postmodernism is also a return to the past. Postmodernist thinking does not throw off the past but returns to the past for the purpose of finding meaning for today. This means, then, that tradition is not to be thrown off, nor is it to be accepted slavishly without careful thought, explanation and criticism. With Postmodernism, it is possible to "play the game", that is wrestle with the mystery of the faith, take it seriously and not fully understand it. Postmodernism reminds us that in that appalling, haunting moment of God's absence comes the longing for the presence of God without the illusion that we will ever comprehend the awesome glory of God.

The below chart gives a brief summary of how these epistemological and philosophical changed have occurred.

(This chart has been adapted from the Young Leaders Network website: www.youngleader.org)

Those in the age range that Coastlands is primarily trying to reach and minister to, have been born into this postmodern transition. Therefore, the way we communicate and methodology of ministry will reflect this transition that is occurring. Church most likely will look radically different in the future postmodern world, than it does in the modern world. Postmodernism opens up a new set of barriers for those that do not hold to a Biblical world view. Values and religious beliefs in the new postmodern culture are considered only to be part of our social paradigms and not as universal values anymore.

The Bible in the modern era was approached for the most part, almost scientifically. We handled it much like the study of the universe, uncovering the details and to some degree – demystified God. However, the change has now occurred where the Bible is no longer considered truth, so trying to first convince someone of the Christian faith merely through rational argument and proof texts has little impact today. The Bible is increasingly being looked at merely as a collective group of man-made writings dated post 120 AD which support the view that the early church had at that time, and not considered inspired by God and dated pre-100 AD as evangelical Christians believe.

So as we then see these changes occurring, with the shift moving from the objective to subjective truth, from the scientific to the mystical, from rationalistic/individualistic topluralistic/community-oriented and from the empirical to experiential – we at Coastlands are making attempts to understand these changes and respond to them without compromising the integrity of historical orthodox Christianity or what we believe is truth.

This is why at Coastlands you will see a different set–up and environment than you will at most other churches with the lower stage, candles, displayed artwork, graphics and art displayed on the screens. Much attention is paid to the atmosphere because we believe aesthetics is extremely important in the experiential realm and to the senses.

You will see that the musical form and expression of worship is different than some other services and quite a bit longer. The bulk of the musical worship is after the message -- not before -– again appealing for a more participative experience. At the Coastlands service you will find a return to some ancient liturgical expression of worship, even bringing in hymns on a regular basis, taking entire Sunday mornings to focus on communion and having people come forward for communion rather than passing it out etc. We also put our greatest effort and emphasis in building community through weekly Home Fellowships where people gather all across the county in homes to share their lives as they study through books of the Bible much like in the Early Church.

We also are trying our best to create an culture and safe environment for people to dialogue about what and "Who" truth is, as we "reintroduce" the Christian faith and the Bible. In community, we desire to see constant dialogue about the origins of the faith, and the origins of where and how the Bible came to us. Because we believe that the scriptures are inspired by God and will prove trustworthy, we want to always be encouraging everyone to test the Bible to see if it is really truth (Acts 17:11). Our desire is that people will feel it is safe and healthy to ask questions no matter what they are at in their beliefs or what religious background someone is coming from as we explore the faith together.

Above all at Coastlands, we emphasize God’s grace – not guilt– in how we teach, how we relate to one another and in our entire culture as a ministry. We believe due to the times and the intense negativity there is about the faith, the most important apologetic in a postmodern culture we can have as a ministry is to be the living proof by our lives of what the gospel of Jesus is all about in community and to the communities around us.

Head back to the Values page.