Friday, June 06, 2003

Future Church: To boldly go where no one has gone before...



Fred Peatross sends out an occasional newsletter. Last nights was interesting. I quote:



In his book, A Primer on Postmodernism, Stanley Grenz illustrates the difference between modernism and postmodernism by comparing and contrasting the two series Star Trek and Star Trek: the Next Generation 


In the first series, the crew of Starship Enterprise worked together for the good of humanity. One of its heroes, Spock (half-human, half-Vulcan), illustrated the perfect ideal of the modern man: he solved all problems by rational thought and was not swayed by emotions or any sense of the transcendent or mystical.


 


The second series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, accented the transcendent and gave more attention to emotions and feelings. Rational contributions were transmitted through an android machine named Data, who longed to be a human with human emotions.


 


Look to me, I have the plan


Modernism is like Captain Kirk´s going out to conquer and subdue the ?final frontier, where no man has gone before.?


 


I´ll lead as we solve this together


Postmodernism is like Captain Picard guiding his politically-correct crew through space with the goal of reconciling and making the galaxy a safe place to live (unlike Captain Kirk´s space quest of conquer and triumph).


 


Like Captain Picard the emerging generation is more interested in reconciling than conquering. It´s a generation that processes truth and information relationally rather than propositionally.


 


Baby boomer church leaders have neglected, misunderstood, and in some instances dismissed this generation. The result is the emerging church?gatherings of young believers (under forty) collecting across America doing church in ways they understand. The old modern, rational, Captain-Kirk style of ministry is being modified replaced with new approaches?in outreach (creating safe-places), service, and the telling of the ?old, old Story.?


Is that why spock used to make me crazy?


 

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