Not long ago I was out on visitation to visit a family who had recently visited the church. But before I went out I used “Google Earth” to locate the address and print out a map. I even went so far as to zoom in on the earth map to get an idea of what their house looked like. I was confident I knew where to go and had the right address. That night it was raining and seemed especially dark. But I was sure that between my research, printed directions, and GPS navigation I would find the right address. I was really proud of myself for thinking ahead as I headed out that evening. I just knew I would find the address and arrive on time for my visit with the new family. All was going well until I came within striking distance of success. As I was approaching their house, in the rain, I miss read a street sign and turned down the wrong street. Even my GPS could not help at this point because I was so close. But the house at the address I pulled up to didn’t look anything like the picture I had seen on “Google Earth”. I was now a bit confused but proceeded to get out of my car and walk up the drive way for the visit. Part way up my doubts grew stronger so I turned around and walked back down the driveway and up to the street corner to double check the street address. I was on the wrong street! The street I needed was a couple hundred feet away.
I wonder what would have happened if I had applied postmodern epistemology? For the postmodernist there is no absolute objective truth. Would the folks answering the door on the wrong street address have said, “Come on in, we’re as good as the folks two blocks away. We’re just like them.” Hmmm… I wonder how the family I was supposed to visit and was waiting for me would have taken that concept of truth upon my non-arrival?
But for many evangelicals that is exactly how we approach Christ. For the postmodernist evangelical it is all about relationship and objective truth is unnecessary. William H. Willimon of Duke University in the 1996, March 4th issue of “Christianity Today, pp 21-22, makes exactly that argument. Evangelicals, according to Willimon, “are making a tactical mistake.” “…Jesus did not arrive among us enunciating a set of propositions that we are to affirm.” He suggests that Jesus came inviting us to follow Him. But just exactly how are to follow Christ if we have no information about Him that is based on reality and objective truth? For Willimon it was not important that a person understand or hold to any propositional truths concerning Jesus which might be characterized as objective truth. With that kind of logic the Jesus of Mormonism or Islam will do nicely. And of course this kind of logic has also extended itself to the authority of the Scriptures. For the postmodernist Christian, the bible is authoritative simply because “the community of faith” has granted it this status, not because the Scripture claims to be the infallible, inerrant word of God and authoritative within its self.
So in essence, for the postmodernist, it does not matter what address is used to find Jesus or to understand the gospel. The ”straw man” argument of an ”either or” proposition is fallacious. It is not propositional truth with no relationship any more than it is relationship without objective truth. It requires both.
The sad thing is that the postmodern view continues to creep into our churches insidiously and progressively while trying to hang on to the label of authentic Christianity. A recent example of this was found as I was listening to a number of messages from a church in Washington State that is touting a new and creative method of incarnational/missionalism, called the “Story of God”. While I found much to commend in regards to tools to be used in evangelism using the story form method and especially the emphasis on listening to the story of those be evangelized, the message of postmodernism crept in with a deadly effect. For “Soma Communities,” story is everything and we need to listen to the “story of God found in those we are ministering to and then compare it to our ‘story of God’ found in the Bible, and then look for how the “story of God” differs so we can share a relevant gospel message. For Soma, “everyone is telling a version of God’s story.” This is pure relativism and flies in the face of the clear testimony of the Scriptures (Romans 3:1-23; Ephesians 2:1-3) that the unregenerate do not have an understanding of God, even though a revelation of God is seen in nature, leaving man with no excuse (Romans 1:19-20). Paul’s conclusion is that the effects of the fall have left man with a “darkened” mind (vs.21), “and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man” (vs.23) and have “exchanged the truth of God for the lie” (vs.25a). Nor has fallen man “retain God in their knowledge” (vs.28a). The end result is that the mind and heart of man is completely reprobate or disqualified (vv.26-32). Any story that the unregenerate have of God is faulty to its core and there can be no credence given to that “story of God” as being in some or any part “God’s story” in their lives, as it seems Soma is teaching. Soma’s website regarding the gospel does speak of regeneration and repentance to their credit[1], but the fruit of teaching that the lost (everyone) is telling a version of God’s story is false. The Scriptures leave no room for a “version” of God’s story. This is postmodern relativism, and, I believe, the unintentional fruit of this is seen from the testimonies found on the website (http://www.somacommunities.org/story-formed/ ). One such testimony about a Buddhist neighbor concludes;
“As we hang out, we listen to her and to her life story, about why she follows Buddhist teachings. We try to find the truth in it, the good things, the connection between her story and the story of God. Drawing connections isn’t hard at all; she gives her life selflessly all the time as a mentor for the YWCA. It’s really cool watching her take these broken teenagers and then work to help restore them. It’s funny because we look at it and say, “Wow, what’s she’s really doing is trying to restore these people back toward the image of God!” We have great conversations about how the good things in her life are from God.”
Let me say this as clearly as I can. The god of Buddhism has no connection to any authentic “story of God”. Nor does the god of Buddhism have any restorative efficacy toward the image of God. The god of Buddhism does not live at the same address as the true and living God of the Scriptures. You can only end up talking to someone else!
The god of our imagination cannot be found at the right address either. The god of postmodern Christianity wants a general postal address. But to which post office does the inquirer go? The Jesus of postmodern Christianity is incongruent with the message of Christ.
John 14:6 ( NKJV ) 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Galatians 1:6-9 ( NKJV ) 6I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
-Michael Holtzinger
[1] I also take some exception with Soma’s view of “restoration” of creation found in the in the gospel message. There is a clear distinction between” repair” and the concept of restoration as a result of the completion of redemption at Christ’s return ( Romans 8:22-24; 1 Corinthians 15:35-44; Philippians 3:20-21), and also in their explanation of “Story-formed”, that the believer’s story “intersects” with the “story of God”. It is clear that the predestined purposes of God for His people is regeneration and conformity to Christ (Romans 8:28-29) which implies far more than lives intersecting. It is a denying of self to the Lordship of Christ (Matthew 16:24-26) in sanctification (2 Thessalonians 2:13;1Peter 1:2). I Pray, that is their meaning. But I must also commend them for their intentional teaching and discipleship in the area of personal mission.