Fine enough. But, even as we make that distinction, even as we tote the Gospel – the Grand Narrative – along with us into a narrative-hungry era, we dare not miss the wider cultural shift from deconstruction to reconstruction, from dismantling to re-creation. If we believe Hall, Havel, and Senn, we are entering the twilight of the postmodern transition much sooner than we imagined – the post-postmodern. In this uncharted now, it is no longer enough to proclaim what we are not; no longer enough to bring in the wrecking ball and flatten our forebear’s institutions (either the stained glass or gray warehouse variety). In a world of nascent hope, people need more than fractured stories, even more than told stories. Increasingly, the world is crying out for lived stories and a passionately viable present.

This, perhaps more than anything else, has been the plague of early postmodern ministries: an immersion in deconstructionism to the point of stalemate; a vehement anti-modernism marinated in negation. As if the past three hundred years have yielded nothing of value. As if that which is linear, strategic, left-brained, and eloquently reasoned has no place in this new landscape. How naïve can we be? Deconstructionism may have exterminated any lingering illusions about objectivity. And humanism as we have known and lived it maybe over. Three cheers.

Yet, deconstructionism’s corollary - inherent subjectivity - does not mean the end of the scientific method. Nor does decontructionism’s progeny - cynicism - obliterate human potentiality. This side of triple-forte angst, we homo sapiens can now embrace the reality of our created-ness - our place in the generative story - and all the limitations that go with a decidedly subjugated position. Modernity gave us ourselves and nothing but ourselves. Hall and Havel's course-corrected modernity - in which the archetype of Supreme Being returns - would, in theory, give us more of our true selves, a re-contexted but no less gifted, regenerative race. In theory. Senn’s redeemed modernity gives us our true selves in fact, the ultimate recontexting; a Romans 1/Hebrews 10 reconciliation to the Creator with the power to turn the cynic’s whispered, guarded dreams into reality.

What impact should all this have on us as leaders, reaching out to the “whispering cynics” in our communities - those post-humanist and increasingly, post-ironic cultures emerging around us? The first order of business is to change our focus. We’ve spent the better part of a decade tearing down modern Christianity. Now it’s time to leave the rhetoric of negation and get to work, to put the hammer to the nail and get on with the business of building. Of course, the shift from demolition to construction will require us to be courageous in the face of failure and critique – the inevitable chastening that comes with creation. The question is, can we actually admit and accept our own limitations, our myopia, our (gasp!) functional modernity?

A tandem area of need is to go deeper into everything we are and do in our ministries. It is not enough to demonstrate the trappings of substance, whether that is labyrinths and candles, or coffee house banters. Many of us – in the well-worn tradition of our boomer elders - bypassed the disciplines of theology, philosophy, history, and sociology. It’s time to learn the “trade” from the inside out and stop fooling ourselves about our ability to both comprehend and bring meaning to people in our communities. It is all too easy to play the hip dilettante, to grab quotes from pre-modern mystics, to cut and paste sermons with movie clips from Gladiator. What do we really have to say if our entire world is measured in pre-digested sound bites? Lived and lasting change is not born of the quick and easy pastiche. It is born of deep connection, whole person sinewing – mind, spirit, emotions, bodies - to the Incarnate One Who invades our histories (yes, even the Enlightenment), disturbs our philosophies, and has eternally raised the bar for human interaction.

Fortunately, if we choose to mature - to move from a fast-ministry, dot.com orientation into communities of depth and presence - there will be inevitable alterations in our strategy. No longer will we target people by age, assuming that no one over thirty-eight can possibly “get it.” No longer will we burn bridges back to denominations and parent ministries, but rebuild and cross them with frequency. It is, after all, a powerful thing, to sit at the feet of those who have gone before us and listen to their stories. Can somebody say, “humility?”

No longer will we forge relationships with artists just so we can say we have Ansel Adams-esque photography on Sunday mornings or a former MTV-producer on the string. No longer will we treat people as units, massaging and misusing relationships just so we can turn up the dial on our congregation’s cool factor. Rather, we will be engaged with people simply because they are loved by God and sovereignly designated our neighbor.

Finally, we will no longer be willing to accept a legalism cloaked in the jargon of grace, even a legalism that is techno-savvy, cutting edge, and pajama-casual. The post-post modern is looking for true hope, not more “pull yourself up by your bootstrap” lists, no matter how much “Real Life” packaging we give them. Get ready. Even now, people in our culture are beginning to consider it a crime when they are pointed back to themselves.

The Truth is out there. The Truth is here. The Truth is Jesus. Let’s give them that.

Article used by permission from REV MAGAZINE Nov/Dec 2001 www.onlinerev.com

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