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andrew
careaga
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1.
we ask this of everyone, how would you define the
postmodern movement?
Whenever
I've tried to explain postmodernism, I've gotten into
trouble. Because
I always leave something out, or I get bogged down by my
modernist mindset with the classification and
categorization of ideas – and isn't all that
pigeonholing yet another symptom of modernist thinking.
But I'm putting the cart before the horse here. Let me
backpedal and start again.
Let's try this on for size:
As
I see things (at this moment, which is not to say that
my view won't change at some point in the future),
postmodernism is at its core a philosophy or worldview
that rejects the notion of absolute truth.
When I say "absolute truth," I mean
"truth" as modernists have come to know it --
that is, truth discovered in the great tradition of the
rationalist
Enlightenment
era. As part and parcel of postmodernity's rejection of
truth and the modernist means for coming to the
knowledge of that truth -- that is, the objective,
scientific, rationalist and empirical approaches to
discovery -- the natives of postmodernist culture are
turning more to what could be called
"pre-modern" methods of discerning meaning,
such as storytelling, experience, and a tribalistic form
of bonding into community. How this affects the church
is significant, because it forces the church to
reconsider its methods for presenting the gospel.
Rather than trying to present a logical, rational
apologetic for our faith, we need to become more
relational and to talk about our faith within the
context of creating community, relationships and
experiences -- the things that matter to the
postmodernist mindset. A culture that rejects the notion
of absolute truth will find it difficult to receive the
truth of the Christian faith as being "the"
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Of
course, there's much more to postmodernism than that,
but these seem to be the big issues that give the church
the most trouble. That's my opinion.
At this point in time. I could be wrong, though.
2.
in a pomo worldview, the world has no borders
(cyberspace knows no limits). do you see this
"blending of culture and tech" as a good
thing, or a bad thing for the church, and why?
The
blending of culture and tech is a good thing, if we (the
church) recognize it as such and seize the opportunities
computer and Internet technology afford us. There's a
symbiotic relationship between technology and culture.
Technology is a product of culture, and technology
alters culture. It's been that way since the Stone Age.
This symbiotic relationship has affected the church
since the earliest days.
Communications technologies -- from the stone
tablets to the scroll to the cathedral to the quill to
the printing press to the satellite network to the Net
-- have been vital tools for God's people to spread the
Word. Consider the Reformation; Martin Luther and the
reformers made good use of the printing press to get
Bibles and tracts into the hands of the common people.
Consider the satellite; for better or for worse,
radio and TV evangelists have made use of the broadcast
media to spread their message. The Internet is yet
another communications technology that can be used by
the church to get the message out in a compelling and
relevant way. But this technology has a difference: it
not only allows us to communicate on a global yet
intimate scale, but it also allows us to
"inhabit" a virtual environment and create
disembodied communities. For this reason, the
"blending" you speak of in your question is
occurring on a scale never before realized. We use the
Internet, as a tool, and yet we also inhabit the
Internet, as a space, a community.
3.
as the "cyber-church" advances, what do you
see as the three main pitfalls for the
"traditional" church?
Leonard
Sweet has a great quote that goes something like this:
"The mainline church has become the sideline
church, and is in danger of becoming the offline
church." I love that quote; it's as clever as
anything Sweet has said or written. But Sweet is
defining the problem too narrowly. It isn't only the
mainline church that is in danger. It's every church
that isn't connected to the online world. And that's
what I think you mean by "traditional" church.
So, the three pitfalls for the traditional church are
these:
1.
The church has been slow to respond to the Internet's
potential as a tool for sharing the gospel, and will
continue to lag behind. (Nothing new here, as the church
usually lags behind when it comes to recognizing
technology's potential.)
2.
Many in the church will continue to insist that the
Internet is simply a "tool" rather than a
place where community happens, and therefore will miss
the chance to meaningfully participate in the growing
community of online believers and seekers.
3.
The church will try too hard to be "high tech"
and "relevant" and will neglect the important
things that make the church the church.
4.
what do you see as the primary tools for ministering and
evangelizing n-gen?
Effective
evangelism on the Internet requires believers to do a
bit of "reverse incarnation." We must enter
the culture of cyberspace and dwell among its
inhabitants, in essence becoming "incarnational"
in cyberspace (even though we are leaving our bodies --
our "carnals" -- behind). We need to take John
1:14 -- "the word became flesh and dwelled among
us" – and turn it inside out, so that we
flesh-and-blood Christians become words in cyberspace
and dwell among others in the cyber environment. For
this to happen, the church on the Internet must be about
more than just slapping up a static web page. The church
– and by this I mean believers of all stripes – must
actively engage in the cyberculture through the more
interactive avenues of instant messaging, chat, blogs,
online communities such as this one.
Off
the Internet, the church must continue to be a place
where N-Geners can come to feel a part of a community.
The church must understand that N-Geners have a more
global worldview, fostered by the Net, and will expect
the church to see itself as part of the global church --
to be the "glocal" church, both global and
local. They also bring a lot of baggage to the church.
We're more likely to see N-Geners come from broken
homes, to have substance abuse problems (I've heard
N-Gen referred to as "the Ritalin
Generation"), and to have less distrust in
institutions than their predecessors. At the same time,
they're more open to authentic community and want to
have a real spiritual experience. That's what the
Christian faith is all about -- or should be all about.
5.
with the "underground" christian movement
growing, how can churches best reach these people, or
can they?
Christianity
has always flourished underground. It's when the church
becomes an institution and becomes institutionalized
(think about that word -- "institutionalized"
-- for a moment, and what images come to mind?) That it
gets in trouble. I'm thankful for the underground
Christian movement, and want to do everything I can as a
believer to help underground Christians keep from
becoming institutionalized Christians.
But
how can churches reach them? Again, it boils down to
providing an authentic community for them. Some churches
have developed outreaches for underground cultures, from
skate culture to rave, hip-hop and goth culture, and are
doing well. Other churches are afraid to radically
depart from the traditions that seem so alien to the
undergrounders -- because to depart from those
traditions would mean alienating their base of support.
It's a tough time to be an institutional church. Some
won't survive. But Christianity will. In fact,
Christianity is thriving in Asia, Africa and Latin
America, even as it declines in Europe and North
America. I have great hope for the global church, even
though the new church looks nothing like the church we
see here where I live, in Bible Belt, USA.
6.
in a world of tech, how can we, as a community fed by
touch, minister with a face to face touch in the lives
of people?
The
Internet is all about having conversations and engaging
one another. Step into a chat room and see how people
are truly connecting with one another. (Sure, it'll feel
disorienting the first few times, but stick with it.) If
we understand that the "tech" of the Internet
is really a medium for connecting with others in very
real and intimate ways, then we will grasp the idea that
we really can have something similar to "f2f"
relationships fostered via cyberspace.
At
the same time, the church must always be incarnational.
Cyberspace does not replace physical space.
Cyberpresence does not replace physical presence.
7.
if i were a youth pastor, what would you say are some of
the most important things i could do to help n-geners
develop a deeper faith and walk with christ?
After
15-plus years as a bivocational youth minister, the most
important lesson I could pass on is that I cannot
pretend that I'm the authority, because I'm not. Teens
today have access to more information than I ever had
growing up, and they don't need me to spoon-feed them
the gospel. I'm there to facilitate discussion and
learning, and to join with them on our mutual journey as
pilgrims in the faith. If you were a youth pastor coming
to me for advice, would tell you to be real, be
vulnerable, be humble, and don't be surprised that you
get more from the experience than you could ever
possibly give. Giving gets. It's as simple as that.
*****
Andrew
Careaga ||
eMinistry: Connecting with the Net Generation http://eministryonline.com E-vangelism:
Sharing the Gospel in Cyberspace
http://e-vangelism.com
Weblog: http://bloggedyblog.blogspot.com
Search Party 2002, May 15-18, 2002: http://www.searchparty2002.com/
Andrew
Careaga is a bivocational youth minister who lives in
Rolla, Missouri, and works with salemfaith.faithweb.com/aliens.html
THE ALIENS youth ministry of Salem Faith Assembly
Church. He is the author of the books http://www.e-vangelism.com
E-vangelism: Sharing the Gospel in Cyberspace and
eministryonline.com/ eMinistry:
Connecting with the Net Generation. His newest
book, <i>Hooked on the Net: How to Say
"Goodnight" When the Party Never
Ends</i>, will be published later this year by http://www.kregel.com/ Kregel
Publications. When he isn't writing or preaching, he is
the public relations manager for the University of
Missouri-Rolla.
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