Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ~ 2 Corinthians 6:14
Reading the title, you may wonder where I am going with this post. I think it best to tell you something you already know. We are not living in the America where I grew up. The apparent differences include riding one’s bike all over town without fear of being kidnaped, not worrying about someone entering one’s school and shooting people, good music, and Disney™ making kid cartoons without filling them with the LGBTQ+, feministic, and woke indoctrinations. The secular world believes the last clause is good. Our culture progresses to higher enlightenment, understanding differences, and acceptance of different beliefs and lifestyles—no matter how false one’s thoughts and lifestyles are. In other words, to be progressive, we must progress away from the archaic teachings of Judeo-Christian values.
I have not read the book yet; I intend to, but it is in the stack of “gonna-get-to-it-one-day” books, but the description on the back of Jeffrey T. Nealon’s, Post-Postmodernism or, The Cultural Logic of Just-in-Time Capitalism, states this: “Post-Postmodernism begins with a simple premise: we no longer live in the world of “postmodernism,” famously dubbed “the cultural logic of late capitalism” by Fredric Jameson in 1984….If ‘fragmentation’ was the preferred watchword of postmodern America, ‘intensification’ is the dominant cultural logic of our contemporary era.”[1] Do you read the tone of that description as I do? “…‘intensification’ is the dominant cultural logic of our contemporary era.” Maybe Nealon is right about our post-postmodern culture—but the logic, however intense, is far removed from what the Bible teaches.
The question may be asked, “do you not think it is good that a nation with growing diversity, including religious diversity, is good?” Absolutely! It is good, but our growing diversity is constitutionally founded and driven. It is what most of our forefathers had in mind when the convention of states adopted the Constitution of the United States of America on September 17, 1787, and made sure when amendments one (ratified December 15, 1791), thirteen (ratified December 6, 1865), and fourteen (ratified July 9, 1868) were set in place.[2] Whether diversity is good or not is not the issue. From my point of view, the opportunity the Church (i.e., all Christians) face is how to deal with the erroneous logic culture spews.
First, I think what we, the Church, have before us is, as I said above, an opportunity—a wonderful opportunity. God has given us the privilege to enter the marketplace of ideas and engage this diversity with a message we believe to be for all people, cultures, and religious backgrounds. The Westminster Confession of Faith states: “Unto this catholic (i.e., universal) visible church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by his own presence and Spirit, according to this promise, make them effectual thereunto” (25:3).[3] As believers, we should not take this section lightly. There are several reasons.
One, God has given the Church several things. The Church has a “ministry,” and each person in the Church has something to offer, not only to the Church but to the world (1 Cor. 12:28, Eph. 4:11-13). We are not just “apostles, prophets, teachers….” to each other, as important as Scripture makes that to be, but we are those things when we step outside our assembly of the saints. The Church has “oracles,” also. We declare divine words from the Divine Word. We unashamedly preach the Gospel with the expectation “that eyes and ears will open” (Matt. 11:11-15) and hearts come alive (Ezek. 36:26). And the Church has “the ordinances of God.” We have the authoritative direction to live as the Author prescribes people to live (Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4; Col 1:22; Titus 2:14; Heb. 12:14) because He has given that direction in His Word (2 Tim. 3:17).
The second reason we should not take this section lightly is that God has not given us these things and said, “Okay, good luck, sink or swim.” No, we are able because the Church “…does, by his own presence and Spirit, according to this promise….” Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Helper, we become more like Jesus and are directed to do the Father’s will. Furthermore, the gift is primarily for the empowerment to witness to others (Acts 1:8). We are empowered through Him (Eph. 5:18) as He helps us (John 16:7, 1 Cor. 12:4-11).
Understanding what God has given His covenant children and that He does not ask them to do these works without Him, we now move to the second reason I believe we have an incredible opportunity before us when dealing with the illogical culture in which we live. Now, I can point the finger at many areas for our situation’s downfall and the breakdown of certain institutions for our current struggles in this post-postmodern world. However, the greatest falter of the Church is that we Christians have abdicated our positions in the battle for the mind. We must take our place as the world’s foremost shapers and influencers that we once carried.
We Presbyterians usually think well of education. For example, our pastors cannot enter the pulpit unless they have a seminary degree with the proper languages, are examined by a candidate committee, and are examined again on the floor of a presbytery. However, education is not what I am talking about in this post. Today Christians have lost the ability to think critically and engage with intellectual vigor and rigor in the ideas that compete for attention. There was a time when our children were catechized and taught the basic tenets of faith. Adults not only went to Church to hear the preacher preach but went home and discussed the message with their family and friends. Christian colleges and universities used to develop intellect and virtue but now are bastions for secular thought only. If a Christian student stands his ground with a biblical point of view, the consequence is a lower grade, if not a failure in the class. Worse, feelings are the dominant concern in the Church today, where sermons are self-help fluff and psycho-babble mumbo-jumbo. The Church is not developing minds, preparing them to enter the world for ministry, or declaring the oracles and ordinances of God.
As believers, we need to realize that we are in a war with Satan and the world for our and our loved ones’ minds. Christians have believed that our voice does not matter in a secular world. We are scared to say anything negative about public spheres and public leaders’ decisions because of what others might think of our Church or us. However, I contend that we must continuously and conscientiously develop our biblically based worldview. We must understand that the authentic truth of God’s word does cause division and often hurt feelings. We need to know what it means to build a consistent worldview based upon the revelation of God’s Word and not be ashamed to pronounce it as heralds of God. Most importantly, as we serve the King of kings, we must unashamedly speak the truth, even if it means oppression, persecution, and discrimination. We Christians, the Church, must battle for the mind so we can obey both the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20) and the Great Commandment (Matt. 22:36-40) in such a post-postmodern world.
© Rev. Mark A. Horne and Andrews Presbyterian Church (SC), September 7, 2022.
[1] Jeffrey T. Nealon, Post-Postmodernism or, The Cultural Logic of Just-in-Time Capitalism (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2012). https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=21791. From the website: Jeffrey T. Nealon is Liberal Arts Research Professor of English at Penn State University. He is the author of Double Reading: Postmodernism after Deconstruction (1993), Alterity Politics: Ethics and Performative Subjectivity (1998), The Theory Toolbox (2003), and Foucault Beyond Foucault: Power and Its Intensifications since 1984 (Stanford, 2008).
[2] Honorable Henry Hyde, The Constitution of the United States of America as Amended, Unratified Amendments, Analytical Index, (Washington: United States Government Printing Office:2000) 1,16,17.
[3] The Westminster Confession of Faith: As Adopted by the Presbyterian Church in America (Lawrenceville: Christian Education and Publication, 2007), 125.
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