Should Emergent Church Trade Modernity for Postmodernity?
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Often this charge has been hurled at the Emergent church: Emergents are trading modernity for postmodernity as the context into which it is choosing to be relevant. The problem then with this, such critics suggest, is that postmodernity is inherently nihilistic, relativistic and a context no one should hitch its boat to. Surprisingly, I don’t think I disagree with any of this.
Yet this has also been a charge leveled at the Great Giveaway (my book) as well as even the church I help shepherd, Life on the Vine Christian Community. Now, I can see how such an interpretation might be possible because the Great Giveaway overtly seeks to uncover the modernist assumptions of the evangelical church using the writings of postmodernity, and our church does for many people look and feel like many other emergent fellowships. Yet I believe what I am doing in the Great Giveaway is much more theologically robust than a simple contextualization, and what is happening at Life on the Vine is not near as sociologically naïve than a simple recontextualization to the meanings and values of postmodernity.
The Great Giveaway does deliberately deconstruct (not in a Derridian sense) evangelicalism’s indebtedness to modernist principles in its doctrine, life and practice. And I have tried to use some of best spokespersons for the critique of modernity, Enlightenment, democracy and capitalism to expose how much evangelicalism is built on the assumptions of modernity including McIntrye, Yoder (yes I think he is a subtle underminer of modernity), Hauerwas, Lindbeck, Milbank, as well as a smattering of Continental philosophers. I have done this for the purpose of showing the glaring weaknesses of our modernist assumptions about knowledge, life, and practice all the while the modernist consensus is disintegrating around us in N. America as it has already in Western Europe.
My solution in the Great Giveaway however has not been to accommodate ourselves to postmodernity! The solution of the Great Giveaway has been to reinvigorate an ecclesiology for our times. Like Hauerwas, like even Milbank and Pickstock on a different level, like John Howard Yoder and Lindbeck, the solution I have proposed is to ground our witness, and our life in the gathering of His people born of the Spirit to live the life we have been given in the death and resurrection of our Lord. I do not believe the further radicalization of modernity’s trajectory of self expressive autonomous individualism is the answer (read here George Barna’s Revolution). Neither do I believe we simply cast aside the critique of modernity as philosophically relativist or nihilistic (read Don Carson’s book Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church). I believe the best response to postmodernity is the reinvigorization of communities of Christ as practicing the life we have been given before the watching world and into the world in terms of community, our justice, our hearing of the Word, our worship of the transcendent and mysterious God coming in Jesus Christ, our spiritual disciplines that form character in resistance to the consumerisms of our day.
So I offer a few challenges. A.) Can I ask people out there not to so easily slough off the critique of postmodernity towards modernity. It is real, it is powerful, it is big and unavoidable. If you havn’t read one of these authors, Alasdair McIntyre, Stanley Hauerwas, George Lindbeck, John Milbank, if you havn’t read one of these philosophers, Lyotard, Baudrillard, Foucault, Derrida, Levinas, Deleuze, Badiou, Ricouer or a sleu of others, then at least hold off judgement and read sertiously one or two authors of the grand critique of modernity that is well entrenched in today’s universities and intellectual leaders. B.) and to my emergent friends, I too believe modernity is crumbling despite what certain naysayers and apologists of modernity say. Let us use the opportunity of this great critique of modernity, not to defend and somehow make postmodernity better than modernity (which I don't think by and large anyone in emergent is doing), let us use this time to recast a vision for what it means to be the church faithful among the nihilisims and fragmentations of the current cultural malaise.
Hope this post wasn't too self-gratuitous.
For the furthernace of Christ's Kingdom in these times,
David Fitch
Posted by David Fitch | 9:28 AM
COMMENTS:
Enjoying your words & Scot M's discussion of your book.
Kerry Doyal
12:13 PM
Thanks for this post and for clearly explaing what you are up to in the book (of course, I already had a pretty good idea about that, but this makes it even clearer for me). I agree that too many Christians seem to react in an almost knee-jerk fashion to any mention of the postmodern critique of modernity. I'm no huge fan of alot of postmodern thought, but I can't for the life of me understand why some Christians seem so attached to Enlightenment modernity. As if modernity had ever really been any friend of the gospel. My guess is that many of these Christians have become acclimated to modernity to the point that they don't see its claims as representing a tradition of some kind, but instead confuse it with normalcy or simply "the way things are". It is, of course, hard to accept that the world might not be the way we've been conditioned to think it is (for me too).
It strikes me that what you are doing in appropriating the postmodern critique of modernity reflects a time honored tradition in Christian though. This is the tradition of borrowing insights from secular thinkers ("plundering the Egyptians" in Augustine's terms)in order to benefit the cause of Christ. Of course, some of these critics of modernity are also Christians.
In any case, people need to take more care to understand something and give it a fair shake before dismissing it. Reactionary responses come dangerously close to comitting acts of linguistic violence, as I have discussed elsewhere.
12:21 PM
I found my way here via Scot McKnight's blog; I'm quite enjoying his words on your book. I'm also enjoying your blog here.
I've ordered your book and look forward to reading it!
Just a note of thanks; keep it up!
Lee Eddy
6:32 AM
great post dave. also, have you seen the summary over at http://www.theocentric.com/theoarchives/000362.html. It's pretty good too.
10:52 AM
David,
I've now read your book twice, and have tracked down available material from many of the authors you draw upon for your critique, and have read them. I have written to a variety of informed people asking them their opinions about modernity and postmodernism. I'm a long time reader of MacIntyre, and find his Aristotelian/Thomist understanding of tradition a significant countermeasure to the historical amnesia of much contemporary thought. I generally agree with your critique of specific evangelical practices, though I am unconvinced that postmodernity offers significant improvement over modernity. It may be less absolute, more open to diverse interpretations based on context & text, and more focused on human community, however, those are characteristics that are not postmodern in origin. They may have their postmodern application, but these have been in continual evidence in the church through out time.
I find the modernity/postmodernity debate arbitrary. Why shouldn't the debate between modernity and medievalism? Or the ancient world and postmodernity? Why shouldn't it be a debate between Western modernity and Eastern mystical tradition? Each of these debates, if conducted within the context of the church will broaden our understanding of the church, its history, its culture and its role within society.
I was rather surprised that in your discussion of preaching from the standpoint of postmodern theorists, that you didn't address the issue of revelation. Just how does the thought of Derrida, Lyotard and Fish on language square with the church’s historical understanding of biblical revelation? I don’t expect a one-to-one correspondence, but I do expect some comment since for the most part their thought rejects the notion that there are transcendent universal values, like revelation.
I appreciate what you are doing, and believe your book is an important one to read. I've recommended it to many people. However as an evangelical within a mainstream Protestant church tradition, I find your philosophical engagement unconvincing. In fact, what your analysis suggests is that evangelicalism is more a reactionary movement, than an ecclesiastical innovation. The real problem is not modernity, but tradition and the need for an organizational structure where that historical tradition can thrive. As I read your book, I found that many, if not most, of those recommendations are ones that have historically been present in mainstream Protestantism.
There is much more I could, but will wait for another time. Thank you.
1:17 PM
Ed,
Wow ... huge post ... but can I say that my whole point in this post was that the Great Giveaway was NOT arguing for a replacement of modernity with postmodernity. From your first paragraph it sounds like you think that is what I am doing? Rather, what I see myself doing is uncovering the often unconscious allegience of evangelicalism to modernity and using postmodern critique to indeed reveal the weaknesses of that allegience. My answer is not postmodernity, but the Hauerwas mantra, "let the church be the church." Which in the end does sound alot like your last few lines, i.e. that we must draw on the depths of our traditions and live as an historical people with roots and practices born out of our Scriptures, and our history in the historical person and work of Jesus Christ.
As for your complaint on the chapter on preaching, sorry Ed, your request would have taken a whole book. And I disagree with at least your way of appropriating Fish, Derrida, Lyotard on the question of revelation.
Can we have a cup of coffee? Are you up in Canada? I'll come up there!
Gordon, do you have anything to add to Ed's ideas?
Blessings and thanks for the conversations!
3:21 PM
David, thanks for your gracious response. I would like to have coffee with you (Coffee is a sacrament, you know!) However, I live in North Carolina. I would like to see you church and understand better what you are trying to do. However, you may think you were using postmodernism to critique evangelical modernity, but it is such a strong indictment that it left the realm of metaphor, and took on a reality of itself. Modernity, as you describe it, sounds like a straw man stuffed in order to validate the vague claims of postmodernity. If I'm wrong about the deconstructionists and revelation, okay, I'd like to know how. Thanks again.
6:35 PM
Thanks for writing The Great Giveaway. My review on Amazon summarizes what I believe you are trying to say and why this book is so important:
I hope that "The Great Giveaway" will become required reading for anyone who is interested in helping the church regain its role in transforming lives. In this text, Dr. Fitch provides many well researched and hope filled suggestions on how the church can play a vital role in helping us become faithful to Jesus Christ in life and mission. Much of the text emphasizes how the church can be made relevant for persons with a postmodern worldview, however, this book is much more then a guide to setting up a postmodern church. This book helped provide answers to one of my most vexing questions; Why do many lifestyle statistics show very little difference between the churched and the unchurched?
Dr. Fitch provides convincing evidence that American culture has increasingly supplanted the relevance of the evangelical church. The church reflects this culture in so many ways that its ability to do its part to transform lives is diminished and increasingly suspect.
Dr. Fitch didn't just point out the problems; he blessed me with a renewed desire for community and for doing my part to help the church regain its relevance in the world.
Living in Colorado Springs and working in a parachurch organization, I am often puzzled by the evangelical culture. There seems to be an unconscious substitution of consumer capitalism, business techniques, and general Americanization into what is assumed to be a Christian culture. I am not a biblical scholar, however, my experience tells me that you’ve unmasked the main causes and you’ve energized me to step up my commitment to my local community of faith – The Church.
6:42 PM
Thanks Brian ... wonderful review and much appreciated ... and Ed ... maybe next time I'm down there at Duke we can have that coffee ...
Blessings ..
8:31 PM
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9:02 AM
Hi David: my brother in law gave me your book for christmas and i did not have 'a pretty good idea' what i was getting into. thanks for helping put to print some thougths and ideas, opinions and attitudes i have not been able to name...i look forward to introducing them to our church in the month of February and putting as much as I can to practice...we started this sunday by doing our preaching/praying/worship time very differently than before. 2006 is going to be a great year.
9:02 AM
good to hear a balanced approach - a both/and.
do you think books on philosophy the main place to find intellectual thought and action in this area?
7:58 AM
Andrew ... our friend Jamie Smith is coming out with a book this Spring that would serve as a great introduction to postmodern philosophy and its impact on culture ans church entitle "Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?" by James K A Smith ... I highly recommend it. DF
7:13 AM
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