Matt Pritchard » Emergent/Postmodernism

The Problem of Preaching

Matt — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:01:56 +0000

In my communities, I tend to be the guy who “doesn’t like preaching.”

However, my problem isnâ€™t with preaching at all, itâ€™s only that churches often recognize preaching to the detriment of other spiritual gifts. Assuming that preaching is the best way to share things week-in and week-out is a mistake (pedagogically and theologically). (Itâ€™s similar to my problem with relegating worship to only music.) Itâ€™s one of many ways to proclaim the Word. As such, it’s as problematic to never have preaching as it is to always have preaching.

The issue is that in many churches today we have legitimate avenues for bringing the Word (most notably preaching and musical worship) and illegitimate ones. Though we may use a medium poorly, there are NO inappropriate mediums for bringing the Word. We can bring the Word of God when we preach, when we care for the least of these, when we are alone praying, when we impart joy to others. We can proclaim the Word through fine art and music, through caring for our neighbors, through loving our enemies, through blogging, and through living the eucharist. The Word can appear in our discussions, in our cooking, and especially in our silence. We need space for all mediums.

If your gift is preaching, preach. If your gift is painting, paint. If your gift is cooking, cook. To bring the Word in greater fullness, we need everyonesâ€™ gifts.

Emerging Generations

Matt — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:48:01 +0000

I’ve been at the Envision 08 conference the last couple of days.Â I’ve had lots of great and challenging conversations which I’m still processing.Â There’s a good overview of each session here.

While there I met some amazing college students.Â We had some great conversations–needless to say, they all left with Irresistible Revolution in hand.Â None of them knew what the emerging church was, so, at their request, IÂ clumsily tried to define it.

Â The neat thing was, though none of them knew the term “emerging,” our conversations revealed that the conceptsÂ spoke of most often inÂ emerging circlesÂ were in no way foreign to them, in fact, they were givens in their conception and understanding of God.

Many people think of emerging as a movement to do something different and shift thinkingÂ in the church.Â This tends to be less and less the point the younger the person is.

I didn’t have to introduce my new friends to the concepts of emerging.Â I didn’t have to show them how to be emerging.Â At core, they culturally are already emerging.

U.S. News and World Report features my Friends at Common Table

Matt — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 14:30:15 +0000

Last week’s issue of U.S. News and World Report featured a couple of articles that include Common Table.

TheÂ cover storyÂ ”A Return to Tradition” and “Mixing Jesus with Java: The Appeal of New Religious Communities.”

Homesickness

Matt — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:37:11 +0000

This weekÂ I was speaking with someone about the church she once knew dying.

It’s kind of like my first year of college. I was pretty homesick. I longed for home day after day.

Eventually it dawned on me that I wasn’t in fact just desiring a place–home, but actually a time. The reality was that I could go back home, but doing so would do little to truly affect my homesickness as all my friends from high school were no longer there. I realized I was longing more for a season than for a place.

Given going back was not a possibility, I knew I had to embrace the new season God had given me.

Likewise, many are homesick for a church that no longer exists. No matter how much we try to keep everything physically the same, the reality is we cannot return to the season we are longing for, even if we think it was better, it has passed away.

Of course, the best way to get over homesickness is, instead of constantly seeking to return to where you were, to embrace the new place you are. Seek to know it, understand it, and live in it and eventually it will become home.

Storytelling

Matt — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:21:22 +0000

Jan at Church for Starving Artists wrote yesterday about the need to hear one another’s stories in building authentic community.

Sharing our stories is so important.Â

I’ve found it the best foundation to lay for any group whether a missions team,Â intentional Christian community, or sunday gathering.

It enables us to love one another so much better.Â Suddenly I have a glimpse into why Susan does all those things that drive me nuts and it’s not so bad any more. I’m able to sit in silence less awkwardly becaue I now know why John never speaks. Knowing how Jim grew up affords me more grace when he snaps at me.

A practical suggestion, having done this quite a few times by this point, is to have someone who is willing to be particularly vulnerable go first and set the tone.Â It’s also good to encourage everyone to have a turn, sharing only what (and if) they are comfortable, taking particular care to value however much or little is shared.Â It can take people a really long time to share their story, so I’ve found, if it’s a small group, taking a weekend retreat with the primary purpose of hearing everyone’s story makes it actually less arduous and forms a great foundation for authentic Christian community.

Christian Postmodernism

Matt — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 18:32:00 +0000

There has been a lot of discussion lately surrounding postmodernism and Christianity. My friend Scott Simmons recently provided me an excellent explanation from which the following heavily borrows:

Modernists argue that all Truth can be proven either rhetorically or empirically. This led to the scientific revolution, among other things. The problem is that in science, as in so many fields, we learned time and time again that we were constrained by a host of imperfections, whether they be incomplete information, imprecise methods, statistical issues, et cetera. Of course, modernists argue that this can simply be resolved with better mechanisms, i.e. we develop a better telescope and see more stars, it doesn’t mean that they weren’t there before, it just means that our equipment was insufficient to see them.

Postmodernists argue that truth cannot be perfectly derived rhetorically or empirically. That is to say that there is always a space of the unknown that breaks the continuity between rhetorical or empirical evidence and ultimate Truth. Secular postmodernists thus conclude that to say x is true is more a matter of personal understanding, values, or faith rather than in fact offering ultimate Truth.

Perhaps a chart would demonstrate better:

Science would say that all the evidence points to the truth being the green line. A philosopher might point to truth being the blue line. But in fact Truth or reality might be the red line. Given the simple fact that no one knows what happens in the area of the unknown, anything can happen and thus truth is subjective.

Of course, everyone continues to argue that their truth is in fact Truth from the philosophers, to the scientists, to the theologians, to the outright crazy. Many secular postmodernist take this an additional step to say that truth is solely based in perception and thus there is no ultimate Truth. This is where Christian postmodernists differ.

Christian postmodernists believe that there is in fact an ultimate Truth and, though it may be hinted at and pointed towards in science, philosophy, and religion, it is the sole dominion of God. That is to say that human understanding of Truth lacks perfection and by very definition remains always deficient from ultimate Truth, always in need of redemption, and always requiring faith.

All Christian efforts to prove God, whether scientific, philosophical, or theological have and always will fall short. Wonderfully, this simply not only affirms the requirement of faith, but the core and ultimate need we all have for God!

Providentially, Christians worship a God who speaks. The one true God who has chosen to share ultimate Truth with all of mankind through the Holy Spirit and through His Word. Our understanding remains deficient and must always be examined and challenged, but we get to experience ultimate Truth, here and now, like no other people and in eternity, in perfection.

Soli gloria Deo.

Christian vs. Christ-follower

Matt — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 00:11:17 +0000

Christian vs. Christ-follower

Link

Created: Wed, 01 Nov 2006

My friend Colin just sent me a link to a set of Christian parodies of the Mac/PC commericals. It’s a great concept, but I’m afraid they fall short.

Essentially it’s an issue of good concept, poor articulation. These are anti-Christendom, but leave one thinking that being a Follower of Jesus is even more meaningless. They spent a lot of time dismantling Christendom but failed to equally develop what it means to Follow Jesus.

My friend and housemate Ryan provided a very good critique:

Good application of the Mac/PC ads. But, as Colin says, poor and lukewarm generalization of Christian and â€˜Christ-Followerâ€™ (Shouldnâ€™t they be the same? Letâ€™s not draw even more lines to define who we are by differentiating ourselves
from others.) Another attempt to market Christ on a platform of feel-good Christianity? Probably. â€œHey, I smoke, have a tongue-piercing, donâ€™t take showers, AND I love Jesus; so that makes my relationship with Christ more authentic and me more â€˜realâ€™, man.â€ Would have been better if the ads de-emphasized the very things it brought to light.

At any rate I think they are interesting and worth discussing.