Thursday, April 3, 2008

Passing Postmodernism Fad?

I recall the surge of postmodernistic thinking within the church that occurred within the last decade. I remember that being postmodern was the cool thing to do. I don't say this to generalize or to speak out of discontentment, but I speak out of experience and curiousity.

I myself was involved in an Emerging/Emergent (I am not really sure what they would identify themselves as) youth group for a couple of years. I remembered actually leading worship as a musician in a youth group that had converted the interior of the chapel into a dark, cave-like environment so as to eliminate any form of traditionalism in the worship environment. I remember the "prayer stations", painting workshops, illustration displays, lounging area, and random pieces of art displayed during worship. By no means am I saying that worshipping with these methods are inheritently wrong in themselves, but I do question the motives for such "worship" practices. Traditionalism represented a structured worship where subjectivism doesn't exist. In an individualistic world that we live in, such a structured (or dare I say liturgical) method doesn't appeal to the general public. The elimination of traditionalism allows freedom for church attendees to make church their way. Of course, this was incredibly attractive for people who became weary of "dead" traditional churches.

But it seemed to me that this general feeling of "make-your-own-church" has begun fading away. The many friends I had who used to go to these postmodernistic congregations have looked back and felt embarrassed that they were so involved at one point. They would confess that they had the expectaction of an experience and a goal that would serve themselves benefit, instead of focusing on learning and understanding God through self-experiential practices.

In fact, I now see the opposite in my peers. There is a strong current of younger and younger generations returning their focus to the true intent of a worship service. They're much less concerned about how they feel about God, but more intent on learning about God through revelation as revealed in history by means of Scripture and the progression of the Church.

Is postmodernism fading away? Is it like Schleiermacher's modernistic theology that faded away into history?

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