Postmodern Cathedral

Today I journeyed to a postmodern cathedral, Southpoint Mall (streetsatsoutpoint.com). Southpoint Mall is designed to have the look and feel of community with the purpose of allowing young adults to part with large quantities of money. There is both an inside and outdoor portion of the mall but the inside is deigned to look and feel like it outside. It has green spaces, high glass ceilings and event above the stores are shells to make it seem like the store is located on a busy street rather than inside a giant retail shop. Southpoint is trying to mimic the small town shop feel while housing big-dollar retailers like The Gap and Pottery Barn.

The sound of splashing water and the constant feel of a breeze caresses your face as you walk through the inside of the mall. On the outside a vendor sales fresh roasted nuts and flavored ice shavings on the Streets of Southpoint while a young man juggles for tips. The restaurants in the vicinity fill the air with the scent of expensive food being prepared from around the globe and across the street. It seems like everyone is here, from the young adult with a dozen piercings, slashed jeans and black eye liner to the soccer mom with toddlers in tow. At Barnes and Nobles grandmother is buying childrenÂ’s books with a curly headed little girl while a few feet away a man is talking on his Blue Tooth enabled cell phone while pounding the keys of his laptop feverishly. In the Metropolitan young adults browse expensive home accessories as well as funky and risque' gifts including decks of cards with different sexual positions for every day of the year. Everybody is looking for something, but I don'’t really think they are going to find it here, no matter how good the ambiancence is. This is, however, the church of the culture.

All of the elements of worship are present. There is music to set the mood piped in with hidden speakers so that your spirit is lifted with upbeat popular tunes and old familiar songs. The offering is collected with the ring of every cash register. There is a ritual of standing and sitting as hosts usher people to their table to break bread. The sacrament of Marble Slab ice cream welcome the worshippers. The preacher for the day, with messages of hope or despair, is shown on the sixteen screens of the movie theatre with Dolby sound and amazing graphic effects. The benediction of each service ends with the words of the friendly merchants saying, "Thanks! Have a good night."

How can today's church stand against this retail community of our culture? Leslie Newbegin, in The Gospel in a Pluralist Society shares how we can speak to this society of spenders whose worship is purchase, entertainment and consumption. We must construct a community that stands over and against the culture by including Newbegin'’s six characteristics:

1. Community of praise: —we must be a people who give up on being proper we have to be people of radical praise. Praise which looks up in admiration and love” to God in radical self-giving as well as praise that is filled with thanks! This community will praise and not practice the illusion of praise that fills the stores to encourage more purchase.
2. Community of truth: authenticity is essential to break past the illusion of truth that is prevalent in our society.
3. Community that cares for its neighborhood: —all ministry is indigenous! While retailers are trying to create the illusion of concern with their greetings and salutations, the body of Christ needs to really care for those in need around them. Those who worship with them and live near them.
4. Community of priests: —everyone is a spiritual leader. While the church may still have pastors, everyone will see themselves as a spiritual being able to convey and share the message of the cross and hope eternal.
5. Community of mutual responsibility: —the illusion of real community is everywhere. That is why the mall is trying to look like a small town. The body of Christ must be real community that lives and breathes as a community. We must care for our sisters and brothers.
6. Community of hope: —most importantly the illusion of self-help has to be replaced real hope that comes from God. Hope that permeates our culture of doubt and that stands in stark contrast to the bleak headlines that fill our omnipresent screens. (Newbegin, 163-170)

As I wandered across the paved, brick walkways I was keenly aware that I had failed in my attempt to reach this community. A couple of years ago I attempted to start a worshipping community that gathered in the theatre right in the middle of this postmodern cathedral. Though we gathered nearly one hundred souls the community did not reach viability before my time and my funding ran out. My burden for this generation is even more acute now that it was then. Can we reach them or must we just give them over to worship with retail liturgies and entertainment sacraments? God help us if we do not commit ourselves to reach this generation no matter what the cost. Thanks be to God that they, like I, remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

Theology of Koontz

Perhaps I’ve been reading far too much literature on postmodern theology and thought by the likes of Stan Grenz and Brian McLaren with complimentary reading by Leslie Newbegin but what has been tickling my brain lately is the theology of Dean Koontz. I learned years ago that cultures’ beliefs are far more prevalent in their fictional/mythological literature than in their text books. Indeed, text books lag behind the theology, thoughts and beliefs of the people by as much as a decade. You have but to read the texts burning up the book club circuit to see what people really believe and embrace.

Koontz turns out novel after novel, astounding to people like me who can barely conscieve and construct a cohesive short story. Across the board there is a mystical, metaphysical theology that permeates his texts. His books seem to embrace three components with regularity. First, there is an unlikely hero with a sixth sense or unusual gift. Secondly, there is an amazing prevalence of evil whose presence is made palatable by Koontz’s descriptive narrative. Lastly there is the necessity for the hero, to prevail, to be willing to be completely self-giving to overcome unimaginable circumstances.

From the redeemed Frankenstein monster to the child who intentionally shifts from one reality to another to avoid raindrops to the quirky frycook who sees dead people, Koontz’s heroes posses something beyond the norm. They often seem normal or only mildly odd to the casual observer, but there is a secret that haunts their existence. There is an aura of unfulfilled destiny that haunts their waking dreams.

The heroes also have the essence of a divine spark that the narrative often indicates lies dormant in most of us. The allusion to the “imageo dei” seems to resonate for him as he writes. Many of the supporting characters also seem to carry the spark of God but it is not as fully embraced as the hero of his works.

Regarding evil, it seems to ooze around the narrative like dense smoke. The closer to resolution that the characters get the more dense the fog of futility and evil becomes. In Odd Thomas it even takes the form of nearly opaque shadows that attempt to impede the hero from fulfilling his destiny. This evil seems to indicate an other worldly essence that is striving against the divine spark within the hero. The real power of Koontz’s description of evil is that it is disturbingly familiar.

Lastly, to sieze their divine destiny a willingness to be absolutely self-giving is demanded. They must be willing to give themselves away to achieve a greater good. The good that is achieved only comes after demanding struggle that always has a price. There is a presence of loss that makes the narratives seem real rather than the “happily ever after” works that lack the connection with life that makes them believable.

Koontz’s work depicts postmodern theology and values. He dismisses science as the sole source of knowledge and embraces the mystery that surrounds us. He calls into question all “realities” and leads us down the amazingly believable path of alternate existence. Embracing forms of “trans-realities” seems completely acceptable when you read Koontz. Lastly, he often has his characters look back with a fond critique of back when life was easier because everything was “knowable.”

The theology that seems to seep from these texts is a theology that embraces mystery. There is more that can be seen or known but that must be embraced to fulfill your God-shaped destiny. There are pressing, unanswered questions of God. There is the realization that there is something beyond this trifling existence. There is a desire to bridge the gap between experience and intellect. Lastly, there is an intense seeking to understand the unknowable.

To the sacramentalist in me this sounds amazing like Eucharist. May this body be broken and blood spilt to redeem a people who know that there is more than can be known. I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

PS: visit www.deankoontz.com to see samples of his work.

Self-Giving

In following the line of thought from the previous blog I came across the following quote in my devotional reading this morning. Before the world was post-modern, God was!

Thankfully I remain:

Lost in Grace,

Marty

That God exists is no secret. It is clear to see!

That the human being is eternal is no secret.

It is the experience of every ready heart…

That God is immense is no secret.

All you have to do is look at the universe.

That God is the memory of the world is no secret.

All you have to do is glance at the computer.

That God is near is no secret.

You need only look at a couple on their honeymoon, or a hen with her chicks, or two friends talking, or an expectant mother.

But then, where is the secret?

Here it is: God is a crucified God.

God is the God who allows himself to be defeated,

God is the God who is revealed himself in the poor.

God is the God who has washed my feet,

God is Jesus of Nazareth.

We were not accustomed to a God like this.

From Why, O Lord? By Carolo Caretto

Deep thought of the day:
I believe that as a general rule, the weight of my prayer when I turn to God to acknowledge my failure should rest neither on self-blame nor on petition for forgiveness but on my overarching need for divine help, for wisdom to see and strength to do what is need; "O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee, mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts." C. Bryant in The Heart of the Pilgrimage

“Why do events?” That was the question of one youth worker who called me as she struggled with organizing the first trip of her ministry. “What’s the big deal, we can do everything you guys do right here at home.” For her, and for you, there are four reasons that immediately came to mind: place; passion; presenters & participation in something bigger than their micro-community.

Place: Changing Environment

The first reason is that often times we need a change of location to hear the same truth that we are hearing at home. Environment molds the message. If the location is overly familiar often the message is ignored. Taking your youth to a retreat center allows them to be in a completely different environment so that they can alter their perception of everything they hear and see.

Passion: Burning Hearts

Secondly passion is why off site events matter in the lives of young people. Try as you might, you and your staff get tired. You have preconceived notions of the young adults you work with that color how you view them. When you are in a retreat setting lead by an alternative group of people we are not bound by your conceptions. The Ministries with Young People staff are chose because of their burning passion to serve Christ and invest in young adults. They are not doing it every week with the same young people so they bring fresh eyes and intense passion to what they do.

Presenters: Fresh Voices

Not only do we recruit the best and brightest young adults to staff our events, we bring in bands and speakers that really connect to where your young people are. We intentionally find a diversity of styles and cultures so that you will be able to find in our summer line up a speaker and music team that you think will reach your youth.

Participation: Bigger Community

Young people want to be part of something bigger than themselves. SEJMYP youth events allow them to connect with a community that stretches across the southeastern United States. They begin to realize that the Church is bigger than their Sunday morning assembly and youth group. They expand their ideas of what the Church is and what is possible. Every year youth connect with people from a myriad of other places and maintain contact, share their struggles and spiritual journey across the miles thanks to the internet.

NETWORK, the magazine of the National Network of Youth Ministries, in their Spring 2006 issue listed “Church Camp/Retreat/Special Event Conferences” as the most frequently indicated influence on why young people begin their spiritual journey and make ongoing deeper commitments. That is why we do what we do at the SEJMYP, to facilitate those decisions and empower them to live as radically devoted followers of the Savior. Thanks be to God that we are:

Lost in Grace,

Marty