Christ: Still the Answer in a Post-Modern Era

We live in a post-modern world today. What that means is that for most people truth is something that is not as easily found. It is not that post-moderns deny the existence of truth, but rather the certainty of knowing what that truth is. Post-moderns have, of course, been around for a long time. The classic example is seen in Pilate, the Roman governor who reluctantly gave the order for Jesus to be crucified, when he asked, “What is truth?” The post-modern world has been asking that question ever since. Our recent world, however, has been largely modern since the dawn of the Enlightenment Period, or the Age of Reason. During this time, men said that everything in this world could be understood by sheer reason and logic. In fact, God was not needed, because reason became their God. This modern worldview has continued throughout most of the 20th century, and I would also suggest that many people living in rural areas as well as most aged forty and up still hold to this type of thinking. This period has had tremendous impact on the church and, therefore, the church has seen everything through the lens of black and white. In subjecting the world to reason, we have sought to explain everything and have pushed out any concept of mystery.

Postmodern thinking, on the contrary, began to emerge in the 1960’s but most predominately in the 1980’s. It began with the “hippy” counter-culture of anti-establishment and anti-authority. The post-moderns have questioned everything, searching for truth, but rejecting the certainty of their own perspectives of truth.
Examples of Postmodern thinking include: (this information is taken from an article entitled “Connecting Churches with Today’s Modern and Postmodern Cultures”)

• The possibility of multiple gods. There is more to the universe than we can perceive. Religion, science, and philosophy are abstracts that are difficult (if not impossible) to grasp.
• Scientific knowledge can be used for good or evil. Scientific advances often can be used to improve or destroy life- consider atomic energy, genetics, or information technology, for example.
• Morality is relative. There are many standards for morality, and my moral base is personal, therefore is not yours to judge.
• Humanity has failed to solve social and political problems. Optimism has been replaced by pessimism for the future of mankind.

One response to this way of thinking is to consider the words of Christ from the gospel of John, chapter ten. From this passage, we are able to learn elements in dealing with a post-modern culture: (1) Christ is still the answer for today’s culture, and (2) Our method of sharing Christ must consider the reality of post-moderns.

Jesus is Still the Source of Truth
In verse one of this chapter, Jesus says: “I tell you the truth…” Jesus begins this part of his talk with the religious leaders by asserting that what he will say is the truth. This assertion assumes two things: (1) Truth exists and (2) Truth can be known.

Jesus Connects the Truth with His Culture
Jesus did this by using images and illustrations that people could relate to (such as sheep jargon to his agricultural audience). Jesus often spoke in object lessons and stories. Why? Because it is an effective teaching method that relates with people. The good news is that the Bible is God’s story of redeeming His people. Our approach to sharing the gospel must include the reality of our own experiences. Today, the post-modern person relates to real life stories, because although they may deny our absolute presentation of truth; they cannot deny our experiences. We must present our faith as a journey, not a final destination. In other words, we must not arrogantly maintain that we have all the answers, but that through Christ we can hope to put some of the other puzzle pieces together.

Jesus also used the language of the day. Although they did not understand the meaning behind what he was saying; they did understand the language itself. If I drove to work this morning and a flock of sheep was crossing the road here in Grant Park, and there were shepherds walking with them, along with clods of “stuff” they had left in their path (not the shepherds, but the sheep), I might think, “wow, Grant Park is really moving in the right direction.” The point is that it wouldn’t happen, because grazing sheep is not part of our culture today, but it was common to the culture in which Jesus spoke. We must, therefore, use the language of our post-modern culture, and try not to maintain the traditionalism of our Christian vernacular, for the sake of comfort or convenience.

Jesus Presents Himself as the Only Entrance to a Relationship with God
Not only do we live in a post-modern age, but we also live in a pluralistic age, where many believe that there are a lot of ways to God. Jesus clearly states that he is the gate to becoming part of his people. Although, we want to seek continually a way to communicate this truth as less offensive as possible, this truth will undoubtedly always offend some, because the gospel is unapologetically exclusive. We must never use this as an excuse, however, to be offensive in and of ourselves, or to be mentally lazy in our methods to communicate the gospel.


Jesus’ Life now is the Key to Communicating with the Post-Modern
Jesus uses the word “saved” here, which means “deliverance, salvation, or rescue.” It is no surprise that the Jews often looked at this in terms of political salvation, because they were under the rule of the Roman Empire. Our modern era has seen this in terms of heaven and hell, and has trumpeted the gospel in cold, catch phrases like, “If you were to die today, where would you go?” Certainly, salvation does include ultimate rescue from a real place called hell, but I also believe that those who live outside of Jesus Christ live in a spiritual hell on earth right now, and need to be rescued from their miserable existence.

When Jesus speaks of salvation here, he is speaking not only of a final deliverance from hell (the penalty of sin and the presence of sin), but also of a present deliverance from the power of sin, i.e. new life right now. This means that Jesus is the answer to the post-modern’s present questions of fulfillment, joy, and existence, and he offers this life today.