where are we going?

let me tell you a story

The Gospel for Postmodern New Zealanders

A Primer: Postmodernity and New Zealand
Let me tell you a story. I have a missionary friend, from Holland, living in New Zealand. As a staff member for a discipleship training school, she has recently returned from taking a group of young people to Fiji on a very successful ‘outreach’. "What kind of outreach did you do" I asked, "door knocking" she replied, and described how the group were able to spend time with many families, sharing the gospel with them, simply by knocking on their door. How did they respond to the gospel? They readily accepted the validity of the message and wanted to know more about Jesus. How did these young evangelists prepare for this task? By knocking on New Zealand doors, an exercise which resulted in not one invitation to enter, and almost complete disinterest in the message they were bringing.

This story highlights some important questions. Why are New Zealanders not interested in hearing what a Christian has to say? What is so culturally different about New Zealanders that makes them less trusting of the message? What has caused New Zealand culture to change so much that evangelistic strategies that used to be successful are now a waste of time?

There may be many reasons why an individual person may choose to open or close the door to a gospel heralding stranger, reasons that may change from day to day. However, we cannot deny that even anecdotal evidence such as my story above reveals much about the state of the culture of New Zealand in general while also hinting at some of the changes that have occurred that have brought us here. This is perhaps the first step in understanding the importance of cultural anthropology for mission, recognizing how necessary an understanding of culture is if the gospel is to be communicated effectively.

Just over a year ago a well know New Zealand evangelist, after taking note of the book titles in my hands, whispered to me over a library table "you know what, I don’t think postmodernity exists". Being surprised with this assertion I didn’t quite know how to respond, and as he continued I found that he based this belief on the idea that people, regardless of age or context, will make decisions based on the logic and reason of an argument. He explained how evangelism should be an event that occurs when one presents the simple facts of the salvation formula to an unbeliever who is consequently put in the position of either accepting or rejecting the ‘gospel’.
This conversation disturbed me as I felt it reflected a common understanding among evangelical Christians in New Zealand. In the light of the amount that is being written, and can be observed, about the speed and nature of the changes that western culture, and particularly New Zealand culture, are undergoing, I believe that how we communicate the gospel needs to be radically rethought. Peter Stephenson shares my concerns, and writes:

"Missionaries working in non-Western cultures have long understood what it means to immerse themselves in, and adapt themselves to, the culture they are trying to reach (enculturation) and to present the gospel in a way that is meaningful to the hearers (contextualization). But we have generally not realized that our own Western culture is not what it was 30 years ago, and so needs a similar missionary engagement…the whole Western worldview has changed, and continues to change. Ways of perceiving reality, the understanding of what it means to be human, and religious belief systems have changed beyond recognition…we are witnessing the extinction of one culture/worldview and the emergence of a totally new one…we assume that the basic framework for understanding reality and human existence of young adults today is fundamentally the same as it was 30 years ago. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Stephenson has recognized that cultural research has been a tool of extreme value for missionaries, who were among the first to study and record the cultural aspects of different people groups. This discipline has been developed and refined, and now the science of Cultural Anthropology gives us the ability to appropriately present the gospel in any given cultural context. But as Stephenson points out, the significance of this endeavor is not exclusive to the realm of cross-cultural evangelism, but is vital in the task of contextualizing the gospel for our own people. Cultural Anthropology therefore also gives us the tools to understand our own culture more deeply so that the gospel we present makes is relevant, authentic and meaningful to those we engage with.

Cultural Anthropology is primarily a behavioural science, which means it is concerned with how people behave, or in other words what they ‘do’. The importance of observing what people do lies in what can be revealed about how they think, and therefore relationship between thinking and doing. However, Cultural Anthropologists do not attempt to theorize about what people ‘should’ be doing, but want to explore what people are actually doing and why they are doing what they are doing as they go about their everyday lives.

Cultural Anthropology has traditionally been the study of the behaviour of "others" (the non-western), and has thereby developed the concept of culture as being the common behaviour that is observed among "other" people groups. However, today Cultural Anthropology is a vital science in the understanding of all cultural and sub-cultural groups, and hence we are able to learn much about the very culture we are immersed in by utilizing anthropological tools.

Cultural Anthropology strives to be interdisciplinary in its approach to research in order to arrive at a holistic perspective of culture. This means taking the time to understand the environmental, social, psychological, spiritual, historical, political and biological (to name a few) implications of the context within which the group being studied is located. When the same process is applied to our own context, we equipped with the necessary analytical tools to be able to understand and interpret our own culture. We are given the ability to explore our own behaviour and the behaviour of those around us.

As mentioned before, Cultural Anthropology affords us a deeper understanding of culture by exploring the thinking that is associated with behaviour. An important aspect of Cultural Anthropology, termed epistemology, asks the question "how do we know what we know?" and seeks to explore the process different people groups use to interpret their experiences of reality. It is especially important that we grasp an understanding of epistemology because it is in this area that much of the difference between the modern and the postmodern worldview lies.

In his book "Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues" Paul G. Hiebert makes use of the following parable to illustrate various epistemological positions:

several umpires stood talking after a baseball game one day when a player asked them, "Why do you call a particular pitch a ‘strike’?"

to which each umpire gives a different answer demonstrating their understanding of the nature of knowledge and reality. Ravi Zacharias has borrowed this parable to show the shift in epistemology between the ages:

a premodern baseball umpire would have said something like this:
'There's balls, and there's strikes and I call 'em as they are.'
a modernist would have said,
'There's balls and there's strikes, and I call 'em as I see 'em.'
and the postmodernist umpire would say,
'They ain't nothing until I call 'em.'

This illustration helps us recognize one of the most important aspects of postmodernity, that in the postmodern world knowledge and reality is understood as being almost exclusively subject and context dependent.

The word ‘Postmodern’ has crept into our general vocabulary pool only recently but has been used in such a variety ways that it evades concrete definition. In this paper it is used in reference to culture, allowing it to become a more tangible idea with an underlying worldview as a fixed reference point. It must also be defined in light of the preceding ‘modern’ age and the worldview it is associated with. It is to this relationship that the term owes its existence, as the prefix ‘post’ suggests, and it is essential to understand some of the major aspects of modernity if we are to define postmodernity.

Peter Stephenson, in his article "Christian Mission in the Postmodern World" gives the following overview of modernity:

For several centuries, the governing worldview in the Western world was what has come to be known as "Modernism". In very simplistic terms, Modernism assumed that human reason was the only reliable way of making sense of the universe. Anything that could not be understood in scientific terms was either not true, or not worth knowing. Human beings, by means of scientific reason, could make sense of the world, and indeed, manipulate it for their benefit, with or without reference to God...This ability to understand and manipulate the natural world (i.e. the only part of the universe worth knowing about) held out the promise of unlimited progress. The world was recognized as being infested with problems (ill-health, poverty, suffering, war), but science would find the solutions sooner or later.

Stephenson has recognized that the cultural shift that has occurred within the western world has been due to an overall sense of distrust in the idealism of modernity. Apart from being a predominantly western phenomenon, postmodernity does not refer to the particular culture of one group of people but points to this common shift in worldview that is becoming prevalent within many (yet mostly western) cultures. Also, as "postmodern" culture cannot be described as belonging to one group of people, neither is it a movement which can be followed, or a destructive influence to be fought. It is more simply a term made necessary because of very real changes that are well documented and readily observed within the western worldview, and is used in this way to describe the emerging state of New Zealand culture. Hence, it is without surprise that "postmodern" culture is appropriately descriptive of the particular worldview that is emerging within our New Zealand.

The postmodern worldview does not accept that there is one way to define truth, or that the language and symbols we use represent an actual reality that exists "out there". This critique of modernity holds that reality is socially constructed and is interpreted and agreed upon by the community with whom and individual identifies, within the particular context that they find themselves in. Hence, all claims to truth are open to discussion, no one understanding is better than another and the postmodern catch phrase "You have your truth, I have my truth" is largely assumed.

As postmodernity can in many ways be defined as a critique of modernity, the table below is set out to show some of the major ways in which this has occurred:

Modern Culture
Postmodern culture
Metanarratives (the grand stories) of history, culture and national identity accepted. Myths of cultural and ethnic origin accepted as received.
Suspicion and rejection of metanarratives of history and culture result in identification with more local and contextual narratives and the deconstruction of metanarratives
Trust in the promise of progress through science and technology
Scepticism in the idea of progress
Belief in the existence of absolute truth "the real", truth is to be "known"
Disbelief in absolute truth, truth is subject dependant, truth is to be "experienced"
Faith in, and myths of, social and cultural unity, hierarchies of social-class and ethnic/national values, seemingly clear bases for unity.
Social and cultural pluralism, disunity, unclear bases for social/national/ ethnic unity.
Belief in the value of logic/reason, the inherent goodness of knowledge
Distrust in the logical, reasonable argument, knowledge is power and can be abused
Sense of unified, centered self; "individualism," unified identity.
Sense of fragmentation and decentered self; multiple, conflicting identities.
Idea of "the family" as central unit of social order: model of the middle-class, nuclear family. Heterosexual norms.
Alternative family units, alternatives to middle-class marriage model, multiple identities for couplings and childraising.
Hierarchy, order, centralized control.
Subverted order, loss of centralized control, fragmentation.
Mass culture, mass consumption, mass marketing.
Demassified culture; niche products and marketing, smaller group identities.
The Encyclopaedia
The internet
The human being is the source of meaning and value. Nature is valued only as useful to humans. The development of human potential is the highest goal of politics.
The human being is part of the whole created order. Nature is valuable in its own right. Humans are responsible for protection of nature.

Within the Church community Postmodernity is often regarded as a serious threat to Christianity. Recently, a fellow student asked me to comment on an essay he had written about postmodernity and its potentially destructive effect on Christianity. Having come to value parts of my own decidedly postmodern worldview, and yet am still regarded by most as distinctly "Christian", we discovered that while there was cause for debate on one level, to describe ‘postmodernity’ as good or bad is completely missing the point.

Cultural Anthropology requires us firstly to lay aside preconceptions about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the Postmodern worldview and its influence on our culture. It instead asks us to first describe our culture in terms of what is observable – context and behaviour, and from there make conclusions about the worldview that underlies our culture. This paper seeks to go one step further by taking this analysis and applying it to how we communicate our faith to those we have observed. And this can only by done by contextualizing (making relevant and meaningful) the enduring truth and significance of the gospel for the postmodern mind.


Introduction
To ‘cut a long story short’, as we like to say here in a land of long stories and long clouds, there is a simple concept that I believe serves well the quest for authentic and effective evangelism to Postmodern New Zealanders. It is that "the medium is the message".

Amongst the wealth of information and insight that can be mined from the internet on this topic, the Rev. Scott J. Simmons presents an excellent summing up of this concept:

The first step to constructing a postmodern gospel presentation is to embrace the postmodern reality that "the medium is the message"—the medium by which we communicate also communicates our message (and sometimes contradicts and distracts from it)…What good is it to proclaim a thoroughly Biblical gospel only to have the message lost in modern rhetoric? What happens if we craft our medium, our method, for a postmodern audience only to proclaim plainly a message that still does not communicate to the plausibility structures of our society? All elements of evangelism ought to be thoroughly evaluated, both in terms of its medium and message, to ensure that we are communicating Biblical truth to a postmodern audience.

Like Colin McCahon’s "Crucifixion – the Apple Branch", which portrays the crucifixion of Christ against a landscape that is uniquely ‘New Zealand’, if the gospel is presented to Postmodern New Zealanders through medium that is familiar (distinctively ‘kiwi’ and postmodern), the significance of the message will be accorded its full weight for these people.

The Problem with Postmodernity is…
One of the most difficult hurdles one faces when seeking to present the gospel to those most influenced by postmodernity is in getting an "audience". The culture of consumerism has evolved to such a level that we are constantly bombarded with opportunities to ‘opt for’, buy, choose. Marketing strategies have become intensely invasive, subjecting the individual to a constant barrage of advertising that ranges from the "in your face", whole side of a ten story building variety, to the subtle, psychologically influencing forms that we often experience unconsciously. Postmoderns (those most influenced by postmodernity) have become acutely aware of these marketing ploys and have become incredibly discerning in the way they consume. With so much being offered to them on a daily basis, "no thanks" is the easiest and quickest answer given in most situations.

This has immediate implications for how faith and spirituality are presented. In the age of postmodernity the gospel stands in competition with a myriad of spiritual options. With the postmodern ideal that all expressions of truth are equal (relativism), when we continue to present the gospel as we have done in the past it more often than not becomes either part of a ‘pick and mix’ spirituality, or rejected in favour of other forms of belief.
My proposal is that in presenting the gospel to postmodern New Zealanders, both the message and the medium of the gospel must be relevant and meaningful, and resonate within the postmodern mind. This means that in being ‘contextual’ we must communicate holistically the essence of the gospel by understanding and addressing the questions that postmodern New Zealanders are asking. At the same time we must present an uncompromising, authentic spiritual reality.

Postmoderns are unlikely to choose an option based simply on the reasonableness of the information presented, or the logic with which a position is argued. A reasonable argument for the existence of God may not be disputed, but will probably be met with the response "so what". In the postmodern age, reality and truth are things that are experienced more than things that are proven. And yet, this is not something new. We need to remember that it was Jesus, who experienced life as a human, who said "I am the way, the truth, and the life" as an invitation to experience the gospel by experiencing him first hand. Postmoderns have become disillusioned with truth in the form of an objective reality which needs only to be known, but are attracted to a subjective, self-discovered truth which becomes real as it is experienced. Postmoderns are not averse to thinking deeply about their spirituality, but what and how they ‘feel’ will be the biggest influence on how they think.

There are many more issues regarding the postmodern worldview that present challenges to effective communication of the gospel, some of which will be expanded upon below. The aim of this paper is to propose a strategy for evangelism to postmoderns by communicating the gospel in an authentic and relevant way. It will be shaped by what I have learnt through observation of and research about postmodern culture, and will show the practical use of cultural anthropology in contextualizing the gospel for a specific group of people.

The Gospel
There is no one answer to the question "what is the gospel". No matter what context the question is asked in, the answer will always be complex and multifaceted. Sure, we can list a number of essential ingredients, for example the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we must be careful not to put the message outside the reach of who desire a simple, straightforward message. However, the gospel cannot (especially in a postmodern context) be reduced to a set of propositional statements. It must exude the very ‘life’ that it communicates. It must take on the characteristics and traits that it endorses. It must be as much ‘now’ as it is a hope for the future. It must be "your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

The strategy that I will present here will seek to communicate the gospel in three ways, each using a different medium to convey a different aspect of the gospel, but combined will communicate a fuller sense of the gospel message. The three parts of the strategy are:


The gospel as restoration into community
In order for the gospel to be ‘real’ to the postmodern person, more than just an idea or concept, it must be enacted, lived, embodied by those who are telling it. As the opening quote urged us to understand, the ‘medium is the message’, in other words – the way in which we retell the gospel is the gospel. If the gospel is the enduring message of love, grace, mercy, freedom, salvation and life, and if it is a gospel which is not just promised for the future but is given to us here and now, surely our retelling of this gospel will communicate this message in a realistic way. Just as a missionaries in Africa will embody the gospel by providing medicine, food, clean water, and adequate housing for those who have great needs, so too must we allow our embodiment of the gospel to impact the great needs of the postmodern person.

There are two great needs that I believe every postmodern person is likely to have, they are to be accepted into and to identify with an authentic community and to hold a hope for the future. This is what Jill Hudson, a sociologist has said:

The encouraging news is that the postmodern culture does offer many new opportunities to witness to the gospel. Community is in short supply in contemporary life. More and more people are finding our world a frightening place in which to live and are looking for a safe haven. Individuals and families are seeking support for such problems as dealing with divorce, drugs and alcohol,

Postmodernity has rediscovered the value of community after becoming disillusioned with the individualistic endeavours of ‘modern’ life. The reality of postmodernity is that the lives of those who live within it have become increasingly fragmented. Because of the corrosion of trust in the metanarrative, the gospel, lived out by faithful believers, finds its most natural expression in and as community. The first invitation, and the one that will have long reaching effects, should be the invitation to join an open community, and to enter into meaningful relationships.

living::room
My strategy for communicating this aspect of the gospel would involve initiating the possibility of an authentic community by providing the means for it to develop in an informal yet semi-structured manner. The heart of this endeavour would involve establishing a not-for-profit café (perhaps called "living room" to continue with an emerging theme that has arisen in Sydney and Seattle) that would be a ‘space’ in which community could be facilitated. It is hoped, but not as assumed, that if it is successful a core group of individuals will regard the café as a place in which their primary community exists (or ‘happens’). This group will be somewhat transient, yet in its fluidity it will allow others to come in and experience being part of an authentic community.

First of all, good coffee is essential for this endeavour! If there is one way to ensure the loyalty of a postmodern New Zealander to your café, and thereby planting the seeds for a community, it is by using organic, ‘fair trade’ beans and a skilled ‘barista’, neither which are too hard to come by. It would also be essential to construct a team of Christians to staff the café who understand and are immersed in the culture of postmodernity. They must be willing to be ‘incarnational’ in their approach to sharing the gospel, willing to be Christ in the postmodern world in the way they live and in the way they relate to those they come in contact with.

The ethos of the café would include:
That the space would be created in a way which is ‘relevant’ and comfortable for the postmodern New Zealander, not the Christian New Zealander. This means being mindful to avoid the products of the modern Christian ‘super-culture’ being an influence or even a presence, not only to remove the possibility of the threat of organized religion, but to allow the space to take on the character and diversity of those who use it.

That the space is open and inclusive, welcoming to all, accepting of all, and that the freedom of expression is upheld and the diversity of expression is encouraged.

That it would be a place where relationships are formed, between host and patron, or between patrons, in a relaxed, neutral (i.e. not overtly Christian) and natural environment.

That the events, exhibitions and activities are designed to explore spirituality and to foster involvement by the existing local- and forming café-community.

That as a not-for-profit organization it would use profits to fund local projects to care for the less-fortunate, and to support other not-for-profit and missional enterprises.

I have found the words of Karen Ward, from living:room in Seattle, very helpful as has already embarked upon such an endeavour, and has this to say about her experiences and philosophy:

that is why living:room is not a christian cafe, but a real, regular, cafe. we don't play christian music or serve 'christian' tea. as apostles, we see our mission as, well, apostolic...the word apostolein mean to be 'sent out'. because of this, our primary orientation is not inward (towards church) but outward (towards kingdom). so we feel called by god, not to 'live' in the church (run a christian cafe...) but to live in the world (and run a regular cafe) and to 'be' church (carry within us christ and the kingdom) and express this in how we live. "the postmodern generations are looking for authenticity, reality, transparency and openness. to that extent, postmodernity is saying, "don't talk to me about what you believe - show me how you live.' it is entirely biblical- more so at times than the church it savagely critiques. as we serve tea, we don't preach at people about what we believe, but we do show them how we live... 'preaching' gospel in our deeply post-christian context is less about words spoken, and more about life lived 'in the way of jesus' which speaks louder than any words or tract

As mentioned above, the café would host a range of events and activities designed to both foster community/relationship building and explore spirituality, they would include:

A weekly story telling night, when patrons and one invited guest share stories from their own life experiences, or perhaps read.
A weekly open mic and DJ night, when stage is open for aspiring musicians (poets, comedians)
Perpetual art exhibitions: for local artists to display their work
Discussion nights when contemporary issues are addressed and thrashed out
Local and more well known professional bands and musicians when available, both Christian and non.
Board game and quiz events
Community ventures in which the profit from sales benefits the less fortunate in the local area

The gospel as the story of Yahweh/God
In Acts 17 we find Paul in Athens with some time on his hands as he waits for Silas and Timothy to join him. Naturally, Paul takes this opportunity to bring his message to the market place and talk with who ever comes his way, evangelist extraordinaire! But that’s not all he gets up to, he also spends his time observing the products of their culture in order to understand their worldview, which stands him in good stead for what transpires. It so happens that the spiritual imaginations of the Epicureans and Stoics he meets are sparked and he is invited to tell them more.

Michael L. Simpson has written a book on the topic of "Permission Evangelism" which outlines how we can move from the first part of this strategy to being able to talk about our faith. He believes that the willingness of a non-Christian to engage in meaningful conversation decreases the closer we get to approaching the subject of organized religion. But he suggests that by gauging the interest of each individual, we can embark on an ongoing conversation using the following process:

(nice little chart!)

The way in which Paul speaks to these Athenians provides a valuable model for presenting the gospel to postmoderns. Paul has received permission to bring his message and there is little doubt Paul would have been excited by the prospect of sharing the "good news" with these gentiles. Yet, instead of preaching to them from the scriptures and revealing Jesus as the "Messiah" – as he did with the Jewish Athenians – he takes a very different approach. He takes the next step and tells them the story of God.

Postmoderns, like these Athenians, do not have a worldview that accommodates ‘Jesus the saviour’. Themes such as ‘sin’ and ‘salvation’ are foreign, and the Christian Bible has no more authority than any other ancient or contemporary spiritual book. The first task is to recognize that despite this, postmoderns are indeed deeply spiritual, they are in many ways more ready than their parents were to explore this aspect of life. Hence, an appeal to the spiritual quest is like walking through an open door, even though the story of Yahweh will need to be presented and heard alongside the stories of other gods and faiths as the "Unknown God." Instead of condemning the Athenians for their idol worship, Paul takes the opportunity to commend them for their search and even quotes their own poets in order to show that they are on the right track. We would do well to follow Paul in paying respect to the search that postmoderns have embarked upon and taking note of the important discoveries they may have already made.

Paul starts from the very beginning with "the God who made the world and everything in it", brings his audience into the story, "he is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being", and concludes by pointing to Jesus. In this way Paul has set the scene for those who have been drawn into the story to learn more. Don Carson has identified the enduring effectiveness of this principle for all cultures:

The policy with New Tribes Mission during the last 15 years has been that when they move into areas where there has been no previous knowledge of the gospel, they start by retelling the Bible's whole storyline. This is considered to be the most effective way of communicating the gospel to people of a different worldview.

There is a problem, however, with this divine/human narrative in that its claim to be ‘true for all people and for all times’ is unacceptable and deeply dissatisfying to the postmodern mind. Postmodernity allows the individual to tell and interpret their own personal and unique story within their own context and community. Fortunately, telling the story of God does not require a ‘one size fits all’ explanation of the universe and everything in it. Just as we have numerous contextual theologies throughout the world (black theology, feminist theology, Asian theologies), contextualizing the story of God for the postmodern New Zealander involves interpreting that story through our unique perspective.

creation::chronicles
One of the ways to do this is to recognize that Postmodern New Zealanders hold a unique and intensely contextual understanding of the nature and value of creation – the land, the sea, the air, and all that lives on and within it. This understanding is influenced by Maori mythology and history as well as the heritage passed down from our Pakeha ancestors who also came to treasure Aotearoa. This understanding is also influenced by the issues that New Zealanders are currently facing, such as: the foreshore and seabed debate and how the treaty of Waitangi is to be interpreted, the tension surrounding such issues as human cloning and the genetic modification of plants and animals, and ecological and environmental issues concerning out native species. I believe that the story of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth can be told in a way that is deeply meaningful to New Zealanders by connecting and identifying it with these ongoing discussions, and by incorporating the familiar images and language of the New Zealand context.

It is important that in introducing the biblical account of creation that we do so not in objection to science but as bringing the story of God into the picture, as bringing the why and who to bear upon the what, how and when. Keith Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, explains well how we can responsibly handle the retelling of the creation story alongside science and other stories of the origin of the world. He says:

The first creation story is primarily concerned with the ordering of the elements of the universe, as being with moral and rational awareness emerge from primal chaos. The second story focuses more specifically on human nature, as properly material and relational, and as finding its fulfillment in total dependence on God and in the self-giving wisdom of love. Together, these stories give great insight into the nature of humanity in a universe created by a wise and powerful God. They do not provide a scientific account, but are inspired stories conveying spiritual truths in narrative from. Modern scientific accounts of an evolutionary universe complement these narratives by sketching out the wider cosmic perspective into which their underlying teachings can be fitted. The fit is, I think, a natural one, so that the scientific view and the biblical view together provide an intellectually satisfying and spiritually illuminating account of creation.

The strategy that I would undertake would be to organize an semi-structured event that would be organized at the café in which speakers and artists from a range of sources and backgrounds (e.g. bioethics, earth science, Maori culture, Old Testament studies, musician, poet, painter) would address the topic of "creation". Each speaker/artist would, for 15 minutes, present their perspective as complementing the others, and each would be open for questions and discussion (perhaps with prepared discussion questions). At the completion of the presentations a time of response would be facilitated by inviting participants to express their understanding of the creation, and perhaps any spiritual responses to what they have heard and seen.

The gospel as the life/death/life of Jesus Christ
In the telling of the story of Jesus Christ, our popular evangelism has tended to reduce the significance of his life and death to a set of propositional statements. All of these statements have merit and contribute to the story, but on their own they only reveal, at the very most, one dimension of the story to the postmodern person. We have seen, especially in the second half of the 1900’s, evangelistic ‘tools’ that tell the story of Jesus in the form of propositional statements and large evangelistic ‘crusades’, both designed to elicit a reject or accept response. This effectiveness of this method was based largely on the fact that those living in the modern age were more likely to already hold a Judeo-Christian worldview in which these statements slotted nicely and relevantly into. This is not the case today, as was established in section 2, and our presentation of Jesus Christ must also be mindful of the journey/process that postmodern New Zealanders are on.

Most postmodern New Zealanders will have a certain level of respect for the historical Jesus, based on what they may have heard of his teachings and good deeds. These same people will generally have much less respect for the organized religion of Christianity, hence it becomes difficult to present Jesus in a non-threatening way and yet in being missional we must present this person as the centre of the story. Steve Taylor has discussed the idea of ‘festival spirituality’ as a way in which spirituality can be ‘tasted’ and ‘sampled’ in a ‘try before you buy’ environment, and has used this philosophy in much of his work at Graceway Baptist Church. I propose to take up this concept the final part of the strategy.

via::crucis
In order to reach and impact the postmodern with an authentic and meaningful message, the story of Jesus must be told in a multi-dimensional way. It needs to be told in a form that challenges all the senses and both sides of the brain! The advent of Easter gives a wonderful opportunity to do just this. An ancient form of pilgrimage known as Stations of the Cross (also Way of the Cross, via crucis or via dolorosa), uses a series of images (paintings, engravings, carvings, stained glass windows) at ‘stations’ or places designed to mark each of the events of the last week of Jesus' life. Presenting these events in such a way allows an individual to stop, observe, reflect and respond to each station/event. This ‘try before you buy’ festival type event is ideal for the postmodern person as it provides the opportunity to intimately interact with and experience the story of Jesus.

I propose using either the café space (if it is large enough) or a rented space (preferably a non-church building) in which to orchestrate this event. In order to capture this idea of pilgrimage, each station can be placed along a pathway as opposed to being presented side by side. A labyrinth is a great tool to use for this purpose. It is also an ancient spiritual practise, and it provides a pathway that takes the journeyer on a logical progression into its centre and out again. The actual act of following a labyrinth pathway facilitates spiritual experience, the diagram below is a model of a labyrinth that could be used for this purpose.

The stations can be placed along the labyrinth pathway as indicated by the numbers in the diagram below. Each station will represent the relevant event through a combination of:

Visual images such as a video loop, a painting, or a sculpture.
Music, sounds, or recorded spoken word.
The text referring to the event as well as another piece of text from the gospel such as a parable, a healing event, or part the sermon on the Mount.
Questions and ideas in order to facilitate reflection.
Prayers or liturgical responses.
Props that engage the other senses for example
Taste: salty ‘tears’, cool water, vinegar
Smell: incense burning, anointing oil
Touch: sand, wood, nails

(nice diagram of labyrinth)

The aim of this strategy is that it will encourage postmodern New Zealanders to explore the person of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening, ‘try before you buy’ environment, with the expectation that some, if not many, will be tempted to find out more.

Conclusion
The way in which I have proposed that the gospel could be presented to postmodern New Zealanders leaves one important aspect rather ambiguous – the point of conversion. This method of evangelizing does not require an articulated acceptance or rejection in order to have its impact measured, on the contrary – this method relies on the concept of ‘process evangelism’. This is the idea that conversion or acceptance of the gospel, and therefore ‘becoming a Christian’ is more of a journey than it is an event. It is the idea that commitment and discipleship is modelled by a community that provides the time and breathing room that is needed to explore the faith.

I believe that if we take seriously the challenge to understand the postmodern worldview and the deep needs of postmodern New Zealanders, we will be much better equipped to communicate the true essence of the gospel to these people. If we believe that the message of the gospel is as relevant to postmodern New Zealanders as it was to a first century Jew or even a 19th century New Zealander, then we have the responsibility to expose that relevance in a way that can be heard, understood and embraced.


Bibliography
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McLaren, B.D. The Church on the Other Side: Doing Postmodern Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000)
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Gospel (El Cajon, CA: EmergentYS, 2003).
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Riddell, M. alt.spirit@metro.m3: Alternative Spirituality for the Third Millennium (Oxford: Lion Publishing, 1997)
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Simpson, M.L. Permission Evangelism: When to Talk, When to Walk (Colorado Springs: Nexgen, 2003).
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Ward, P. Liquid Church (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2002).

CD Rom
Cityside Baptist Church, Fractals: Alternative Resources for Worship in the Emerging Culture, 2004.

Web based articles:
Carson D. The Worldview Clash
www.focus.org.uk/carson.htm
Hudson J.M. The Church’s Challenge: The Church in the Postmodern world
www.alban.org/pdf/chapters/Chap2_AL279.pdf
Irvine, M. Approaches to Po-Mo, 2003
www.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/pomo.html.
Labyrinth
web.ukonline.co.uk./paradigm/discoverframe.html
Rowe N. Notes Toward a McCahon ABC
www.art-newzealand.com/Issues1to40/mccahon08nr.htm
Simmons, Rev. S.J. Postmodern Evangelism: Being Postmodern without Being Postmodernistic,
2002-2003
www.aplacefortruth.org/postmodern.evangelism.htm
Stephenson, P. Christian Mission in the Postmodern World June 1999 www.postmission.com/articles/pomisgen.pdf
Taylor S. Festival Spirituality: A New Way of Being Church, www.graceway.org.nz/festival.html
Ward, K. Church as Relational Space June 24, 2004
submerge.typepad.com
Internet sites
www.embody.co.uk Emberdays interactive spirituality website
www.cityside.org.nz Cityside Baptist Church
www.eastpoint.org Eastpoint Community Church
www.emergentvillage.com A Generative Friendship Among Missional Christians Around The World
www.emergingchurch.info A Touching Place for the Emerging Church
www.futurechurch.org.nz A platform for emerging spiritual communities, NZ site
www.graceway.org.nz Christian Spirituality in a new millennium, Graceway Baptist Church, NZ site
www.vintagefaith.com Exploring the emerging church and vintage Christianity
www.the-next-wave.org Church and culture
www.opensourcetheology.net To assist the development of a transparent, community-driven theology for the ‘emerging church’
solomonsporch.com/index.html A holistic, missional, Christian community
www.btmc.org.uk/altworship Alternative Worship Collective, creative worship in Bradford, UK
www.theooze.com Conversation for the journey
www.organicchurch.net A group of church planters/leaders seeking to discover what church might mean within the context of our emerging generation(s)
www.ebbflux.com/postmodern Everything Postmodern, containing links to over 1000 postmodern theory resources, sites, and journals
www.rejesus.com Rejesus is one of the best developed ecumenical websites worldwide specifically about Jesus
www.alternativeworship.org Alternative worship, UK
emergingminister.com Conversation and resources for the emerging church
web.ukonline.co.uk/paradigm/index.htm ‘Labyrinth’ is an interactive installation for spiritual journeys
www.vaux.net A faith community with strong contemporary liturgical style
www.ginkworld.net Ginkworld is a site dedicated to the advancement of the Christian Gospel in a postmodern age
www.livingroomseattle.org A non-profit tea bar, net lounge, art gallery and small performance space @ the center of the universe (in fremont), Seattle
www.livingroom.org.au Living Room >> A Space for Life, an emerging missional community in the inner north of Melbourne
www.perkatorycafe.com A non-profit cafe in Seattle, with a mission to provide great coffee and a community gathering space that is affordable for all
www.sevenmagazine.org ::seven:: seeks to engage the emerging culture and its interface with faith and life
www.anewkindofchristian.com Brian McLaren’s site
www.cultureby.com Culture by commotion (CxC) is dedicated to the idea that the anthropology of contemporary culture is too important to be left to anthropologists
www.pm4j.com Postmoderns for Jesus is designed to provide Christian resources and information about postmodern culture
www.e-vangelism.com News and views on technology, spirituality and Christianity
ship-of-fools.com The magazine of Christian unrest
www.postmission.com An international forum on mission in postmodernity
www.leonardsweet.com Leonard Sweet’s site
www.popcultures.com Sarah Zupko’s cultural studies centre
www.rzim.org Ravi Zacharias International Ministries
www.thematthewshouseproject.com The Matthew's House Project seeks to develop a place in which the intersections of faith and culture can be explored
homepages.ihug.co.nz/~mriddell Mike Riddell’s site
www.btinternet.com/~smallritual Small Ritual, alt. worship resources and weblog
www.jordoncooper.com/postmodern/index.htm Jordon Coopers links to postmodern sites, articles etc

Conversations/Blogs
submerge.typepad.com/submergence Karen Ward
www.jordoncooper.com Jordon Cooper
www.emergentkiwi.org.nz Steve Taylor
www.greenflame.org Stephen Garner
prodigal.typepad.com/prodigal_kiwi Paul Fromont
tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/ Andrew Jones
jonnybaker.blogs.com Jonny Baker
www.maggidawn.blogspot.com/ Maggie Dawn, an Anglican priest thinking out loud about theology, life and faith

posted by christina @ 3:09 PM