“Our ‘Post-’ Everything Culture”
Colossians 4:5-6

I.  Introduction
This morning’s sermon will be our last sermon in what has been a 10 sermon series through the book of Colossians.  We have discovered many important aspects of what it means to be a passionate, devoted follower of Jesus Christ by being a missional Christian. Today’s sermon will explore the question, “How do we present the gospel in a language that connects with a 21st Century culture?

II. Exposition
So our study passage instructs us to “Be wise (be shrewd, creative, and Christ-like) in the way you act toward outsiders (those who are not yet devoted followers of Christ); and make the most of every (kairos) opportunity.”  We focused on this aspect of being missional Christians last week.

Our passage goes on to say, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”  Let’s explore this aspect of living missionally this morning.

“Let your conversation be always full of grace.”  Now this principle applies to every conversation we have, but in the context of this verse, the apostle Paul is primarily referring to the conversations we have with non-Christians.  When we engage in conversation with those outside the Christian faith, we should do so with words that are “full of grace.”   

What is grace?  Grace is God’s undeserved kindness and unconditional love that does not deal with us according to our sin, but according to our forgiveness and new identity in Christ.

So for us to live into this calling, we too must interact with those outside the Christian faith, indeed with everyone, with God’s undeserved kindness and unconditional love that does not define others according to their sin, but according to God’s offered forgiveness and new identity in Christ.  

This perspective simply leaves zero tolerance in a Christian’s heart for any judgmental attitude or an “us-versus-them” mentality toward non-Christians or even nominal Christians no matter how sinful their lifestyle or heretical their beliefs.  It is not our job to judge unbelievers or to change their behavior or beliefs.  That’s God’s job!  

Our role is to look past their sin and false beliefs, and see that person as to who they will be once Christ gets a hold of their life, and then to pour grace into their life!

So our conversation, all our interactions, with those outside the Christian faith, must be “full of grace,” and “seasoned with salt.”    Salt is used to preserve from corruption.  Our conversation then should help whatever environment we are in to be preserved from moral and ethical corruption.  
For example, if we work or go to school in an environment full of dirty jokes or grumbling and gossiping, or ethical violations small or big, like calling in sick when you’re not, or taking home office supplies (even paperclips), or using the company resources for personal use without permission (like the copy machine or computer), or not working to our full potential the full time we are at work, then we should stand out in such an environment because we are the one who refuses to engage in such behavior.

Salt is both a preservative, but also a flavor enhancer.  So seasoning with salt our conversation also includes speaking to the needs of others, matching their questions with God’s answers, and engaging in conversation that is lively, interesting, and colorful!  We cannot make the gospel appealing if we live boring, or unnecessarily restricted, or legalistic, or arrogant lives.

So if we pull together everything we have learned so far from our passage last week and today about how we are called to interact with non-Christians, we get this picture.  

We are to live in such a way that we maintain a God-perspective, a kairos perspective of life.  We do so by keeping in mind the big picture that our lives on earth are short and meant to be lived for God’s purposes not ours.

We live each day with eager anticipation of how God is going to use us that day to be His hands extended to others for doing good and planting the seeds of the gospel.  We are always on the look out for these kairos opportunities to partner with God, and then we respond in Holy-Spirit empowered faith, love, and ability.  We do so by interacting with others in a manner that is full of grace and seasoned with salt.  

And we do so in a manner that “knows how to answer everyone,” the last phrase in our study passage. Now this does not mean that we should be able to answer every single question that people may ask us about the Christian faith.  

The tone and intent of the Greek here is for us to know how present the gospel in a manner that addresses the questions that unbelievers are asking.   But we have to answer the questions that each generation actually asks, not the questions we think they should be asking!

There are two main sources of what provokes the questioning by unbelievers about Christ. One, when we live in a manner that we’ve been discussing these last five months of being missional Christians, our counter-cultural, Christ-revealing, provocative in a good way lifestyle, will provoke those outside the faith to inquire about our faith.  
 - When we are living with a radically different worldview, priorities, and lifestyle than the secular world…
 - When we demonstrate God’s peace in the midst of trial, God’s faith in the midst of doubt, God’s strength in the midst of struggle…
 - When we live with God’s joy without having to indulge in addictive pleasures of this world for fun…
 - When we live in a manner that demonstrates to others God’s presence and kingdom power…
We will provoke transcendent curiously from unbelievers, and they will be driven to ask us about the source of the overcoming power, sustaining peace, and counter-cultural priorities in our life.  And then we respond, not with some intellectual apologetic, but with our personal testimony of how Christ makes a difference in your life today!

The other questions asked by unbelievers are those that arise out of living life in whatever country and culture that person lives in.  In other words, each generation asks both the timeless, existential questions that all humans ask, about the meaning of life, but also unique questions driven by the particular dynamic of that person’s culture.  This means that the effective proclamation of the gospel always involves discerning how to present the unchanging content of the gospel in a language that speaks anew to each generation.  

Here is where the institutional church more often than not fails miserably.  We too often confuse the content of the message with the container, the message with the medium.  We get too easily fixated upon one personally preferred form of how the gospel is presented or worship is engaged in.  

We think that whatever form worked for us in coming to the faith, or growing in the faith, or worshipping God is the only or best form, or even worse, we insist our preferences are  the most Biblical form.  This is what drives the so called worship wars, and what is at the root of the mainline churches horrific failure in evangelism and discipleship.  

We must be uncompromised in the content of our faith and the purpose of our worship, but be willing to embrace ever new methods and forms for how to express this content and purpose.

What works for you in evangelism, discipleship, or worship does not necessarily work for this generation.  There is nothing more holy or Biblical about hymns over praise choruses, organs over guitars, sanctuaries over coffee houses, doctrinal proclamation over open dialogue in presenting the gospel.  

If this congregation is going to reclaim an effective proclamation of the gospel in the 21st century, we must be willing to reframe our worship, ministry, and evangelism into a language and form that connects with the typical unsaved, un-churched or de-churched person living outside the walls of our museum Christianity, and who often sees what we do as boring, or irrelevant, or untrue at best, and flat out destructive as worst.

So the question, the billion dollar question, the determining-our-future-as-to-growth-or-closing our-doors-for-good question to each of you is this:  Are you willing to give up your personal preferences as to how we do worship, ministry, evangelize, and disciple for the sake of what is most effective in reaching the lost, lonely, neglected and hurting in Dubuque?  
Now this is one of those at-the-risk-of-having-a-very-short-tenure-as-your-pastor statements, but unless the majority of you are willing to choose effective outreach over personal preference than this congregation will not grow.  

So to help us begin to understand better just what is the culture like outside our doors, what are the questions they are asking, and what are some of the ways we need to reframe the external form of the unchanging gospel to connect with this generation., we are going to explore a brief and broad overview of what is called our “post-everything” generation.  

And I do mean very brief and broad as to go into too much depth on this topic would turn this into an academic lecture instead of teaching/equipping sermon.  But I do strongly encourage you to do more study on this topic on your own.

Many theologians, and astute studiers of our North America culture, use terms like these to describe us: post-denomination, post-Christian, and post-Modern. We are going to briefly explore the main aspects of each of these dynamics, and present some of the ramifications of these realties for how we need to adjust the way we do ministry here at Third Church to better reach this generation.


Post-denomination

What does this mean?
 - Saying that our society is “post-denomination” simply means that the majority of Christians do not define their Christianity in relation to a particular denomination. In other words, there is very little denominational loyalty.  In fact, many see denominations as harmful to authentic Christianity due to divisions, arrogance, apathy to real world needs, liberalism, and institutionalism.

What does it matter?
 - We can no longer depend on denominational loyalty to gain new members.  There was a time when there were enough Presbyterians to go around, and who moved around from city to city, that most churches could depend on a steady influx of shifting Presbyterians to keep their membership growing or at least stable.  This is no longer the case.  The majority of people who move into a new area, or who are looking for a new church home for any reason, do not choose a church based on the denominationally affiliation.  They simply shop around until they find a church that meets the needs of whatever life and spiritual stage they are in.  
 - Because many now see denominations as more harmful than good, or associated with the mainline move toward liberalism, pushing our denomination label too prominently can be barrier to having visitor ever even walk through our doors in the first place.
 - Because of these dynamics, while we absolutely do not need to hide or be ashamed of or abandon our denominational affiliation, we also should not overly emphasize it in those forums meant to attract new visitors.


Post-Christian Nation

What does this mean?
 - To say that we are a post-Christian nation means many things, but I will point out just two main dynamics of this reality now.   
 - One, we should no longer expect the culture at large to share the values, morality, and priorities that we hold as Christians.  We all should do our part to fight for moral and ethical standards, and the maintaining of religious freedom, and fighting on behalf of the most vulnerable.   But I do not believe in the whole movement of trying to force Christianity upon a nation via legislation.  It is absurd to expect non-Christians void of the Holy Spirit to live by Christian standards of morality.  Obedience to Christ is a supernatural ability.  The path to societal transformation is the proclamation of the gospel not the passing of legislation!
 - Secondly, we can longer assume any degree of Biblical literacy or awareness of the true gospel as we interact with the typical person in our culture.  There was a time when the majority of Americans grew up in homes where at least the basics of the Bible, such as the Bible stories of David and Goliath, ect where told, or kids heard them in Sunday School.  Even if this did not occur, references to the Bible were used abundantly in literature and other forums, so that we could assume a general degree of Biblical knowledge among the majority of Americans.  This is simply no longer the case. The majority of Americans are Biblically illiterate even about the most common Bible stories.  The only familiarity comes from Hollywood movies.  

What does it matter?
 - This dynamic radically changes how we present the gospel.  As we talk with others about the Christian faith, we must do so with this assumptions:
    That the person has little or no knowledge of Bible content or the basics of the true gospel
    That the person very likely has many negative stereotypes and misinformation about Christianity
    That the person has legitimate questions that must be honored such as human suffering, their own pain, other religions, etc.
    That the person has either tried church and found it unhelpful or even more damaging or sees no reason to ever try for the same reasons

Post-Modern

Before I present what are some of the main characteristics of a typical “post-modern” person.  Let me clarify that there really is no typical or totally postmodern person. Postmodernism is more of a very broad movement that our culture is undergoing, and virtually every one of are affected to some degree or another by postmodern values. You could say that the younger generation is perhaps overall more postmodern than older ones, but there are some very postmodern baby boomers and some very modern teenagers.  So what I am about to present are general traits. All of what I am about to present comes out of an excellent article called “The Gospel and Postmodernism,”  by Ross P Rohde http://www.facingthechallenge.org/rohde1.htm

What does this mean?
 These traits would characterize someone influenced by postmodernism:
 - He does not appreciate the abuse of power or influence in the name of religion
 - He is sensitive to the hypocrisy of those who claim religious truth
 - He does not believe in absolute or exclusive truth
 - He bristles at negative judgments made about different opinions or lifestyles. Tolerance and diversity are key values
 - Truth is what is true for a given local community and that truth cannot be universally applied
 - There is no one “Grand Narrative” that explains reality
 - He does not want to commit to anything too far ahead of time in order to keep his options open in case something better comes along
 - He does not believe that one religion has all the answers.
 - He believes that there is something beyond what we normally experience, and this “something more” is spiritual    
 - Spirituality must have practical application in life
 - He would be open to someone being his spiritual guide

What does it matter?
 - We don’t be afraid of symbols, mystery and metaphors.
           Boomers took out these traits, the younger generations want them back.
 - Avoid Christian jargon and being doctrinal when presenting the gospel, emphasize a personal relationship with a living, powerful Jesus Christ.
 - Avoid coercion and being critical
          Their view of organized religion is one of abuse of power, force and coercion. Ministry needs to come from relationship. To criticize other expression of the Christian faith or other religions is highly counter productive.
 - Be practical.
          Postmodernists want to hear practical solutions. How is Jesus affecting our marriage? How is Jesus helping me overcome bitterness? How is Jesus helping me raise my kids? What is Jesus leading me to do for my neighbors who have needs?
 - Be spiritual.
          Postmodernists who are looking for spirituality are probably much more open to personal spiritual encounter than a non-Christian modernist would be.
 - Look for an invitation to be a spiritual guide and for discipleship relationships.
          Friendship comes first. In the process of friendship comes opportunity to become a spiritual guide.
 - Offer shalom.
          Postmodernists are looking for wholeness, particularly emotional and spiritual wholeness. The biblical word for this is shalom. This is what Jesus is offering his people. This would be a concept that postmodernists could warm up to.
 - Emphasize how Christianity meets real needs in the community and the world.
          Postmodernists want solutions to real problems.
 - Present the Bible as a spiritual book where we can encounter Jesus.
          The Bible is the spiritual book where the postmodern Christian can encounter the Triune God and abide in Jesus as they meditate and pray through scripture.
 - Emphasize the community of believers.
          Postmodernists like community, they like relationship and they like events. They will also tend to absorb the values of a community they identify with. See above.
 - Build authentic relationships and present the personal, powerful, irresistible Christ who is full of grace
          Focusing on Jesus it can lead to an encounter with the loving, gracious God of the universe.


To sum up everything we have explored in this sermon, here is the bottom line.  To be missional Christians, and for us to be a missional congregation, we need to intentionally pursue relationships with the unsaved, the un-churched, and the de-churched.  

In the context of those relationships, we let our conversation be full of grace, seasoned with salt, and we listen to their life story, discover what questions they are asking, and when invited, we share the story of Christ, primarily by sharing how Christ makes a difference in our life right now, and we do so without any judgementalism, arrogance, or  coercion.   

As a faith community, we must enter into authentic, transparent, supportive, loving relationships with one another, and then invite others into those Trinitarian small groups.  

In our worship we emphasize transforming encounters with the living God. In our evangelism we emphasize relationship, process oriented models such as the Alpha.

And because we cannot expect people to come to us on their own, the only way that this congregation has any hope of growing numerically is for each of you to begin to invite, invite, invite people to our worship services, Wednesday night ministries, and our bridge events like the Old-Fashioned Community Christians Night.