Pomos vs. Mods: The Smackdown

Two weeks ago I had the temerity to publish “A Postmodern Rant,” which ignited from readers a burst of rhetorical fireworks stunning in its color and intensity. A glimpse:

Mods on Pomos: “PoMoism is an overblown reaction that has no future because it can’t create anything. It is reactionary and empty. It is now primarily the domain of middle-class American university students. As I’ve traveled and talked with students in Beijing and Sao Paulo and Manila and dozens of other cities on other continents, I’ve noticed that none of them are interested in postmodernism. Most of the world would love to be modern! Even in America, I’ve never heard African-Americans or Hispanics getting excited about PoMo ministry.”

Pomos on Mods: “Probably the greatest damage the Modern church has created is the Christian subculture that is absolutely maddening. Among its contributions are bumper- sticker theology with such gems as “Get Right … or Get Left.” Or how ’bout the CCM industry with its superstars churning out meaningless dribble in a wannabe attempt to imitate secular music? Christian art is oxymoronic at best. Have you been in your local Christian bookstore lately? … Perhaps next month, someone will market a Bible for fat teens who eat too much at McDonald’s … Then there is the beatification of the Republican Party. If I were a registered Democrat, I wouldn’t be caught dead in most Modern churches. The current model for church leadership is CEO-like rather than Christ-like. I get a kick out of seeing our pastors in district meetings trying to out-PDA one another. Is this the church that is the hope of the world?”

Pomos on Kevin Miller: “What a party pooper. He’s like the sulky kid who hates change” and “Deal with it” and “Don’t be so pomophobic.”

I’ll spare you the remaining 16,479 words in the file.

Reading the emails, I realized that when the word “postmodern” is applied to “ministry,” it means too many things. Defining two primary meanings will allow me to clarify what I’m for and against.

1. “Postmodern ministry” means a ministry intentionally influenced by postmodern theory.

Briefly stated—though much more could be said—postmodernism, an academic theory popular in literature and philosophy departments over the past 30 years, challenges truth-claims as personally or socially derived. Pomo theory attacks modernism’s reliance on so-called objectivity, and more broadly, its overconfidence in reason, its mechanistic approaches, its individualism, its arrogance.

No one wrote me to defend postmodern theory. I don’t know why. So in order to clarify my position, I’m left to present the case for postmodern theory as PPMs (proponents of postmodern ministry) I’ve read have made it:

Case: Postmodern theory levels the playing field. Under modernism, Christianity has been spat upon by the scientists, higher critics, and even co-opted religious leaders, who tried to expunge its superstition from rational discourse and from society. Now our truth-claim is just as valid as any other. We can even bring mystery and mysticism back into the conversation.

My take: True, but though pomo theory seemingly makes Christianity just as valid as any other truth-claim, it really makes Christianity just as suspect as any other truth-claim. Long-term, postmodern theory merely moves Christianity from a suspect intellectual system to a routine tribal experience. Better for Christianity to be despised and persecuted under modernism than to be “elevated” to one claim among many—a position shattered by the words of Jesus.

Case: Modernism promoted radical autonomy, while postmodernism underscores that “you cannot obtain truth if you aren’t participating in community.”

My take: Of course, we need the community in discerning the truth; that’s what church and tradition are all about. But communities can be just as deceived as individuals, and even more evil, as Scott Peck points out in “People of the Lie.” When a PPM author writes, without comment, “A new concept of truth has emerged: community equals truth,” I can’t help but think, “Remember there was great community among the Gestapo, the Nixon administration, and the execs at Enron.”

Case: Postmodern theory has the salutary effect of making us humble about our pronouncements, and the modern church desperately needs a dose of humility.

My take: I agree that the modern church—actually, more often the modern parachurch—can be shrill. But what is the better foundation for humility: a cynicism about any truth- claim, even our own, or our creaturely status before God? The surest path to humility is not through postmodern theory but through the ancient Christian discipline of silence. Nearly 20 years ago, Eugene Peterson reminded us that rather than ask, “How many people have I talked to about Christ this week?” we should ask, “How many people have I listened to in Christ this week?”

I fully grant that despite many Christians’ love for it, the Enlightenment was a flawed philosophical foundation for Christianity. But I fail to see how postmodernism offers one much better. PPMs are at their best when they draw not from current, secular postmodern theory but from ancient, Christian, pre-modern theology.

2. “Postmodern ministry” means an alternative approach to ministry, one that tries to avoid the excesses of modernism.

This is what people defended with passion, apparently reading my rant as though I’m against new or alternative models. I’m not. Just the opposite, in fact. My church could be described as ancient/future; it involves sacrament, mystery, and symbol, and it joins Anglo, Hispanic, African, and Gen-Y congregations. Moreover, if my 18-year-old son chooses to stay within Christianity, as I pray, it will probably be in a pomo expression of it. So I’m cheering for new models to succeed. (Though my daughter will probably do fine in a more-modern expression, and such, thankfully, will abound.)

The reason I ranted for PPMs to stop modernist-bashing was not primarily because it’s tiresome but because it diverts energy from the more difficult work of birthing new approaches to ministry, which the church desperately needs. If the modernist church is dead, as some PPMs claim, why stand at the graveside, yelling at the deceased? PPMs are at their best when they draw energy not from hatred of the modern church but from love of postmodern nonChristians. Thus, I like writers such as Rick Richardson (Evangelism Outside the Box) and Tony Jones (a chapter in Stories of Emergence), who offer guidance for reaching today’s culture.

Therefore, at the risk of disappointing those on both sides who may like me to serve as Pomo Enemy #1, I give this response: “If nominated, I will not run, and if elected, I will not serve.” My real point is Nomo Basho.

For example, I picked up the just-released book by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo, “Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel.” The cover says “This book isn’t about pointing fingers,” but the text, while sometimes confessional, mostly jabs the modern evangelical church. I agreed with most of the book’s critiques but have to ask: PPMs call us to “drop our affair with certainty and argument,” but is this title not the epitome of certainty and argument? PPMs call us to enter dialogue—but would those who most need to hear this want to enter a conversation framed that way? PPMs call us to recapture the arts and beauty, but this title uses one of the ugliest words in the language.

Having made far too much of a title, let me hasten to say I loved the book’s chapter (by McLaren) on being postmodern. These outtakes express what I believe and hope that both mods and pomos will read and heed:

“Let’s talk about the term postmodern. Nearly everybody is sick of it. And no wonder, since it is used in a jillion different ways. … Another reason for widespread fatigue with the term postmodern: people like me who talk about the subject too often indulge in facile dualisms. This is so modern, we say with self-impressed arrogance, and that is so postmodern. Such facile contrast is not only annoying, but stupid. … I’d rather be a humble modern than a snobbish postmodern any day. Better yet, I’d rather be a humble Christian seeking to do God’s will in our fast-changing world in harmony and collaboration with all God’s people (whatever their taste in eras).”

Amen and amen.

—Kevin A. Miller is editor-at-large of Leadership. He will be attending the Emergent Convention (http://www.EmergentConvention.com/) and continue this conversation.