When the history books are written, I suppose that people will begin to recognize the degree to which our culture has changed in its thinking over the last few years. When all is said and done, I believe that the internet will be seen as the catalyst to postmodernism in the same way the printing press was to modernism.

I sympathize with the confusion in our world today. I am not riding the boat, but I do understand why people are floating upstream.

I was on campus at the University of Oklahoma today. I had lunch with a young Christian student. We began talking about relativism, skepticism, tolerance and the like. Being a Christian raised in a very conservative home, this young man expressed disgust at the attitude of the postmoderns on campus. “Your truth is your truth. My truth is my truth.” Isn’t this what they all say? I asked him if he sympathized with such a statement. Of course, the right Christian answer is “no.” Wait, it is “*%ll NO!”

I do.

At least I understand why people would find opting for confusion, apathy, and, most of all, agnosticism toward questions of spirituality attractive.

Think about this. Before the communications revolution, people only had about 150 people in their shoulder-rubbing community. Whether this be work, school, neighbors, or church, people’s social reach did not get to far. Everyone in your community thought the same, talked the same, went to the same church, had the same kindergarten teacher, had the same selection of soda-pop at the local gas station, and had the same home town pride. If it was a Christian community, which most were, you were all taught by the same pastor and went to the same youth group. For better or for worse, you were isolated in your lives. If there were people who did not agree with your view of Christ, the Bible, and baptism—or worse, if there were those who worshiped other god’s, you simply heard about them from afar (probably from your pastor). You never saw them face to face, you never talked to them, you never met their family, and you certainly were not friends with them. You may have even called them “heathen.”

Oh the comfort of isolation. Oh the truth in our community. Oh the damnation of those who are not like us. Thank you Lord that you put me here, with this pastor, with these parents, and with Ms. Davis, my wise Sunday-school teacher.

Ok, on to reality.

Fast forward 100 years (or even 20 years). Globalized culture. Internet. World news. Pluralist society.

We cannot be naive anymore. Things are not quite as comfortable as they once were. The unintentional obscurantism of our previous community has been exposed. The curtain to the outside world has been dropped. We can now see the faces of “the damned.” The age of communication has changed everything.

Before, I could just hear about the heathen.
Now they are in my internet chat rooms.
(and you know what, they don’t seem so evil).

Before, I heard stories about their pagan gods.
Today I just got an email from one who worships one of these gods. He is offering his help to my family.
(help me, I have never offered to help them).

Before, I read about how some people actually have same-sex relationships.
Now one of my best friends is gay
(and he is more compassionate than I am)

Before, all of those people “out there”—those not like me—were going to a fiery eternal hell, and it was well deserved in my opinion.
Now my internet friends from My Space are going to hell
(and I don’t want them to).

The sheltered reality that prevented postmodernism is no longer a luxury of any community. While such things have no bearing on truth, they affect our perception of reality.

I sympathize with this.

Don’t fault me for these sympathies. In fact, if you don’t have them, I might fault you. I believe in an eternal hell, the sinfulness of homosexuality, the reality of objective truth, the law of non-contradiction, the exclusivity of Christ, and the doctrine of unconditional election. I know that these are harder to believe than they were twenty years ago. I really do know that. They are harder for me to believe. I understand how and why people have changed. I have lived through this change. Because of this I understand the stumbling block of the Gospel to a greater degree than before.

My postmodern sympathies do not affect reality, but they may cause me to approach things differently.

My postmodern sympathies do not change the Gospel, but they do affect the way I present it.

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