Page 14 - Empowering Missional Artists - Jim Mills.pdf

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narratives have been thrown overboard; all the means by which value systems are derived

have been abandoned. This fundamental shift in the foundation of how western humanity views

the world is one where the rules that guided generations have been discarded. “In issue after

issue, people are casually dismissing time-honored moral absolutes” (Veith 2000, 17) and the

value system from which western mankind has based its daily life’s decisions have been

abandoned. Western European cultures are so inundated with the mindset that the average

person finds themselves in a postmodern cultural swim, without even being aware. The “shift in

Western thinking is like the air we breathe” (Johnston 2001, 9) and college campuses, where the

leaders of tomorrow reside, are the ‘hot-beds’ for this philosophical pluralism. D.A Carson adds, it

is not true to suggest that all “...students are philosophically postmodern; however, most are

culturally postmodern.” (Carson 2000, 316) From the high-culture of academia to pop-culture

trends, this mindset prevails. “The new generation tends to think unsystematically” (Veith 2000,

175) and “as a result, people often hold ideas that logically contradict each other.” (ibid) The

classic postmodern answer to any challenge to their position is “That may be true for you, but it

isn’t true for me” (Veith 2000, 176)

In his book, Postmodern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 21st Century World, by

Leonard Sweet, asserts that evangelical leaders essentially and unfortunately have their heads in

the sand and are not only oblivious to the dramatic changes going on in society but are not

thinking strategically about addressing the problem. Leonard stingingly asserts "...the church's

leaders have Alzheimer's disease. We still love them. We remember and pass on their stories.

But they're living in another world. They're totally clueless about the world that is actually out

there. The problem is that they are captaining the ship.” (Sweet 2005, 29) Many pastors and

theologians take different positions as to whether this shift is really good or bad, but the fact

remains that this is the way western culture is moving. A basic understanding of what this epic

ideological shift has produced in western culture is found in Leonard’s book. Below is an