I love this quote by the author - “As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don’t want cool as much as we want real.”
Agreed. Just because a church does not have a Family Life Center, a big screen in the sanctuary, or it’s own iPhone app, doesn’t mean the church is not relevant, warm, and invested in postmodernism. I hope that more Christians realize that the institution of the church is not all junk and that we need to bridge the distant gap between the postmodern world and worship among stained glass and stained hearts.
I tried to start a postmodern worship service at my church. It went well but we had to discontinue it due to lack of funds. Yet, many of those who came to that alternative worship service stayed at the church and now come regularly to the formal, liturgical worship. So is it about worship? I don’t think so. I think it is about relationships. I think the warmth, love, kindness, transparency, and passion of the people is what makes worship what it is. Because, after all, when we go to worship at a church we are doing it with all of those sitting around us. A postmodern people crave community, which is what the church has been doing for generations. So why are we so eager to change it beyond recognition or get rid of it altogether? I don’t know. But I want to be a bridge. I want my church to be a bridge between the traditional church and a postmodern world. These two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive! I want to be a “Bridging Baptist.” I want to be a “Bridge Christian” beginning a “Bridging Christianity” that has meaningful dialogue between the institutional church and a postmodern culture.