GETTING TO THE BOTTOM LINE

“Upon this age, this age endowed with power to wake the moon with footsteps. Upon this fitted age, in its dark hour falls from the sky a meteoric shower of facts, that lie unquestioned, uncombined. Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill is daily spun, but there exists no loom to weave it into fabric.”

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Communication is instant—but divorces context from information (content). We no longer have info scarcity, but info glut. This creates puberty of the mind. We get locked into so much information and the inability to sort that information meaningfully limits our capability to understand. But we are miles from wisdom, the last stage at knowledge, because the internet encourages the opposite of what creates wisdom. On the internet there is no such thing as waiting; there is no such thing as stillness. There is only a constant churning.

Shane Hipps

Flickering Pixels

Doubtless—Intolerant of doubt Elitist—Purveyors of us-them Anti-science—in foundational beliefs Over-protective—bubble effect Shallow—in the teaching of

foundational elements Repressive—of differences,

particularly lifestyle choicesDavid Kinnaman, You Lost Me

PERCEPTIONS OF THE CHURCH

AS A CULTURAL INSTITUTION

MICHAEL JACKSON’S DEATH

• Entertainment is more than a diversion from life.• People will come to

adore the effects technologies can produce.• That will be the

undoing of our capacity to think. Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to

Death

Toffler—Future Shock Rapid change that is overwhelming

Orwell— 1984 Domination by power and structure

Huxley—Brave New World Infinite appetite for distraction.

What we love can ruin us if we adore the things that can undo our capacity to think.

PICTURES OF THE FUTURE

Juvenilization—Process by which beliefs, practices, and developmental characteristics of adolescents become accepted as appropriate for adults.

Thomas Bergler

THE JUVENILIZATION OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY

Today, many Americans of all ages not only accept a Christianized version of adolescent narcissism, they often celebrate it as authentic spirituality. God, faith, and the church all exist to help me with my problems.

Moralistic God wants us to be good Religion’s purpose is to help people be good But you can be good without being religious; therefore,

religion is an optional tool by those who find it helpful. Therapeutic

God and religions are valuable because they help us feel better about our problems.

Deism God is always in the background watching and ready to

help, but not at the center of our lives.Christian Smith—National Study of Youth and Religion

RELIGION AS MORALISTIC THERAPEUTIC DEISM

Where have all the grown-ups gone?

A place where it’s difficult to tell the grown-ups from the kids.

A landscape where moms who mosh and dads who call themselves “Dude” can no longer set limits on their children.

A reality that more people ages 18-49 watch Cartoon Network than CNN.

THE DEATH OF THE GROWN-UP

“The older generation had pretty well ruined the world before passing it on.” (1920 Atlantic Monthly)

Morality was still the purview of main stream culture. (Morality defined as decency in relationships and behavior)

WHAT ABOUT “IT WAS EVER THUS” ARGUMENT?

Depression—Wars—Post-war boom Social structure shifts provide space where

children can create a peer-based world apart from adults and consequences

1959—Harper’s Magazine, article entitled, “Why Today’s Teen-agers Seem So Different”

The essence of adolescents is “role where persons must distinctly see themselves as consumer.”

ROARING TWENTIES DOESN’T BLOW TRADITIONAL SOCIETY

APART

Radical egalitarianism —equality of outcomes rather than equality of opportunities

Radical individualism —the drastic reduction of limits to personal gratification

THE 1960’S

An abundance of information with little wisdom

A reluctance to participate in perceived organized religion

I’m not religious, but an alternative vision of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Stuck in the “in between time” that now is the prime influencer in society and church

A world where humanity has been reduced to consumption

THE WORLD WE LIVE IN AS…

Remind us of what’s at stake and where we start in our response

BIBLICAL GLIMPSES OF

RADICAL CHANGE

Back to the Future Inevitabilities of life—death, mourning,

pain, and tears God has not abandoned that mess—

He’s in the middle of it. God’s initiative to reconcile human

tragedy is not in doubt.

REVELATION 21:3-6

We are Not the First to Face Incredible Societal Change

Subsequent generations are at risk. You can’t pass on what you don’t

possess yourselves. Breakdown of societal structure that

supports faith’s continuity and you suffer or reap a harvest of “less than.”

DEUTERONOMY 6:1-6

A Case Study in Massive Religious Change

Shifts in religious centers of influence

Leadership conflicts between established and emerging leaders

Ethnicity issues connected to theological issues

ACTS 15

Response — Theological awareness of what God is up to

Behavior that represents God’s eternal expectations are not overlooked

Fellowship is key to resolving tensions—transformation of the Gospel is both vertical and horizontal

Compromise may not be our challenge as much as non-engagement.