Again With the Postmodern and Wesleyan?

Personally, I'm enjoying the thoughts and conversations related to the book Postmodern and Wesleyan? If you've had enough already, feel free to stop here and read no further. In fact, you may want to stay away for a few weeks. It's okay if you do - I'll just assume that you're going to devote those extra minutes to Bible study.

This week I have been processing chapters 2 and 3. In the second chapter, T. Scott Daniels discusses the "big tent" of the the Wesleyan tradition. Our tradition is clearly one of "liberty in nonessentials," seeking to maintain a spirit of unity and fellowship while allowing for a difference of opinion in matters not deemed essential to the Christian faith. It's not that these matters of opinion are of no significance at all, but we realize that Christians can differ in these areas and still all be Christians. The third chapter is Thomas Oord's thoughts on the idea of truth and its place in the postmodern mindset. While some seem to believe that all postmoderns reject the whole concept of truth, Oord points out that a postmodernist does not need to reject the idea of truth. At the same time, acknowledging that our human perception and understanding is faulty and imperfect at best, our posture should be one of humility.

I'm not nearly intelligent enough to be a part of the conversation with these guys, but in my simple-minded way, I see a significant point of connection between these chapters. In what I have read and observed, in the real-life conversations I've had, this is what comes across to me:

• Many postmoderns are not questioning the idea of truth as much as they are questioning our ability, as human beings, to perfectly understand and communicate truth. Given our obvious fallibility, our walk should be one of humility.
• Many postmodern Christians are not rejecting the idea of absolute truth, but the spirit of absolutism they have seen and experienced within the church. They are reacting to those who want to believe that their understanding or interpretation of absolutely everything is absolutely correct.
• Many postmodern Christians are not trying to diminish the value of doctrinal distinctives or various Biblical interpretations, but are rejecting the "small tent" mentality that too often reveals itself in judgmental stone-throwing between different Christian camps and traditions. They are reacting to those who seem to reduce Christianity to nothing more than a set of propositions and those who elevate their own distinctives and opinions to the point that they become the definition of a "true Christian."

It seems to me that the "convictions embraced in humility" attitude that Thomas Oord speaks of will naturally create in us the "big tent" perspective expressed by Scott Daniels. Conversely, the "big tent" concept of "liberty in nonessentials," which is an integral part of our Wesleyan tradition, seems to resonate deeply with the concerns and ideals of many postmoderns in their search for truth. Perhaps being postmodern and Wesleyan is not all that far-fetched?

With that said, are there potential dangers related to the postmodern mindset? Have some gone to extremes, rejecting all truth and drifting into absolute relativism? Is there the danger of allowing the essentials of the faith to become lost or labeled as nonessential? Absolutely. Remember, though, that every age and movement has those who go to unhealthy extremes and the Church has always faced the danger of losing its essential identity when interacting in and with our world. Words of caution are necessary, but not new; the warnings were just as needed in the modern era as they will be in the postmodern era.

For me personally, I have come to see that many postmodern Christians are, at least to a degree, calling us back to something that is not only a part of our Wesleyan heritage, but the Biblical command to reveal Jesus in the way that we love one another. Love compels us to find unity in those things that are essential and to maintain fellowship despite the differences of opinion in the nonessentials. Love calls us to walk in humility, with an open and teachable spirit. This attitude seems to echo that of John Wesley in his sermon Catholic Spirit:

"But although a difference in opinions or modes of worship may prevent an entire external union, yet need it prevent our union in affection? Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. . .

And it is certain, so long as we know but in part, that all men will not see all things alike. It is an unavoidable consequence of the present weakness and shortness of human understanding, that several men will be of several minds in religion as well as in common life. So it has been from the beginning of the world, and so it will be till the restitution of all things. . .

I ask not, therefore, of him with whom I would unite in love, Are you of my church, of my congregation? Do you receive the same form of church government, and allow the same church officers, with me? Do you join in the same form of prayer wherein I worship God? I inquire not, Do you receive the supper of the Lord in the same posture and manner that I do? nor whether, in the administration of baptism, you agree with me in admitting sureties for the baptized, in the manner of administering it; or the age of those to whom it should be administered. Nay, I ask not of you (as clear as I am in my own mind), whether you allow baptism and the Lord's Supper at all. Let all these things stand by: we will talk of them, if need be, at a more convenient season, my only question at present is this, 'Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?'"

Amen.