Sometimes it takes me several paragraphs to say something well...or even a pseudo book. The following paragraph is probably the best, succinct statment regarding the problem with post-modern apologists in the United States.
Anyone who says postmodernity isn’t the driving force in the West is outright living in the past. Anyone postmodern who says the whole world is postmodern hasn’t seen that much of the world. Sure, there are pockets everywhere, but it’s not the prevailing global philosophy. You have to separate the materialism and styles of the west that do spread globally from the philosophy that’s global. I think postmodernity is the philosophy of an affluent society that has become disillusioned with it’s own failed promises from modernity. Most the world just isn’t that affluent.
That was written by Bob Roberts Jr. You can read/subscribe to his blog HERE
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Funny college memory--I was sitting in my dorm room, listening to some crazy Christian rock like Stryper (at high volume)
...and in between songs, I hear this blast of noise down the hall that repulsed me. I found out later it was Dennis Jernigan and it was being blasted at an equally high volume. Simply Disgusting.
Ok...so the guy who was blasting that music would eventually become my friend--Darrin Patrick. Darrin was a "Jernigan guy" (as we called them at SBU) and we pretty much thought he was nuts. Fast forward years later and Darrin speaks my language...something that wasn't the case in college.
Not only does Darrin speak my language, but he hooked me into the Acts29 Network of churches, knowing it would be a fit for a guy like me (and countless other younger pastors, now). Well...Darrin has turned into an incredible pastor...his church in St. Louis now runs around 1000...he's now the Vice President for Acts 29 and he recently shared the main stage at The Resurgence Conference (at Mars Hill in Seattle) with some incredible men of God (Tim Keller, Ed Stetzer, Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler, etc).
If you know Darrin or even if you don't know him...go listen to the audio of his message-it's incredible and you'll be blessed.
http://theresurgence.com/r_r_2006_session_one_patrick
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To the right of this text, I have several books that I'm currently reading. One of the most surprising books for those who know me is Church Marketing 101. First of all, I started reading it because it came in our Relevant Network kit...so I kinda' felt like I ought to give it a try...basically, because we already paid for it.
Second, I couldn't believe for a second that Relevant would actually send a book like this...so there had to be a catch. I read the review in the Relevant Leader mag and it convinced me to dive head first.
Here's the deal. If what this author describes as marketing is really marketing...then I'm not against marketing for the church. I have to admit that he's pulled me in...he's honest and his thesis seems to be this: We're the church...we have the greatest message on the planet...so we should share that message of who we are and who Jesus is clearly.
Ok...so I'm several chapters into this book and I realize that this book IS NOT for me. Follow me here. This book is for the guy who would be AUTOMATICALLY drawn to such a title. In other words, he's trying to suck in the church pastor/s who DO want to market their church to consumers. Here's why I say this:
One of the points he keeps hammering home is that when you try to "manage" your reputation and identity as a church, you have to be truthful. In other words, your focus has to be on clearing up mis-understandings or wrong perceptions about your church...not on portraying an image of your church that is not true (also known as lying, manipulating, etc.).
So...from what I can tell, the message of this book is really to the churches that market themselves as cool...relevant...dynamic etc. His message is that if you're a staff of 40-something white guys...you probably aren't that cool (except to churched people who don't know the difference). If you have to hire people of other ethnicities to be in your band or serve on your staff (without them already being there), then you probably aren't that diverse (at your core).
Anyway...some great messages to the larger church and some real challenge for me personally where it comes to embracing marketing according to his definition. I'm still working this out...
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The REAL web site goes live next Tuesday, the 28th. Watch for it!
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