JR Woodward :: Blog :: Is Conversion a Four-Letter Word? Part IV

  Ways of seeing 
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So now we move on to Part IV.  A look at how postmodernity has shaped people's view of conversion.

How Postmodernity Affects People’s View of Conversion 
Postmodernity is showing its influence as well. Postmodernity has done a  good job at deconstructing the myth of objectivity, in part with Derrida’s suggestion  that the entire world is a text that needs to be interpreted (Smith 2006:54). Yet its emphasis on deconstruction and its suspicion of how the powers that be have used  meta‐narratives and language games to push its agendas, have caused some  Christians to slip into a “vulgar relativism” and/or syncretism.

The prevailing view for many today, including some people in the 
congregations that I serve, is expressed well by Leslie Newbigin when he says,  "To maintain in this new situation, the old missionary attitude (the scandal of exclusivity) is not merely inexcusable but positively dangerous.  In a world threatened with nuclear war, a world facing a global ecological crises, a world more and more closely bound together in its cultural and economic life, the paramount need is for unity, and an aggressive claim on the part of  one of the world’s religions to have the truth for all can only be regarded as treason against the human race.  Even if it is granted that this exclusive claim has been the claim of the Church through nineteen centuries, we must face the fact that it is not now tenable." (Newbigin 1989:155,156)

Now, while Newbigin does not hold to this view himself, there are many self‐identified Christians who do.  And while at first glance it seems like a loving  approach because we all desire unity and its corresponding blessing – peace – we  quickly discover some huge roadblocks.  We soon realize as Newbigin aptly points out that “every program of unity has implicit in it some vision of the organizing principle which is to make this unity possible” (Newbigin 1989:159).  Along with this, we start to understand that “we want unity on our terms, and it is our rival programs for unity which tear us apart.  As Augustine said, all wars are fought for the sake of peace” (Newbigin 1989:159).

So where does this leave us?  We are left in a pluralistic world with various stories, each vying to be the saving narrative.  Some stories look to the state as  savior; others hold promise in globalization, a new global village that transcends  “nation‐state‐centered pathologies of modern politics” (Cavanaugh 2002:6)  Yet,  others look to develop a new narrative that somehow becomes the story of stories.