The Search for Answers and Meaning
Recently I’ve come to view culture and society as a search for answers and meaning. It seems to me that this is something I should have happened upon a long time ago, however, that’s of no consequence now. What this means, though, is that how I approach postmodernity within Christianity has changed some what, in the sense that, I think, I have a better understanding of what exactly is going on. I’ve tried to create an illustration or analogy to capture my thought process, so hopefully what follows does exactly that, rather than fail.
In my illustration I view reality as a very long hallway. At the end of the hallway is a door, behind which is God. All along this hallway there are many other doors. These many doors represent different attempts to find answers and meaning to life’s question and purpose. Not every culture will try every door, they are dependent upon the presuppositions and world view of those cultures. It can be certain that the God door is the one least opened. We can imagine different cultures trying different doors; what postmodern Christians would have us do is fall in line with these same cultures, following them through their vain attempt to find answers and meaning. It seems to me, however, that the most effective solution would be to stand at the doorway of whatever door is being attempted by one’s culture, and try to lead them out of that door and to the end of the hall to the door where God is. If as Christians we neglect this and instead enter into the doorway, we are restricted to working within the confines of culture and can never participate in leading the lost to God. Leading the lost to God necessarily requires moving outside of the context of society, while remaining relevant to the context of society. Almost paradoxically, for the Christian, relevancy comes through almost being irrelevant.
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