THE WORD OF GOD IN A POSTMODERN CONTEXT
2 Timothy 4:1-5
In Portugal, we knew a girl named Maria. She was a young teenager and came to us searching for some meaning to life. Her parents were working through a tough divorce.
She seemed quite disoriented. She was discouraged and wondered about her future. Not only had her parents’ divorce left her spinning but all of life was not looking very encouraging. She often wondered about the purpose of life itself. She did not have a very positive view of her own future.
We shared the gospel with her over an extended period of time. She asked a lot of questions and even brought her mom along to evaluate what she was hearing. After a number of months, she decided to put her faith in Christ. As she continued to read her Bible and grow spiritually, she said to us, “Now my world makes sense.”
Maria finally understood where evil and sin came from. Why there is so much difficulty in the world. How to have hope. What will happen after death. More importantly she understood more about God and how to have a relationship with Him.
We must understand that the Word of God brings sense and order to our lives. When we come to Christ, we come to live and hope in a reality that has been declared and explained. We must realize how the message of salvation impacts a world that is searching and striving for meaning and significance.
I want to present to you Paul’s encouragement to Timothy, who was in Ephesus. It was mostly a Greek/Roman city. The belief system of the people is not much different to what we face in our modern cities. The encouragement given is valuable and can be a model for missions in Europe and for you.
I. Be Aware of God’s Presence and Plan – 2 Timothy 4:1
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:” (ESV)
Paul wanted Timothy to remember that he was always in the presence of God. Timothy was to minister with consistency and to keep in mind that God, through Christ, will be a just judge. There will be a reckoning day.
Being aware of the presence of God provides the background for following verses. Paul was giving Timothy a “charge.” This was a significant commission. Timothy was to declare the message of God and hold this responsibility with great seriousness.
Timothy was reminded of the Father and the Son’s constant presence and of the plans they were to bring about. “By His appearing” here is referring to a future return of Christ. We find a similar reference to Christ’s future appearance found in 1 Tim. 6:14. Eugene Peterson translated 2 Timothy 4:1-2 in the following manner:
4 I can’t impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple. (The Message)
In Portugal, a favorite tourist destination is the Mafra Palace. It is a huge palace that was basically built for the summer vacation of the King of Portugal. It would take several months of preparation every year to make everything perfect. They even hand-carried a grand piano from the Lisbon area to Mafra. It would take many weeks walking to get there. All for an earthly king.
We must be aware of the consistent presence of a heavenly king. We should live with the realization that we are in His presence all day, every day.
II. Be Ready to Declare the Message of God – 1 Timothy 4:2
As Timothy was to be aware of God’s presence and plans, Timothy was to be busy declaring God’s message to the world. God’s message is described through the written Word of God. The context of the written Word continues from 2 Timothy 3:15-16. Read over those verses and you will find many repeated concepts like reprove, rebuke and teaching.
In Timothy’s immediate context, he needed to be clearly declaring the Word of God. It takes on many different forms. Sometimes we need to confront error and sinful behavior. Sometimes people need to be corrected from wayward ideas and actions. Other times, they need encouragement to proceed along the right way.
All of this is done with a significant amount of patience and teaching. Much of good Biblical counseling is the outworking of this process. It is common to reprove, correct and encourage in the same session. Not only is this done in counseling, but local churches must be preparing their people to be prepared to accurately declare God’s Word for effective means.
One time we invited people to a Christmas concert and dinner that was being put on for the community. A friend attended. Later she shared with us that she was offended because faith in Christ was presented as the only way for salvation. She did not like the idea of there being only one way to God. Her view of God was exposed. The Word will do that. People do not always appreciate God’s message for them.
We overcome falsehood with good, Biblical teaching. It starts and ends with the Word. Where we find teaching that is not consistent, we are to confront it and correct it. In our evangelism, we need to be engaging with people. As we do, we will find unbiblical ideas and teachings.
III. Don’t be Surprised by False Teaching
We are to be aware of God’s presence, be ready to teach the Word of God and lastly, we are not to be surprised with false teaching. Notice 2 Tim. 4:3-4, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
False teachers had already been in Ephesus and would return. (1 Tim. 1:5-6; 4:1-3; 6:3-7; 2 Tim. 2:14-19). Notice how people would react. They would not endure sound teaching. This indicates that some people will hear good teaching, but it would eventually annoy them and they would start accumulating other teachers that tell them what they want to hear. They would turn away from healthy Biblical ideas and will wander off in search of teaching that reinforces and encourages their divergent thinking.
There is a world view and philosophy that is capturing much of the modern world. It is called “Postmodernism”. This is not a new philosophy. Many concepts can be found in ancient Greek thought.
In a modern sense, it started to resurface in the Renaissance in Europe. It developed and really took hold in Europe after the Berlin wall fell in the 1980’s. Postmodernism is an artistic, cultural, literary and philosophical movement. It is the progressive destruction of all barriers and rules to favor individual rights.
It has continued to grow and morph. Jean Francois Lyotard wrote a defining work in 1979 called The Postmodern Condition. This work is very important in understanding postmodernism historically and even today.
Postmodernism is very ingrained in Europe, where we minister and serve. In the United States it is also becoming the norm. It is developing and becoming stronger in its influence on society.
Here are some of the major characteristics of postmodernism. These characteristics are stated from their viewpoint.
- Criticisms of Modernity
According to Lyotard, there are four stories that characterized modernity. These have died. They are:
- Stories about Christ. – All forms of Christianity (Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Evangelical) will be removed from society.
- Marxist story. – The concept of giving up individual rights and freedoms for the greater good of society works against the postmodern view of favoring individual rights.
- Story of the Enlightenment (the story of the lights). – In a postmodern view, the world is not striving for the better but is getting worse, therefore we must throw off the common good and strive for the individual pursuit of happiness and well-being.
- Capitalist story – According to postmodernism, capitalism pools wealth much like puddles of water in a parking lot and this leaves many outside the puddles. This exclusion of personal rights and property favor those of wealth should be overturned.
These four stories have in common the promise of a better (future) tomorrow, where everything is perfect and wonderful. According to Lyotard, the 4 stories show an inevitable teleology: the end of the stories. There should not be one viewpoint that is forced on all of a population. Each person must have their own viewpoint.
- Antidualist – All viewpoints are to be considered and valued, and there are many.
In postmodernism it is necessary to consider all currents of thought and try to find a middle ground. It will also seek to investigate the interests of all people. They try to include those that, during modernity, had been excluded or made invisible.
3. Media – Reality cannot be known. It is too big and changing.
For postmodernists, reality is blurred by new information. Issues related to society, economics, politics and culture come through a means of mass communication. This colors the information with subjectivity. Media only presents a few viewpoints and therefore cannot be trusted.
4. Linguistic turn – Reality is revealed by language vs. language creates realities.
Words and ideas must be rephrased to create the reality you want. From this stage it is considered that it is language that shapes the personality of the subjects. On the other hand, it is argued that there is no thought without language, therefore, language creates realities.
5. The truth as a perspective not objective.
There is no absolute and immovable truth, as it was considered in modernity, but rather it is spoken of multiple truths. For this reason, it is not possible to access “reality as such”.
6. Messages and contents – Think principally in the present.
The messages take a turn, the image becomes stronger and the writing or the word loses its strength (in relation to the image). The message that is heard in society is “to worship the body”, above all things. In addition, the past or future loses importance and there is a tendency to think only in the present. The search is individual and internal. Finally, reason and science lose strength, although technology is exalted. This can be seen today in people’s adopting Amazon as their shopping preference. People want things, they want them now!
7. Blurring the limits of the private and the public.
With the mass media and its openness worldwide, there is also a change in the conception of the private and the public. Programs or intimate issues open their doors to the public, allowing everyone to observe how, when, with whom and in what way private matters are carried out such as: discussions, intimate moments, secrets, personal confessions, traumas, etc. Private life has more the tinge of a show. This is why Facebook and Twitter are so important to people. Things that used to be private have moved into the public.
8. Drive to consumption – Compulsive consumerism drives the economy not production.
During postmodernity a change in the economy arose. It went from an economy of production to a consumer economy. Larger producers are forced to produce things in much smaller scale. Starbucks gives customers 80,000 ways to have a drink. Burger King advertises 200,000 ways to order a Whopper. In a postmodern society, it does not matter that Burger King can produce the same sandwich the same way every time. What matters is that the consumer gets exactly what he wants, the way he wants it, and when he wants it.
9. Revaluation of nature and the environment – Care for the environment is important.
There is a revaluation of planet Earth as a place and, therefore, a certain awareness of its care. Farmer’s markets, local producers, and the movement away from plastics are seen in this light.
As we deal with people, Biblical truth and its application will enter direct conflict with postmodernism. There will be especially strong battles over the concept of truth and standards.
Fortunately, God does not leave us without recourse. The Word of God is very applicable and tells us exactly what we need to do in a postmodern context. It is exactly what Timothy was to do in Ephesus. 2 Timoth 4:5 – “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” Paul gave Timothy four imperatives.
1. Be Sober minded – think reasonably, carefully – in a world that is in confusion.
As we counsel with people, we must take time to understand from where people are coming. We must understand that people will come from a very individualistic society that seeks to give them everything they want. When the world fails, the person is at a loss to handle it and make meaning of their lives.
We must understand the culture of the person we are dealing with. What is their theology? What is their view of God and the Bible? How do they process defeat and difficulty? What do they love and worship?
2. Endure Suffering – We must expect opposition. People will not easily move from being coddled and served. They are not used to being told they are wrong. There is very little reproof in our society. When we confront sin, it will be met with disbelief and consternation. We must be ready to endure the backlash that is caused when we stand for right and not wrong.
3. Do the Work of the Evangelist – We are not to be passive as we see movements and changes in our world. We are to declare the message of God. There is a God and He is knowable. Sin exists and offends a holy God. We are all sinners. Jesus Christ came to this world, died and rose again. He paid the price for our sins, and we can have forgiveness through faith in His completed work. Through Christ we can have a redeemed life now and eternal life with God in the future. We must take this message to all the world.
4. Fulfill your ministry – God made each one of us in a special way. When we come to Christ we are endowed with spiritual gifts. We need to use our gifts, abilities, and experiences. Let me encourage you to embrace how God is shaping you and use it to further the Gospel.
The people to whom we minister will have been exposed to postmodern culture and its sway on their lives. False thinking impacted Ephesus and it is impacting our lives. Postmodernism continues to grow and develop. God has given us a standard to follow and we can depend upon the Word of God to guide and instruct us in our ministry and our way forward.
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