Reflections on Living the Text in a Postmodern Context

DM541
Professor Steve Taylor
Reflections by Dan Butler

As a personal reflection on my growth and development during the Steve Taylor course, Living the Text in the Postmodern Context, I feel as if I have emerged as a new man in Christ, at least in fresh desire and hunger to serve God’s people more effectively and to live out the bible in my personal life. As a result of the class, I have suffered a ministerial paradigm shift, and feel anxiety as the dust settles. I pray the God prevent me from falling into the old ruts.

I sense growth and development in several areas: my understanding of new and exciting ways of preaching the gospel, postmodernism, perception of community, and concepts of innovation, bible and culture DJing, imagery and variety.

Most impacting as a result of our class together, I see numerous new and exciting ways of preaching the gospel and making use of new and revolutionary concepts and means. Resultantly, I feel a strong challenge to make my ministry and presentation of the bible text more appealing and effective in the postmodern context. The many and varied ways that I observed the bible text come to life in class last week etched the bible texts into me in dimensions that far supercede my listening to an oral sermon; likewise I desire and now see the potential for my ministry to assume greater relevance and effectiveness.

Steve challenged me to look realistically into my present world and see postmodernism as the cultural paradigm to which I increasingly minister as more time passes. Although I had purposefully avoided this discussion, Steve’s videos and comments along with Johnson’s reading helped me to face myself and to see that our fragmented culture resists foundational and totality perspectives. Actually, I now perceive today’s culture as a living, dynamic, colorful, and changing collogue, disjointed and yet connected, that requires innovative but relevant means for me to communicate effectively.

Before our class, I had seen community as a purpose of the church, but after witnessing Steve work with and shape our classroom community, I sense community as a purpose of God, a shaping mechanism through which the Holy Spirit operates to mold individual lives into what God desires. When community functions, not only are individual needs to minister and to receive ministry met, but God’s purposes to shape the soul also occur. When I learn to trust the Spirit to illuminate the scripture, guide the speaker or preacher, move in and through the community, and speak to me individually, I learn that God uses each component – a preacher, the Bible text, and the community – to shape my soul according to His design.

The concept of creativity and innovation emerged as a biblical norm, when I see humanity as made in God’s image. Godly play and creative expression should occur instinctively and inevitably within us and my ministry just as a result of who we are. Hence, creativity and innovation should occur within a spiritual experience – church. With my new-found desire to foster creativity and enjoy the resultant spiritual experiences, I anticipate making more room for creativity within the context of my ministry. Additionally, the postmodern culture mandates creativity and innovation in order to maintain relevance in ministry; besides, variety is the spice of life.

DJing the bible and culture emerges as a beautiful opportunity and unique challenge. The concept of DJing gives me latitude and flexibility to implement applications that I learned in our class somewhat on a “pick and choose” basis – that I implement new and varied sermon techniques and communication forums on a “tailor-made” basis in my present ministry context, and thereby prevent anxiety among our congregation’s baby-boomer modernists. Additionally, as a unique challenge, DJing requires incredible wisdom and ability – to select what aspects of culture and/or scripture get amplified, subverted, or juxtaposed. DJing messages could potentially be miscommunicated as mockery or another unintended message and may cause misunderstandings and unnecessary problems. DJing without wisdom or ability may also allow my audience to miss the point of what I was trying to communicate.

Finally, I sense a crying demand for imagery and variety in my future ministry. Presently, I use pictures as accents; however, I anticipate using images as creative expressions that stimulate thought, open the mind and heart to deeper dimensions. I see that images need to help me communicate both intellectual and emotional messages, especially in an image driven culture. My “image” muscles appear weak in comparison to my “word” muscles, and I anticipate strengthening this aspect of ministry.

I look forward to the place of the bible in my future ministry in attempting to live the text and make the text come to life. First, I desire to swallow, digest, ingest and metabolize the word of God to where it lives within me; and rather than being a text that I read and observe externally with my eyes, I want the bible to emerge as a power, conviction, and truth upon which I live daily life. Hence, rather than the bible serving as encouraging words or recommended disciplines, I pray God’s word take hold into my personal living, and may people read the bible as they observe me. Accordingly, I desire to fulfill Paul’s declaration to the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 3:2-3) and to repeat John’s record of the incarnation, that the Word became flesh (John 1:1-14).

In walking away from Steve Taylor’s class this past week, I desire like never before to make the bible text come to life. Rather than the bible seen as dull, boring, half-dead, lost in lecture, words, and sermon, I want to see the text emerge into a rightful place of excitement with people enthusiastically engaging their bible and enjoying powerful, life-changing spiritual experiences as they interface with word of God in the community of faith. Though my ministry, may the scripture provide people well-rounded aesthetic, escapist, educational, and entertaining experiences. I envision utilizing all the methods presented in class: fresh sermons that include inductive, abductive, dialogical, multiple voice, and storytelling approaches. Among a cross-section of venues, I anticipate leading a variety of exercises that breath life into the text, including: stop light discussions, role-play, parable parallels, emotional exegesis, and dwelling in the word by leading people to listen for inspiring or intriguing aspects of God’s word and then to hear others into free speech.

I loved and sincerely appreciated this class and the instructor.

hello

Steve, I'm trying this out.