The World is changing... or has changed.
I think that these are some critical changes that make these times confusing...
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We are Post Christendom...The culture is no longer Christian, and the metaphors that people use to explain life have shifted and are largely un-informed by the Biblical Narrative.
-There is a elevated amount of religious bickering and name calling.Not that this has not always existed, but in my life time, there seems to be more polarized religious camps. Anecdotally I have witnessed this myself, and know of nearly no Christian who has not been effected by Christian name calling and division recently. Labels like: postmodern, modern, emergent, established, etc.
-Language and cultural upheaval:The cultural values have changed faster than we have. Communication technologies have connect the world, but the church is not keeping up on the information and technology curve. Where we used to have a voice that we used to gain justice for the marginalized... many of our traditions now are viewed to be marginalizing to woman, homosexuals, not to mention polarizing politically, racially, and in regard to gender. How do the good news of liberation and freedom in Jesus day, become so oppressive sounding to so many in these days?
-Technological revolution:Like it or not, technology is closing the communication game. While we still do not have flying cars, who needs one when you can set up a visual teleconference with people from all over the world at the same time.
-Marketing Overload... changes the methods of gospel presentation. But I have already posted about this...
-Different questions driving culture:I feel like today people are driven by a different set of questions than before. What questions do you think people are asking today? Where are they searching for meaning?
-Globalism:Thomas Friedman says the world is flat, and he is largely right. A church now must contend with ideas and influence from all over the world. Mom and Pop are out, and World Market took their place... Along with multinational conglomarates. This means that people are able to interact with ideas from all over the world... and it forces us to interact with them as well...
That is my list of "issues" we face... It is not comprehensive... What is you top five issues the church must face into?
