Ken's Perspective

Recently we (Wellspring) have had some interesting dialogue about who we are and what we are about. Questions have been raised about the term; “post-modern”. Many wonder what it means and others question its value for us.
I want to offer my perspective. I believe that when we step back and look at the larger picture, things come into focus, simplify, and begin to make more sense. For me it is as simple as this. We are missionaries to a new and different culture.
Most of us have grown up in the “modern” world. It’s what we know and it shapes our beliefs and how we view the world. There is a new culture/world view emerging. The new culture/worldview is being called “post-modern”. This phrase is used because it comes after modern and no one else knows what to call it. Today both culture/worldviews are in existence at the same time. The modern worldview seems to be at its pinnacle, while the postmodern worldview seems to be growing at a rapid rate. Some people hold one of these worldviews almost exclusively. While some of us seem to flip from one to the other. The dilemma is that almost every church in America is structured and focused on reaching people with a modern worldview. For people with a modern worldview that’s great. For people with more of a postmodern worldview it creates a problem. People with a postmodern worldview don’t connect or identity with modern churches. The result is that “the Church” in America is declining even while some individual churches are growing larger.
The founders of Wellspring believe God called us to be missionaries to the people in our own country who have a postmodern worldview. For missionaries to be effective they have to do at least three things:
1. Missionaries must learn about the culture they are trying to reach. They must seek to understand the culture. The more missionaries understand and embrace a culture the more effective they will be at reaching people in that culture. We at Wellspring are trying to understand the postmodern culture by reading books like A New Kind of Christian. The most effective missionaries are the indigenous people (people from the culture) who become followers of Jesus. They embody the culture. In our journey, we have some people who are from the culture (postmodern), we have some people that have been studying the postmodern culture and like it, we have some people who are working hard to be missionaries but still like the modern culture better, and we have some people who found that being a missionary was too hard and have decided to go back to the culture they are more familiar and comfortable with.
2. Missionaries must learn the language of the new culture. Even though both moderns and postmoderns may speak English, they speak a different language. We are trying to both learn the language and to speak the language of postmodernity.
3. Missionaries translate the gospel of Jesus Christ into the language and culture of the people. Presenting the gospel in a postmodern context looks very different from the way it does in a modern context. Moderns may think this is compromise. In reality, it is an attempt to translate the gospel into a form that will be heard and received by postmoderns.
So for me – the issue is not about who’s right or who’s wrong. It’s not about which is better or what we call ourselves. It is simply about who we are called to minister to and with. At Wellspring I believe we are called to minister to and with people with a postmodern worldview. Therefore we call our “church” an emergent Missional community. I am so thankful that you are on this journey with us as we seek to learn how to fulfill our calling in the most meaningful and effective way.