Searching for Self
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
The great indictment: Loving one's belly button.
Searching for Self
by Warren Baldwin
Do you know what the number one tourist attraction
in America is? Disney World? Grand Canyon? How
about the Mall of America in Minneapolis,
Minnesota? It draws ten times more people than the
Grand Canyon does every year! Americans are
consumers.
Do you know what our favorite daily activity is?
Judging by the amount of time we voluntarily
donate to it, I would say it is watching
television. The average American watches four
hours of TV every day. That adds up to 28 hours a
week, or more than one full day every week we
spend in front of the tube. Americans are
spectators.
Do you know what the primary word or concept is in
the various self-help programs available to us? It
is: Self. I couldn't even mention the programs
with using the term "self!" Self-help involves
self-image, self-actualization, and self-concept.
Americans are self-absorbed.
Please, don't get angry at me for this less-than-
flattering assessment of "us." I actually got this
descriptive list from Culture Shift by David W.
Henderson and Make Disciples: Reaching the
Postmodern World for Christ by Terry A. Bowland.
What is with America's fascination with
consumerism (buying "stuff"), spectator-ism, and
self-absorption? According to Bowland, it is
reflective of our quest to experience. He says we
have become "a culture which has elevated
experience to the highest level of importance."
And this experiential quest is trait number two of
our postmodern culture.
Like trait #1, relativism, experientialism poses a
challenge to Christians as we seek to reach a
generation that relies upon experience as a means
of finding and defining self. Ideas are not that
attractive. History is meaningless. Experiencing,
feeling, whether by shopping, watching or
"actualizing" the self is where meaning is found.
The challenge for us today, as we seek to
communicate with our young people, whether in our
homes, in the church or in the community, is to go
beyond just words. If, as Terry Bowland says, our
culture has "elevated experience to the highest
level of importance," we have to respect that even
if we don't agree with it. "We have to take into
account that people in today's postmodern world
want to experience what we have to offer. If they
cannot experience it, chances are they will never
accept it." (Bowland, p.126).
Instead of preaching love, how can we offer love
in a concrete, measurable manner? Instead of
preaching forgiveness, are there any opportunities
in our lives to actually demonstrate it? Instead
of preaching kindness, do we act kindly toward
others?
Postmoderns would rather see a sermon than hear
one any day. Almost sounds like something Jesus
said about how others assess our lives, doesn't
it? (John 13:34,35).
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