PLENARIES
Gospel truth carries within itself a compulsion for expression that, when true to the truthfulness of its propositions cannot be contained or restricted from the message’s innate ability to be expressed. In a culture that no longer sees value in humanistic advancement, Western Christianity, particularly American Western Christianity, stands at the crossroads of opportunity for unparalleled greatness in this present context of unsurpassed lack of relevance. The determinative end result remains to be seen. As the loss of social bearings become more acute, as business ethics are mired in the trap of amoral practices that allow unbridled personal gain to prevail over corporate responsibility, as political aficionados reinvent themselves, shape-shifting in the morass of moral ambiguity, as religious suppositions are reduced to mere guidelines for humane treatment, the urgency of the Gospels power must become a primary consideration again as it is unleashed by the church.
Pleasure and entertainment are powerful aphrodisiacs that have lulled the current cultural expression into a position of fantasy, shielding the postmodernist from accurately appraising truths forceful adaptation. Part of the problem lies within the churches ineffectual attempts to insert itself into the conversation of meaning among those who live outside the churches bounds. Augustinian and Calvinistic predeterminative formulations have induced many within the body of Christ to approach social responsibility in a laze faire manner of skeptical gratitude. Unregenerates are viewed as a form to be profited from business-wise, although an urgency to redeem is significantly less acute.
The technocratic synthesis of society and science has produced new opportunities for dialogue to be entered into. The increasing sterility of a society that finds its greatest ability to connect in the anonymity of the Internet is both troubling and loaded with possibilities for interaction. Meaning is an invaluable commodity that is attainable through relational connections. More than ever, the significant interloper of the Christian community stands on the horizon, waiting to embrace the ‘whosever’s’ of the ‘whatever’ philosophy of postmodernism thought procedure.
Once again, let a new crop of Paul’s approach the postmodern Mars Hills with the unrelenting necessity of conveyance of truths unswerving propositions. There are posits that cannot be reduced or deconstructed. These propositions stand outside of the circumference of negotiations constraints. They are eternal in their magnitude and are synonymous with their very author: the God of Gods. Whether these intransigent postulations are embraced or not does not have a bearing on their truthfulness. May this message of the Lord of the universe as entrusted to the church never fail in reaching the desired end of intent as the un-locker of the human soul’s travail.
