The Modern, Postmodern University, part 6: reaching the modern student with a postmodern veneer

To summarize and catch you up on this series so far (skip this section if you wish):

1. A postmodern student thinks nobody has a monopoly on the truth. 
2. A modern student believes that through critical reason one can arrive at the truth. 
3. A modern student with a postmodern veneer: see below.
4. A postmodern student with a modern veneer is the person who at first seems to believe in one ultimate truth, but really doesn't. I'll talk about how to reach this student next week.

Start reading here: The modern student with a postmodern veneer is the most common of the four profiles that I encounter on campus. This person is, so to speak, soft on the outside and firm on the inside.

Step one: Establish Trust. 

You can't skip this step and go right for case-making. First you gotta connect. Ask about their life and share a bit of yours. Show that you care, or you'll never get past the surface.

Another way to say this is to start with the heart, then move to the head. 

Step 2: Make your case.

Here's where your apologetics and appeals to the mind kick in. Don't forget to illustrate your case with concrete stories, images and diagrams. I use a lot of diagrams. 

Step 3: Circle back.

Circle back to the heart. Be transparent, work on the relationship, provide cool experiences, build community.

So, in order to reach this most common of the four profiles, remember to create an environment of trust, community and shared experience.

Inside -- I repeat, inside -- this environment you make your case for faith in Christ.

The Modern, Postmodern University, part 5: a critical pause.

In this multi-part series, we're talking about how to reach out with the message of Christ to four student profiles:

1. The truly postmodern student (March 6 post).
2. The truly modern student (March 13 post).
3. The modern student with a postmodern veneer (next week).
4. The postmodern student with a modern veneer (likely in two weeks).

But now I want to pause and say that in my many travels to college campuses, I can tell when I'm entering into a situation that is all prayed up:

Dorm lounges, student unions, quads and classrooms feel like sacred space, as if God is walking in the cool of the garden around campus.

I am convinced that we won't reach any of the four profiles unless we plant the garden of prayer.

The Modern, Postmodern University, part 4: Reaching Moderns

I'll be hanging with these Bemidji State crazies all of next week

This is week four on the topic of reaching today's young people with the message of Jesus. See prior posts dated Feb 20, 28, Mar 6.

• Last week: reaching postmodern students.
• This week: reaching modern students.
  
  

Step One with modern students: Show yourself a player. 

That is, show that you care about being reasonable and rational. I heard one of my mentors, Jim Sire,* state in a public talk awhile back that faith is never less than logical.

Yes, it's much more than logical. It involves commitment, passion, risk.

But it's never illogical. That stuck with me.

So I try to establish early on that, like many young atheists, I care about the rational process of arriving at truth.

Step Two: Admit fallibility. 

Amazingly, this step is tough for many evangelicals.

Actually, all I am saying is that while God is perfect, I am not. God makes judgments without error, I do not.

If I were infallible rather than fallible, I'd be God.

Admitting my fallibility to young "free thinkers" makes them think I am actually listening to them--actually open to their perspective.

Which I am.

Step Three: Love.

Whereas with postmodern students the relational part comes first, with modern students it comes last.

(Yes, I'm exaggerating. In real life it varies from student to student.)

Most modern students care about truth, science, rational method. So connect with them on that level first. Show yourself a player there. 

Then at some point step 3 kicks in: You draw them into experiences of the kingdom. Not even hard-headed, cynical atheists can say no to genuine expressions of Christ's love.

OK, some can.

But not usually.

* Dr. James Sire, author of The Universe Next Door and a lot of other excellent books.

The Modern, Postmodern University, part 3: Reaching Postmoderns

For explanations of the four student profiles we are discussing, see the past two weeks' posts.

This week: What does it take to reach the truly postmodern student?

Three steps:

1. Connect. You MUST establish trust. I'm talking personal, heart-felt, self-disclosing trust; traveler-to-traveler bonding, shared human experience.

But take it slow. Don't look like you're in a hurry.

Think we-ness.

Not us and them, or us versus them (traditional evangelical categories).

Rather, "we" are in a life boat together. We are trying to survive. We are trying to make a life, figure things out, have a few laughs along the way.

2. Go into their world and affirm whatever you can.

If you're 45 and older, learn to chill and hang out (If you're 35 and under you already know how to do this).

Tell your story and listen to theirs. Incarnate yourself just as Jesus did.

Then invite them into your world, and at some point into your ministry context.

But remember, most evangelical ministry settings will be a cross-cultural experience for postmoderns. So you'll have to explain things to them as well as offer some excellent (but casual) hospitality, or they won't be back.

3. Optional third step: Question. Bring up the fact that if if everyone merely has their own perspective on things, and there's no ultimate truth, then I can do whatever I wish to other people, with impunity. After all, my actions, good or bad, merely flow from my perspective.

Like I said, that last step is optional. Some postmoderns don't care about such things.

I walked through step three with my friend G, awhile back. He was quite startled when he realized the implications of his deep relativism. So in some cases the conversation is worthwhile.

Next week: reaching the modern student.

Suggested resource: I Once Was Lost (five thresholds of postmodern conversion), by Everts and Schaupp. Best book on evangelism I've read in a long time.