He said something that really hit the nail on the head regarding what postmodernism is, and how it plays out in people’s lives.

This is my attempt to enlighten you with two great illustrations of postmodernism from Jerram, and then apply them to the crazy world of youth ministry.

Postmodernism is the Denial of Any Standards

• The band  ”2 Live Crew” was on trial several years ago for obscene lyrics. Jerram wouldn’t event quote some of the lyrics “because in the most graphic language possible the lyrics in question were encouraging men to sexually, brutally assault women.” Terrible, terrible stuff. But the charges against them were acquitted.
• A few years later, photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was on trial for blatantly obscene photographs he included in an art exhibition in Cincinnati. Again, the charges were thrown out.

Why were these cases thrown out? Because society could not impose any standards on anyone. In a nutshell, the juries of both cases later said, “I personally thought those lyrics/photographs were obscene. I would never listen to/look at them and I don’t want my children exposed to them. But who am I to say that anybody else should think they are obscene?”

The Effects of Postmodernism

Jerram also shared about a conversation he had with a friend working with InterVarsity at a nearby university. This friend was bewildered by what he saw in the college students and in the local community. He came to Jerram begging for help understanding it.

You see, this friend had spent considerable time getting to know students at the college. These were incredibly bright students, very thoughtful, and very articulate. They were attending one of the top universities in the country.

This friend also spent time with students in the poorest part of town because they often hung around his church office in that area. Many of the students there were involved with gangs and dealing drugs.

Yet this friend saw the same things in both groups of students, and he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around it. He couldn’t help but notice that these students lacked idealism. They were reluctant to commit themselves. They were irreverent to anything sacred and disrespectful to all authority. And they were apathetic, skeptical, and bored.

Students Today

That is what we have in our youth groups today. From prosporous suburbia to the gang-infested inner city, the postmodern lack of standards of every kind has made our students apathetic, skeptical, and very, very bored.

Apathetic - Nothing is worth working for. There is nothing in life truly worth grasping or striving to achieve. Instead, they expect most things to simply be given to them. So our youth minsitry can’t just be a place to “have fun and learn.” We must create a new culture that inspires students’ active engagement in their faith.

Skeptical - Students are skeptical about everything, especially leaders. It’s no longer about showing students that you’re cool. You must first demonstrate that you are trustworthy, and that you aren’t in leadership to boost your own ego.

Bored - I wrote about this in another post, too. This again highlights the need for youth pastors (and parents, for that matter) to give students practical opportunities to practice their faith.

What do you think is the impact of postmodernism on your youth group? How should we respond to this reality of student ministry?