Charles Sanders Peirce, the relatively unknown American
philosopher, argued that the inductive and deductive methods are inadequate to
totally transform human life when trying to create an acronym for
the epic, Sweet told his audience. Since the mind is made up of metaphor, you must
hypothesize an image by intuition.
He cited Peirce as arguing that you then test it out by
spinning out little narratives and see if people will grab onto them and
integrate them into their lives. You spin these narratives this way and that.
You observe then, while people latch onto them and turn them into an experience
that they can use.
Sweet asked his audience to guess who Peirce believed used
the abductive method in the most effective way. You’re right: Jesus, the
greatest communicator of all times, used this method in his parables. He threw
these little narratives out there—the lost sheep, the lost coin—spun it this way
and that.
Sweet,
who is writing a book on
abductive preaching, is using Peirce’s material to
create an epic that the Christian church can use in this new native culture.
Natives communicate much more through the senses, he said, so we immigrants will
have to devise ways of teaching that, like parables, relate to the everyday life
of the listeners.
Sweet told of a New Zealand pastor who, weary of the Advent
wreath ritual, asked families instead to bring their favorite artistic piece to
church and explain to the congregation what it meant to them. The pastor built
a whole series of Advent services on this “epic” worship activity.
In another instance, co-pastors Roy and Paul Bliss, instead
of preaching the resurrection story at Easter, set up eight TV monitors at the
front of the church. A disembodied voice spoke softly and read appropriate
Scriptures while images and artwork of the crucifixion appeared on the screens.
At the same time persons from the audience brought other symbols to the front
and placed them on a slab in front of the TV monitors—a loaf of bread, a pitcher
of water, a towel and basin. Others did readings. After 40 minutes someone
draped a cloth over all the symbols and TVs, forming an outline of the body of
Christ.
Sweet said this is what he means by “epic” worship in the
postmodern world.
______________
Jesus, the greatest communicator of all
times,
used this method in his parables.
He threw these little narratives out there—
the lost sheep, the lost coin—
spun it this way and that.
______________
In answering a question from Bob Kettering, senior pastor
of a 600-member Church of the Brethren congregation in Lititz, PA, on why people
are leaving the traditional church to go to the more “independent” churches
where immigrant language and worship are the styles and where women are still
second rate, Sweet cautioned that the “search” may be misguided, but that these
persons are hungry, too, for a relationship to God and others that appears to be
more present in a more authoritarian setting.
“What they are really attracted to,” he said, “is the
informality, the appearance of a direct relationship to God.” Some churches
have gone so far as to get rid of pews, replacing them with tables where food is
served and where waiters replace the ushers.
In
a follow-up question to Kettering’s, Paul Mundey, another pastor of a large
Church of the Brethren congregation in Frederick, MD, asked why he is getting
pressure for more expository preaching, which seems to represent a return to
immigrant thinking. Sweet said here again that it might not be what it appears
but rather a desire to “connect God’s story with my story.” These people are
crying out for a relationship, he said, forcing immigrants to move from a “show
and tell” evangelism to a “show and ask” evangelism.
It is so easy to get trapped in one method of teaching,
preaching and worship, said Sweet, but this postmodern culture is moving so fast
the church must remain flexible and do its research. He recommended the work of
Kim Miller,
Handbook for Multisensory Worship, as one resource and told them to
watch enough TV programs like The
Simpsons and Friends to keep up
with how the culture is interacting.
