A new culture is emerging that approaches God and the spiritual world completely differently than those of us who grew up in middle years of the 20th century. Understanding them and connecting them to God through Jesus Christ will require the church to approach spirituality in different ways than has been traditional for the last 200 years. Let me illustrate. Some time ago I worked with a woman who is the perfect picture of a post modern person. Before she became a Christian she wanted to see if there was any truth to this “whole spiritual world thing”, so she willingly went along with a group of her friends who said they were going to call up evil spirits. She was deeply skeptical about the whole thing but was curious and wanted to come along and “experience” it to see if it was real. When something did appear after a period of incantations and rituals she still did not believe it, so she challenged what ever it was that if it was real to reach out and scratch her face. She bears the scars of those scratches to this day!!! Her attitude is the perfect illustration of what this new emerging culture is like. They are skeptical but are willing to “experience” all most any kind of spirituality even if it is evil, if it can prove it is “real.”

 
There are three aspects of this event that are deeply embedded in the value structure of this emerging postmodern culture. First, they do not want to study spirituality they want to be immersed in it and then learn about what happened. In other words they want the lab first and then the lecture. Second, they are highly committed to their friends and relationships. Many have experienced the trauma of divorce, broken relationships and deep alienation and loneliness. The only stable “family” they know are their friends. Third, they want to be fully involved in participating in the spirit world and their own spirituality. They do not want a professional to go into the spiritual world and then come back and tell them about it. These three core values drive their desired engagement with God.

 
Let’s look at these three key aspects of this emerging culture and discuss practical additions that the church can make to incorporate these values.

 
1. A focus on experiencing God and the spiritual world not just studying it.

 
For the last 300+ years the modern world has sought to understand God and the world inductively. For 800+ years before that the Middle Ages sought to understand God and the world deductively. The approach that is the most impacting with this emerging culture is what I call ABDUCTION. They want to be abducted into the event, experience and experiment they are studying. After being immersed in it then they are ready to study it. This method is thoroughly Biblical and has the endorsement of Jesus Himself. In John 7:17 Jesus says, “If anyone is willing to do His will, He will know of the teaching whether it is from God or whether I speak from myself.”

 
This is really not so different than elements of our experience. When I wanted to play basketball for my high school team, I did not want to have endless lectures about basketball, I wanted to play the game and occasionally be pulled aside and told how to play it better.
 

I believe that we must go back and train Christians in the ancient spiritual disciplines. Only this will meet the deep longing of this emerging culture for real connection with the Living God. The modern culture’s “distant observer” approach to learning about God leaves the disciple knowledgeable but often unchanged. To be abducted into personal knowledge of God is the goal of the Christian life (John 17:3). I have had the privilege of taking people from all walks of life through the classic spiritual disciplines and the response is always the same. They are caught up in the presence of God and enjoy His “touch” on their soul. Listen to two recent responses I received from people practicing the discipline of worship, “It was a very uplifting and exciting. That was the BEST day. I had the Lord on my mind all day long. My son asked me how I was. He looked at me very oddly. I told him I was fine. He said, ‘You look happy… and at peace, much more than usual. Your face is glowing.’” “From the first day, I was quite surprise at how quickly I was ushered into the presence of the Lord. I started worshiping and praising God for His essence as I reflected on the corresponding Scriptures and the Word and the Lord came alive to me. My understanding of the Scripture and its application for my own life was significantly magnified. I really felt connected to my Heavenly Father and a genuine delight and excitement filled my heart.” Whenever I have trained people in the practice of the spiritual disciplines they have been forever changed by real connection to God. In an attempt to broaden the churches understanding and experience of the classic spiritual disciplines I have just finished a book on this topic: Spiritual Disciplines of a C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N. (Check out our web site: www.ptlb.com).

 
2. The church must be more intentionally relational.

 
Many post modern individuals have grown up in a milieu of broken relationships and therefore hunger for long term and deeply intimate friendships. They are looking for family and the church is the perfect place for them to receive this type of connection. It will look different than the church services and programs designed for modern Christians. The modern world was looking for solutions, categories and answers. The content took precedent over the relationships. This emerging culture wants to be connected to the instructor and the people not just the content. They push to levels of intimacy and transparency that can be uncomfortable. They are more willing to be theologically eclectic to include rather than exclude believers.
 

There are a number of churches that are doing exciting things to bring deep relational connection to the local churches. Some churches are adjusting their small groups to be places where people share, apply and discuss the sermon rather than learning more content. Some churches are reconfiguring their worship space to include people sitting at round tables or in booths to connect people together in the services. Some churches are encouraging a more relaxed and interactive atmosphere including cappuccino’s, real discussions and prayer for one another in the service. A number of churches have started setting up smaller long term cell groups rather than content based classes. These and many other ways to connect people at a much deeper level are coming to a church near you.
 

3. Churches must become much more participatory.

 
Too often in the modern outworking of church the professional does church and the lay people sit and watch or take notes. This type of passive classroom approach to church is not appropriate for this new emerging culture they want to be involved in practicing their Christianity. Some churches are including in the services and small groups of the church worship art on the walls, a multiplicity of singing groups and styles, drama teams, video productions, readings, testimonies, prayer gatherings, worship dance, lay instrumentation, times of confession, even confession rooms, kneeling benches, prayer teams, communion stations, raising hands, everyone praying at once out loud, times of praise and thanksgiving. For some of us coming from the modern perspective many of these changes do not “feel” right. But each of the values behind these changes is clearly within the boundaries of Christianity. In fact certain aspects may be closer to the heart of kingdom living.
 

Written by Dr. Gil Stieglitz, District Superintendent of the Western District of EFCA; President of Principles to Live By a non profit ministry spreading God’s principles of life to individuals, families, churches, business and the world at large; Adjunct professor at Western Seminary Sacramento Extension and William Jessup University. He and his wife Dana and there three girls reside in Roseville, CA.