Post-Modern Pilgrims: Image and metaphor in the Christian church

Post-Modern Pilgrims, Leonard Sweet. Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville TN. 2000.

Interesting passages:

p 86

The lesson for the church is simple: images generate emotions, and people will respond to their feelings.

Post-modern culture is image driven. . .the church now enters a world where story and metaphor are at the hear of spirituality.

p87-88

Cultures are symbol systems, intricate, interwoven webs of metaphos, symbols, and stories. What holds the culture of the church together–the metaphors it offers, the sybols it displays, the stories it itells? The post modern church seems to have lost the plot to the “stories of Jesus”. Could it be because the redemption story was told in th emodern era more by “creeds” and “laws” than by “parables”–narrative wrapped images?

p 91

Small changes in how we visualize life and the Spirit can generate massive changes in how we live our lives and configure our consciousness.

Visual language (metaphor evangelism, metaphor preaching, etc.) is no longer an option. We are a print-saturated, word-based church in the midst of visual technologies that are creating a whole new visual culture. . .

p 92

Metaphors are the medium through which biblical spirituality will be fashioned for this new world . . .

p 93

Metaphors are more than decorations. Metaphors are the most fundamental tools of thought. Metaphors are causes more than consequences of our reasoning. That’s why the power of liturgy is so immense: liturgy realigns our metaphors to conform to Christ, which transforms our lives.

p 95

But if there is not the “right spirit”, presentation means little–no matter how contemporary or high tech. . . If the spirit is there, presentation also means little–no matter how traditional or bookish. . . Metaphors generate a spirit that quickly captures and charges space. That is why the Jesus method of communication was not the exegesis of words, but the exegesis of images: “the kingdom of heaven is like . . ”

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I am going to think about the images Jesus used with his public addresses as well as with the disciples. Clearly there was no technology, but there were certainly a lot of well-understood, accessible metaphors. What does this mean for my students’ efforts at digital storytelling?

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