Brian McLaren says, “Postmodernism is a rather bizarre term at first glance, a kind of absurdity rather like ‘pre-ancientism.’  However, its very oddness seems to be a good reason to keep it for now, because the concepts of postmodernism do seem odd, at least from an outsider’s perspective.” —The Church on the Other Side, p. 159  Indeed, postmodernism is full of seeming self-contradictions, paradoxes, ironies, and absurdities, and yet it does make a certain kind of sense and contains many “true” elements.  Below are some of the characteristics of postmoderns:

• They are skeptical of knowledge, certainty, and power . . . but wish they had something to hang on to.
• They are cynical about the recent past and the future, and therefore live in the present . . . but they wish they could be optimistic.
• They reject any overarching “metanarrative” . . . but are desperately looking for a story which will make sense of their lives.
• They value subjective experiences above all else . . . but rarely seem to find any lasting satisfaction in them.
• They don’t believe in absolute truth . . . but are constantly searching for what is true.
• They long for community . . . but most live lonely lives.
• They value friendship. . . but find it hard to trust anyone or make any kind of commitment.
• They don’t like top ten lists, “steps of salvation,” or anything else that seems to make  profound truths overly simplistic.

The Story of Redemption connects with postmoderns by telling the biblical story in narrative form - a story of love, hope, community, and salvation.