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Clearly, one of the most difficult matters facing the church, the preacher, and every
single Christian today-to say nothing of millions of non-Christians--is the
emergence of a pluralist world.

The reality of pluralism cannot be ignored. Up till now, yes, perhaps it could.
Preachers could ignore it-along with its very tough implications. But no more. Its
dimensions are becoming too well known among thinking Christians everywhere.
And those dimensions present problems, serious problems, for the very future of
Christianity itself. It is time for thinking preachers who are tuned to what their
people are sensing-particularly their younger people-to give serious attention to
pluralist ideas.

Let's see for a moment if we can at least define pluralism-and open the door to what
it means for the future of Christianity. At its base, pluralism refers to a world of
many cultures, ideologies, ethnicities, political systems, and religions. Not one, but
many; and in their broadest outlines they are all very different.

But what about those differences? What are we to make of them? And-specifically to
our point here-what are we Christians supposed to make of those differences for our
religion?

Over the last few decades, the thinking-Christian thinking-about those differences
has changed dramatically. In fact, it has gone through at least three distinct stages
to bring us to where we are in today's world culture.

First, in the 1960s and 70s, the idea of pluralism emerged not so much as a
"discovery" of other cultures, ideologies, and religions, but as a push for Christians
to learn about other cultures and religions as a way to effectively evangelize people
living within them. This was when the whole world finally became aware of "other
cultures," of multiculturalism. Christians-particularly those preparing for missions
work of various kinds-were introduced to courses in the history of cultures and
religions, of other peoples.

This was not, though, for the purpose of appreciation as such, but as a tool for
proselytizing to Christianity. The idea was that one could no longer assume that
what others believed and practiced was irrelevant. Instead, Christians had to know
about the origins and backgrounds of other religious faiths and cultures, since only
in this way could one "labor" most effectively for Christ in the world.

Second, in the 1980s, a very different notion about pluralism came to the fore. Then,
it was not just that the Christian needed to understand other cultures or religions in
order to "win" them to Christ. It was that the Christian gospel itself could be
allowed to take on the unique features and contours of the cultures and subcultures
into which it was accepted.

This became known in theological and missions circles as contextualization. Every
culture, in other words, could provide its own unique context in which the Christian
gospel could have the freedom to be assimilated and practiced.

There could be a Korean Christianity, one based on and assimilating Korean
culture, a African Christianity, a Native American Christianity, a Latino Christianity,
and so on. Each would have a core of beliefs clearly identifiable as Christian, but
everything else would arise from the native culture-even with some of its
non-Christian religious overtones-in which Christianity took root.

Neither of these views of pluralism, however, quite prepared the way for the
pluralism of the 90s. What emerged into full view, largely over that decade, was-is-a
view that this planet of ours, which supports so many different cultures, ideologies
and religions, is a very small and very fragile planet. And every one of those
cultures, religions, etc., has its own unique history and integrity; it has its own claim
to existence without destruction by any or all of the other cultures, ideologies or
religions.

The idea is that we should all be involved in protecting and not trying to destroy
each other-whether that destruction is carried out by force, by exploitation, or even
by assimilation.

It is a powerful idea, one that makes sense to an ever-growing number of people
within all of the cultures of the world. This is, in short, the new pluralism, one that
seems to be necessitated, more than anything else, by the fact that virtually all of
the walls and borders of the "old world" have now come down. We are all living
next door to each other.

This reality is the one that now confronts the Christian religion with a challenge like
it has not faced at least since the Sixteenth Century. As Christians, we have been
taught that we are here to "convert" the world to Christianity. It is that very idea,
that root of our faith, which is now challenged by the growing sense of a "pluralist
ethic."

We start there. We cannot ignore it. What does this mean for your preaching? What
does it mean for helping your people-who are living and experiencing this pluralism
in their lives daily? It is a subject that will occupy us who are concerned about
ministry in the Twenty-First Century for a long time to come.

--Joseph M. Webb