GG's PROBES

FXFC - 1 - Emergent Culture

1 - The Emergent Cultural

Many people have written thousands of words on the cultural changes that have effected our western society in the last 25 years. Again, it may be semantics, but I am uncomfortably talking of floods, tidal waves or tsunamis of change – especially in the light of Boxing Day 2004. These imply sudden, sweeping - and usually devastating – changes. However what we have experienced has been insidious incremental change (although at a relatively rapid rate when looked at in the history of social change). We have been more like the frog in the kettle (to use George Barna’s book title) sitting on a gas flame set at ‘high’.

Another word often used in this examination is “post-“. Again, it may be just a quibble, but I would prefer to look ahead more rather than look back so much.

My other concern with much that has been written about cultural change is the overwhelming focus that has been put on the philosophical change (post-modernism) without a balancing examination of the other major changes concurrently emerging. I firmly believe that, while the philosophical change is very important, it has only had the impact because of its synergy with the other changes. Each have supported and strengthened the other.

Commentators have classed these changes in many ways – each seems to have their own list – so here is mine (using 4 of Gerard Kelly’ 5 posts).


Emergent New Technologies – that have torn apart the two hundred year old mechanical machine age and overwhelmed it with new information processing and digital technology. This has had dramatic impact on not just the work-place and the entertainment industry, but even the very way we communicate.

An emergent new underlying Philosophy - that is bursting out of the foundational framework of modernism which shaped our society for over 400 years. The sureness of the Enlightenment and of humanity’s potential to know and control all is being displaced by a philosophy of ambiguity, diversity and uncertainty. “My Truth” is just as valid as “Your Truth”. Power and authority are mistrusted – authentic experience is what counts.
This new philosophy has led to a new morality where anything goes, ethical is what you can get away with.

An emerging Globalized Economy – where many corporations have an international economic impact that swamps that of most nation states, and where market economics take precedent over national interests. The old order of political empires has given way to the empires of McWorld. (A challenging film & book on this topic is “The Corporation”).

Emerging Spiritual Diversity – that has shifted from an ‘established’ religion to a plurality of individualised, experiential faith expressions. Popular spirituality has shifted from orthodoxy to self-fulfilment.

The rapid transition of change itself. Trends of the sort that took many years to seep through society now permeate it in a time-span measured by months. While businesses were advised to develop 5-10 year plans they now develop 1-2 year plans – anything longer than that will be overtaken by changes of one kind or another.

As a result of these changes the cultural landscape has dramatically altered.

From Homogenous to Fragmented

A quick look at the ABS Statistics tells us that the Australia of the ‘Oughties’ is vastly different from that of the ‘Fifties’ or even the ‘Seventies’. Our society is both more multi-ethnic and increasingly polarized economically between the haves and have-nots. The stereotypical white classless Aussie battler no longer exists. New trends in immigration, higher levels of long-term unemployment (and casual part-time work), increased mobility, changes to family life patterns, later-life child-bearing, and the rise of the single parent household, all mark a new social and cultural landscape.

From Literate to Visi-Aural

The rise firstly of TV , more lately of the Internet, and now the prevelance of mobile video-phones have led to a swing away from a society that is focused on ‘words’ to one that is focused on sounds and sights. This is not new – in many ways it is a return to the culture prior to the Renaissance – the world of the Middle Ages was replete with visi-aural communication: mystery plays, stained glass windows, heraldic devices and signs of all sorts, etc. In an unpublished paper I have argued that throughout history there has been a number of cycles from visi-aural to literate to visi-aural and back again.

From Neighbours to Networks

The dominance of territory to confer identifying relationships is being replaced by networks. Who we know is more significant than where we live. Our geographical neighbours are quite likely to be complete strangers to us – rather we choose how and with whom to connect. Friends, work colleagues, fellow hobbyists are our new key connects. Home is often only a place to retreat into and to sleep at – more people are regularly living out and eating out.

From Production to Consumption

In the middle of the 20th Century, the majority of people were seen as ‘workers’ – now they are seen as ‘consumers’. Marketing, amongst other forces, has brought about an increased emphasis on the individual, prioritising personal choice and the attainment of pleasure as an inalienable right. Advertisers and producers ensure that this supposed right is never quite attained; producing relentless advertising to ensure the demand is insatiable. (Australian Retailers are expecting Christmas 2004 to net them over AU$34 billion – an average spend of over $1750 for every man, woman and child in the land!)

From Christendom to the Fringe

Christian culture and values are no longer normative. The number of Aussies claiming to be ‘Christian’ has dropped dramatically in the last 50 years as the new individuality meant that it was more than just OK to call oneself a non-Christian. This had two determining causes – one was a deep historical antagonism in the Aussie psyche to anything that was linked with authoritarian control, the other a new multi-cultural tolerance that challenged the very ‘truth’ foundation of Christianity.

The basic underlying culture regarding religion in Australia differs from the UK or the US. In the UK there has been a long tradition of the church’s role (together with the pub!) as the centre of neighbourhood community. In the US the early settlers were seekers of freedom to observe their faith in ways they saw as appropriate, and religion has always been close to the heart of the national culture. Australia, however, was founded as a penal colony and as such had an inbred distrust of anything that was connected with authority and that included the church.

Christianity’s claim to be the truth is perceived as being ludicrous. In multi-ethnic Australia the ‘fear’ of upsetting those of non-Christian ethnic backgrounds has mean the neutering of major Christian festivities for fear of appearing ‘non-politically correct’ or, even worse, subject to a racial vilification law-suit. Thus the Melbourne City Council did not promote a ‘Christmas Celebration’ but a ‘Celebrate Melbourne’ theme leading up to Dec 25th 2004.


Some Implications for Faith Communities:

§ The fragmentation of society requires a new emphasis on the Gospel of Reconciliation. The Kingdom message is not just that we can have a newly reconciled relationship with God, but that we can have a relationship of communal love with all people, regardless of their ethnicity, status, etc., - all are people loved by God, and our faith community must reflect anew Paul’s challenge of ‘neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free, … but all one in Christ Jesus.

§ The changed communications modality requires a shift from our current emphasis on the literate word. Rather we should seek to more effectively utilize visual and aural images that conjure up emotive metaphors for spiritual truth. Experiencing something is more important to most people today that the knowledge of that same thing. Change attention span also challenges us to reconsider the way we communicate – where didactic messages are used they should be short and pithy; dialogue is the preferred way to transmit knowledge.

§ The networking of social relationships means that geographical place is of much less importance than previously. People will happily drive 20-30 minutes or more to get to an event that matters to them. (We used to drive Peter to Altona and even Geelong for his hockey games!)

§ The consumptive society has both positive and negative implications. Negative ones include the focus on meeting individuals felt needs, resulting in a church that becomes a ‘service vendor’ rather than a community. It also results in believers going ‘church shopping’ rather than seeking God’s will regarding the faith community they should commit to. On the positive side, most people are open to new ideas and new experiences in a way they previously weren’t, as long as they do not feel pressured by slick salesmanship but are rather drawn in by early experienceers in their peer group.

§ Christianity on the Fringe means that we have to work to earn trust and respect from members of society. It means that demonstration of the faith in action (24/7 incarnation) is much more important than proclamation. We have to immerse ourselves in the society we want to transform, demonstrating in daily life the ‘benefits’ of kingdom living and then be ready to ‘give the reason for our hope’.

posted by Gordon Gray @ Tuesday, February 01, 2005