The youth group at our church was called Crosshold Ministries and was led by Pastor John Snell. Youth group helped form the basis of my Christian faith but also contributed to my postmodern ideals. Pastor Snell’s messages often focused on how we need to be different in this world. He always encouraged me that I could change my high school if I could begin to see halls through Jesus’ eyes. John Snell’s general message has implanted the importance of being in the world but not of the world inside of my mind. As I moved on from this youth group, I saw that much of my focus of my Christian faith was merely making myself appear to be different. In a world that believes that everyone has the right to personally define himself, I felt that the appearance of Godliness was the most important aspect of my faith. As a result, I paid very little attention to what was going on inside of me.
My youth group faintly affirmed the postmodern ideals of relative truth and personal definition. Pastor John did not teach these so much; rather, I got these ideas from the students attending. Like me, these students were being told every day that truth is different for every person. Our non-Christian friends heatedly told us that it is ok to be homosexual or of any religion as long as it does not interfere with others’ lives. Confused, we would take these thoughts and try and fit them into Christianity so that we could appear to be like everyone else. In retrospect, I should have enjoyed the opportunity of having different beliefs and used it to show how Christianity offers a better alternative. The people at youth group also asserted the postmodern value of the world being personally defined. Discussions on the role of prayer, the implementation of love, or the complexity of the trinity revealed that our generation holds the personal view of the individual in high regard.
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