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While moderns search for facts and absolute truths—quests of a Knight—“postmodern” people search for mysticism, adventure, and community—Gardener quests. Some Knights claim “postmodern” thinking and new ideas and cultural shifts are departures from the absolute truths they believe they have already discerned accurately and perfectly.
The Search for Mysticism: Because postmoderns find the Theology layer to be mostly a human creation, they seek instead the Mysticism that inspired those Theologies in the first place. Rather than being satisfied with possessing an absolute truth, postmoderns find the Mysticism layer to be more trustworthy, and spiritually fulfilling. Postmoderns pursue communion with God rather than beliefs about God.
The Search for Adventure: Because postmoderns find the world too big, too complex, and too wonderful and mysterious to explain through rational means, they seek stories that help them grasp the ineffable, as well as their place in the world. On this point, Christianity is well-positioned to offer spiritual wisdom and solace to postmoderns because over 80% of the Bible’s contents are stories.
Postmoderns seek several kinds of stories, (1) narratives that open them up to the Mysticism layer, and (2) narratives that help them understand where they came from (tradition-stories), where they are today situationally and spiritually (map-stories), and where they are going (vision-stories).
The Search for Community: Because many postmoderns live in a world where institutions, political priorities, social crusades and even family relationships come and go, they do not become too attached to them. Rather, they search for other places to invest their loyalty and energy. Simply put, postmoderns are not loyal to what they can outlive. Instead, postmoderns invest themselves in their community, friends, and family (however defined)—the things they find most immune to change. Postmoderns stick with the people who will be with them through all of the world’s changes rather than with the things or ideas that change. For postmoderns, “family” is who loves you, not necessarily who you are related to.