Question from "More Ready than You Realize"

We’re using More Ready Than You Realize in several groups and classes at my church. You mention (p. 128) the shift in confidence from premodern (confidence in institutions or hierarchies) to modern (confidence in propositions and intellectual systems). Where would you say this shift moves in a postmodern context?

Great question. I don’t think the answer is completely clear yet, which is why it’s hard for us to have credibility. So many people have skepticism about everything – confidence in nothing – which leaves us all sitting ducks for consumerism, but that’s another story.

My guess (and hope) is that we’ll enter a period where people once again respect moral authority – the authority that flows from good character and good works (not just from medieval titles and hierarchies, or modern scholarship and argument).

This emphasis on moral authority resonates with what Jesus said about our legitimacy being knowable by our fruit, not just our talk.