A Review of the Book “Pomo Timmy” by Michael Ferber 1 Timothy For a Postmodern World
May 2, 2008 – 7:07 am by sntjohnny. Filed under Blog, General, book reviews.
- Publisher: Pleasant Word-A Division of WinePress Publishing (February 18, 2008)
- Paperback: 136 pages
- ISBN-10: 1414110405
- ISBN-13: 978-1414110400
- Website: http://pomotimmy.com/
Book Description:
Who decides what’s right or wrong? Imagine a world where right and wrong or good and evil are determined by society–the majority dictates what is acceptable or unacceptable without regard to morality as spelled out in the Bible or any other religious text. Such a world could be closer than you think, because whether or not we understand postmodernism, it is upon us in this country and in the church, and it brings both opportunities and dangers. If you are concerned about the direction of contemporary western society and the current state of the church, this book is for you. In it, author Michael Ferber provides a thoughtful approach to evaluating our worldview and how it is impacted by our culture. In a compelling comparison with the first century church at Ephesus, he uses the book of 1st Timothy to offer insights into our current situation and provide hope to those willing to engage in an honest evaluation of themselves and their faith.
Here begins my Review…
Ferber’s commentary on the epistle of 1 Timothy is written within the context of evaluating how the insights of postmodernism can apply to the interpretation of the text. Ferber believes that there are limits, however, to how far postmodernism could stretch a text. Using 1 Timothy as his opportunity, he highlights the contrast between modernism and postmodernism and eventually advocates for a different view, Critical Realism.
It is worth mentioning that Pomo Timmy will make a useful succinct commentary to accompany the other commentaries on your shelf. On some issues, Ferber surveys what others have written before performing his own analysis, but in other issues he simply applies 1 Timothy to our day and age. Such application is very much needed, and not just of 1 Timothy.
The chapter headings of Pomo Timmy are Doctrine, Love, Godliness, Intercession, Leadership, Health, Wealth, Gender, Family, The Tongue, and Hope. A long introduction lays out the inspiration, scope, and intent of the book.
If I had to complain about something, it would be that given his scope and intent, a good idea would have been to provide a separate chapter explaining in more detail precisely what postmodernism is and offer more corroboration. If you have had exposure to postmodernism before then what he says is more than sufficient. Since his introduction does provide some discussion, this must be chalked up as a minor complaint.
Ferber aims to take the best of postmodernism and give it voice while maintaining that not every aspect of postmodernism is consistent with the Christian world view. He says, “While the church needs to pay attention to the times in order to effectively reach postmoderns for Christ, it must be careful to not fall into a full-blown postmodern mindset, as it did with modernism.”
I resonate with that and a number of other sections. One point he makes in his section on love was something that many nonChristians have simply not been able to grasp. It is worthy of an extended quote:
The final component of love is described as a “sincere faith.” [1 Tim 1:3-5] When I first read this verse I began to consider my own faith. The same Greek verb “faith” also means “trust,” and so I recognized the relational implications in this. If I have faith in Christ I trust him. It goes beyond the mere idea of believing in him. I can believe in the existence of something without trusting it at all. When I step onto an airplane I do not simply believe it exists. I am taking a risk based on my trust that it will fly and bring me to my destination even though I might not completely understand all of the issues surrounding aerodynamics. I don’t need to.
The term “faith” should not be reserved simply for that which we do not understand. In other words, many people use the word faith for circumstances where they cannot figure something out through reasoning. When they give up, it becomes a matter of “faith”. For many, religion is a matter of “faith” for the very reason that they do not understand it. Instead it should be a matter of trust.
This entire discussion is interesting and helps us recognize once again the relational implications of the component of love.
While there certainly are some Christians who believe that faith is blind and ignorant, nearly all of the well-informed ones I’ve ever met understand this relational component that Ferber mentions here. Nonetheless, the caricature among many nonbelievers is that faith is ‘believing what you know isn’t true’ or ‘believing something without evidence, or even in spite of the evidence.’
This relational element that Ferber emphasizes ties into his discussion about doctrine. Doctrine is important, he insists. However, doctrine outside the relationship is worthless. Right doctrine about God is not identical with faith in God. Doctrine must be lived out in the context of real life relationally. He says, “Love is rooted in a sincere understanding of how God has worked in the world. Without an understanding of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we cannot grasp love.”
Many Christians, I’m afraid, spend an inordinate amount of time dissecting precisely what is meant by ‘Jesus sacrificing on the cross’ and much less applying that knowledge in love. This is one reason why I appreciated Ferber’s book. For all the things that Christians over the years have systematized in terms of doctrine, that central doctrine, love, has escaped the same level of scrutiny. This needs to change.
The relational elements are precisely the ones that postmodernism over-emphasizes, going so far as to indicate that reality hinges on what the community thinks is real. Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that community, real, genuine community, is a powerful thing. That is why I found myself nodding vigorously when he wondered why it is that for hundreds of years “the climax of many church services has been preaching.” Though he acknowledges exceptions, and does not denigrate the importance of preaching, he notes that the sermon is not described in the Bible as the center, the ‘climax,’ of Christian community. The Corinthians seemed to have the ‘love feast’ as the climax of their meetings, for example.
He concludes this section with some provocative observations and suggestions. In relation to what I just mentioned, he points out that churches which emphasize the Eucharist are beginning to grow “after years of decline.” Ferber suggests it is because of the relational aspects of the Eucharist.
I will take it one further: our services have virtually distilled the Eucharist to its most minimal components- the bread, the wine, taken together with the words of institution. With the ‘minimum requirements’ present, much of the Church seems to be content to run people through the sacrament as though it were an assembly line, as though there was nothing more to the event than receiving the elements. And that includes churches which emphasize the Eucharist. I sometimes wonder if we shouldn’t just go all the way and put a drive through window on the side of the church. Why not? They receive the elements. The Words of Institution was there.
But what if the power of the Lord’s Supper was never meant to be simply distilled into the elements, but also manifested in an extended fellowship event, where the community acting in love actually is one of the ‘minimum requirements’ for the sacrament? I propose that we could go even further than Ferber takes it and really incorporate the relational truths of Christianity into our communities. I have a strong belief that the Church would become more attractive to unbelievers in the face of genuine, committed communities. For that matter, many Christians would find it more attractive, too.
That was a bit of a tangent, I suppose, but it is indicative of the thought provoking nature of Ferber’s book. I suppose others might find their thoughts provoked in different ways.
Probably the most controversial chapter will be his chapter on ‘Gender,’ seeing as 1 Timothy has provided fuel for the debate about women in the church for generations. But I would like to comment instead on the aptness of his comments on Family instead. It ties back into the conversation about community.
It is not very often that Christians talk very much about the importance of the Biblical model of the Family, especially in relation to how the church conducts itself, so I was very glad he tackled it. (I suppose he had to if it was a commentary on 1 Timothy). With divorce rates as high in the Church as outside it, it cannot be disputed that we have much to do in this area. One of the things that concerns me is that the Christian community tends to be activists regarding the Family as expressed in society. I mean, for example, that we have strong feelings about something like gay marriage. I’d feel better about our efforts in that regards if we were actually modeling healthy families within the Christian community. In theory, you’d want to do both, I suppose. The reality is that we aren’t.
It is hard to imagine how persuasive we’re going to be in the public sphere regarding ideal family structures when families are crumbling all around us within the Christian community.
It seems to me that the approach we might want to consider taking today is first getting our act together. Then we’ll be in a position to advocate for our positions because then it will be self-evident how much healthier they really are. This is all again beyond Ferber’s recommendations but thoughts inspired by his comments. My feeling is that we need more talk about this subject. In my ministry experience relational issues were always prominent, and mine wasn’t even as a pastor. I can’t imagine how tough it is for pastors themselves.
In conclusion, I suspect that Pomo Timmy will be something that many readers find to be thought provoking, even if they don’t agree with his conclusions and suggestions. At the very least, watching as a letter that was written two thousand years ago is shown to be directly relevant to the life of the Church today is something worth seeing. On the back of the book it reads: “If you are concerned about the direction of contemporary western society and the current state of the church, this is the book for you.”
And that is the truth.
