Western culture has fundamentally shifted over the past 500 years. We went from an enchanted world (all of life felt susceptible to spiritual forces) to a disenchanted world (where our default is to only experience life as the “here and now”). God and spiritual forces (transcendent reality), as a result of this shift, have been moved so far from our frame of reference that people are beginning to experience a loss of purpose or meaning. So an explosion of ‘this worldly’ spiritual options paired with values that impact the ‘here and now,’ keep people longing for something more. We are Haunted by the Transcendent. Fortunately, the message of Jesus not only speaks to this desire for purpose, but is the source of the values that promote human flourishing. As the apostle Paul modelled in his ministry, the role of the church is to build bridges toward a secular culture to show people that God doesn’t merely want to ‘haunt,’ but truly wants to be found.

Western culture has fundamentally shifted over the past 500 years. We went from an enchanted world (all of life felt susceptible to spiritual forces) to a disenchanted world (where our default is to only experience life as the “here and now”). God and spiritual forces (transcendent reality), as a result of this shift, have been moved so far from our frame of reference that people are beginning to experience a loss of purpose or meaning. So an explosion of ‘this worldly’ spiritual options paired with values that impact the ‘here and now,’ keep people longing for something more. We are Haunted by the Transcendent. Fortunately, the message of Jesus not only speaks to this desire for purpose, but is the source of the values that promote human flourishing. As the apostle Paul modelled in his ministry, the role of the church is to build bridges toward a secular culture to show people that God doesn’t merely want to ‘haunt,’ but truly wants to be found.

Western culture has fundamentally shifted over the past 500 years. We went from an enchanted world (all of life felt susceptible to spiritual forces) to a disenchanted world (where our default is to only experience life as the “here and now”). God and spiritual forces (transcendent reality), as a result of this shift, have been moved so far from our frame of reference that people are beginning to experience a loss of purpose or meaning. So an explosion of ‘this worldly’ spiritual options paired with values that impact the ‘here and now,’ keep people longing for something more. We are Haunted by the Transcendent. Fortunately, the message of Jesus not only speaks to this desire for purpose, but is the source of the values that promote human flourishing. As the apostle Paul modelled in his ministry, the role of the church is to build bridges toward a secular culture to show people that God doesn’t merely want to ‘haunt,’ but truly wants to be found.