A Whole New World

My brother put me on to this book by Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind. Pink argues that we are on the verge of a “revolution” on the scale of the Industrial Revolution. He traces human history from the Agricultural Age, to the Industrial Age, to the Information Age and finally (for now) the Conceptual Age.

He says that several factors have shifted our world from a “left-brain” focus to a “whole-brain” focus.

Now people are looking for

• Design as well as function
• Story as well as argument
• Synthesis as well as focus
• Empathy as well as logic
• Play as well as seriousness
• Meaning more than material accumulation
  

My first reaction is that Christianity has an opportunity to reach these people with the gospel if we understand them and go about it in the right manner. (If you didn’t like that statement, you might want to look at the list again and decide if your view of the world is past its “sell-by date.”)

My second reaction is that the Emerging Church seems to be headed in the right direction.

But notice that Pink’s argument is not that the right brain needs to replace the left brain. His argument is that we need both sides of the brain. The answer is not to replace propositional truth with narrative. The answer is to have both.

Now some will argue that this is simply compromising with our culture. I would argue that this is, in fact, closer to the culture of Jesus’ day than our current emphasis on the left brain is. Pragmatism falls in love with truth, and they get married. This is quite literally a marriage made in heaven.

What do you think?

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”