Postmodern Pastor

Meet Meego, the pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Tartu, Estonia. I just met him today at a group lunch. He is the pastor of the home church staff of the Going UP ministry. He teaches also teaches ethics at the local university and has completed doctoral work at Wheaton College. He is quite an influential pastor in Estonia and has a firm grasp of the context in which he ministers. I shared just 20 minutes with him today and was able to learn a lot from him about his work and his philosophy of ministry. I was smart enough to ask him a few questions and listen to his answers. Here are a few I asked (his answers are based on my foggy memory):

How do you share the gospel here in Estonia?
Clay the people here live in a postmodern world where previous categories of absolute truth no longer exist within their minds. You cannot simply speak of ideas like sin, God, heaven and hell and expect to communicate a clear message to all people. Instead people are swayed by the power of narrative. So I share the story of God through Scripture and how the story of Christ fits into the larger story of God. I share my story of Christ coming into my life and how our stories have overlapped because of our interaction. I try to awaken their minds to the idea that they are choosing to align themselves with a story that greater than their own individual story. Biblical concepts of sin and Jesus are communicated most powerfully through story.

What is the biggest hurdle that Estonians must overcome in becoming a Christian?
They have no concept of Jesus, the Bible, Christianity or Christians. 95% of Estonians are not Christian and most do not have any friends who are. They think that Christians are weird and have no concept that people actually believe in God, the Bible or Jesus Christ. That is why English Camp is so powerful. It gives them exposure to real live Christians so that they can form a category in their thinking of what a Christian looks like.

What is the biggest mistake that Americans make when they come to Estonia to minister?
They assume that Estonians have categories of understanding of the Bible, God and Jesus. They must not forget that most people here believe that no normal person believes in God or is a Christians. It is not outright pride, but an honest assessment based upon experience and formation by life mentors. Meego shared that they recently had a showing of the play "Jesus Christ Superstar". Some university students he was teaching thought that the play was a about a modern man who was a Superstar because his name was Jesus Christ. They are largely ignorant to idea that Christians really exist and therefore dismiss Christianity as a small, minority, and folk religion.

Meego lives, eats & breathes the gospel in a culture, which has rejected absolute truth, has embraced Darwinian Evolution and is largely void of an authentic evangelical presence. His commitment to the gospel, love for his people and belief in Christ empower him to partner with groups like us to bringing a living witness of Jesus to Estonia. I have learned much from just a few minutes with this postmodern pastor.