Culture Making

Christians have been waging a culture war (or at least talking about waging one) for decades and have very little to show for it. Two of the primary reasons for this failure are, first, Christians do not understand culture and, second, they have nothing to offer in its place. While Christians are quick to criticize and condemn the “culture” that they see surrounding them, they generally offer little more than puritanical platitudes as an alternative. You can’t fight something with nothing. If only someone would write a book about this common evangelical misunderstanding and offer real solutions to aid Christians in their noble, but misguided, efforts of “culture reclamation.” Providentially someone has, and that someone is Andy Crouch. Andy’s new book, Culture Making, is a vitally important contribution to the “culture war” between what Augustine referred to as the City of Man and the City of God. Few books of recent publication have contained the perceptive insight and practical wisdom that Crouch brings to the culture debate. He understands the real issues of the culture war and dives well below the surface level of most modern musings on the subject. From his perch as an editorial director at Christianity Today International he has a bird’s eye view of the culture and the various tactics and strategies that the Church has employed over the years. His book is divided into three parts: Culture, Gospel, and Calling. Because each of these sections builds on each other and because I believe that this book is the most important book this year (probably even this decade) on the subject, we will look at each of his three parts with separate articles over the next several days. Finish reading this review here: http://christianreader.typepad.com/christian_reader/2009/02/review-culture-making-part-one.html