Culture Matters: A Call for Consensus on Christian Cultural Engagement

Many of Jesus's contemporaries hated him because he pointedly critiqued their culture. Culture matters. But to be effective in engaging culture, Christians today must know their message. Christians are called to reform culture by engaging society head-on. With meaty content, real-life examples, and probing study questions, Culture Matters shows how godly incarnations of the arts and intellect ultimately right a topsy-turvy world. T. M. Moore offers readers a superb analysis of the methods for engaging culture effectively. Few Christians can agree on how believers should interact with the culture at large. Should they embrace it wholeheartedly? Reject it altogether? Form a subculture? Or pursue a more excellent way? These are but a few positions or approaches that believers have taken toward the world. In fact, T. M. Moore catalogs a total of six responses to culture and advocates for Christian unity in Culture Matters. Moore examines the past, highlighting shapers of culture such as St. Augustine, Celtic art, John Calvin, and Abraham Kuyper. In addition, he discusses contemporary movers and shakers, including prison evangelist Chuck Colson and musician Phil Keaggy. Ultimately, he arrives at some recommendations for all believers. He urges them to become more culturally conscious and prods them to view culture as a gift or a trust from God. Not only does Moore address the individual believer but he also speaks to communities of faith. Culture Matters is a challenging read for all thinking Christians.