Culture Making by Andy Crouch. InterVarsity Press, 2008.
Andy Crouch’s very fine Culture Making will be joining the short list of books that I read again and again, and fervently recommend to others, for insights into how we are to live as Christians. …
Culture Making is rich in provocations —for example, in its re-telling over several chapters of the overarching story found in the Christian Bible and the implications drawn from this re-telling, or in its critique of H. Richard Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture, or in its definition of cultural power as “the ability to successfully propose a new cultural good.” . . .
We are repeatedly tempted to use whatever cultural power we possess to move ourselves ever closer to further sources of power, to secure our own comfort and control over the world around us. The discipline of service takes us in the opposite direction, beyond comfort and control, and alongside relatively powerless people. Using the biblical examples of the Exodus and the Resurrection, Crouch argues that the discipline of service does not primarily entail using our power on behalf of the powerless but rather calls us to use our power alongside those who are less powerful, placing us in a relationship of partnership rather than in a relationship of asymmetrical charity.
If you’re not already convinced to dig into Culture Making with a small group of friends this fall (note: click here for study guide information), then take a moment to read Strauss’ full review, listen to Crouch’s 2008 Graduate Faculty Ministry National Staff Meeting presentations (scroll down to the GRADUATE AND FACULTY MINISTRY section), and/or download the first several chapters.
Bonus: Did you know that as part of the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN), you’re eligible for discounts on Books & Culture and InterVarsity Press? For more information contact ESN’s Associate Director by clicking here. For Following Christ 08, Culture Making was offered as a prize in the relationship to a bigger prize which inspired applicants to consider “What would Jesus do?” in their field. What would Jesus do in your field?
