How to Change Culture

I’ve been reading the latest book by Gabe Lyons titled The Next Christians for a class I’m taking this semester at school. A lot of it builds on a book he helped with a few years back titled UnChristian which I’ll also be reading for class.

One of my favorites parts of the book so far is his chapter focused what culture is and how this next generation interacts with it. In the book culture is defined as “the air you breathe,” the clothes you wear, car you drive, music you listen to. It is merely a fact of life. Each piece of culture tells a story about a view of the world.

Many Christians spend their entire lives fighting against culture, doing everything they can to change all that is wrong in culture. To outsiders, Christianity then often becomes known more for what it is against than what it is for. I know, none of this is earth shattering or new news to you, but I think the next point is key.

Andy Crouch says,

“The only way to change culture is to create more of it.”

If we accept the definition of culture as the air we breathe then then we must come to realize that fighting against it does little good. Culture is not changed by reversing trends, it is changed by creating something new. Don’t like what you see in the world today? Create something better.

Lyons ends this section of the book by saying, “The next Christians are fast at work creating good culture. In doing so, they aren’t just reconstructing what’s broken; they are adding on a new dimension in the places they’ve been called to—restoring the truth, goodness, and beauty that’s been lost.”

Catalyst Atlanta 2010: Gabe Lyons from Catalyst on Vimeo.

Watching the last bit of the Grammy awards on Sunday night I found myself getting disgusted with the performance by Rihanna and Drake. It was what I think many people would agree as over the top sexuality which isn’t necessary for people to watch. I immediately wanted to speak out against it. But the reality is that kind of music is well accepted within our culture whether I like it or not. To speak out against it would only paint me as just another Christian who hates people who do things he doesn’t agree with.

Next time when you see something in culture that you believe displeases God, instead of telling everyone you know how much you dislike it, try creating something that would honor God instead.

(If you’d like to read more about the book, Scot McKnight has a new blog series on the book starting.)