Book Review: The Culturally Savvy Christian
I have to admit that whenever I see a book that talks about relating to popular culture from a Christian perspective, I tend to cringe in expectation of what I’ll find. To be honest, I find that most of the authors are young and cynical and their point of view seems to promote a message of compromise rather than influence. That isn’t the case with Dick Staub. Staub is a seasoned veteran of broadcasting and writing and speaks with authority when addressing the topic of culture and Christianity.
One of the things I appreciated about this book was the “gloves off” approach to addressing Western Christian sub-culture. We live in an age of “Christianity Lite” where truth has been tamed in order to become more seeker-sensitive or sentimentalized to the point of rendering it ineffective. Staub states that Christianity has become “’moralistic therapeutic deism,’ in which people are promised that therapeutic benefits, such as a happy life, can be achieved through good, moral, kind, nice, pleasant behavior.”
The author also speaks candidly about Christian culture’s definition of excellence in art. I truly appreciate his plea for artists to produce art and not just religious art. Too often, we have excused a lack of commitment to excel in artistic skill and accepted artistic contributions that are often mediocre at best. This is often why popular culture looks at the artistic Christian sub-culture with a mocking contempt and has so little influence. Stuab proclaims a message that all artists should give themselves fully to a deep relationship with the Lord and strive to excel in their craft and prove themselves to be authoritative voices in popular culture. He states, “True artists push ahead, find a way to make their best art, and, if unable to pay the bills with their art, find a way to earn sufficient daily bread in other ways.” An artist must give themselves fully to their art regardless of whether they ever receive any compensation or notoriety.
The strength of this book is that Staub spends a significant portion discussing the need to have a deep and abiding relationship with the Lord before ever being qualified to influence or properly understand culture. It is an excellent message of the need to effectively relate to current culture without sacrificing a mature relationship with God. This is a must read for pop-culture enthusiasts and anyone desiring a fresh perspective on relating to and influencing today’s culture.