Addressing the Culture

We have to work a little harder to communicate Christian ideas with those who won’t listen to the Word of God. This BreakPoint commentary first aired in June, 1992.

If you've been listening to this program recently, you know that a few months ago I published a book with Jack Eckerd called Why America Doesn't Work.

Well, I'm getting an interesting response from people who read it.

You see, the book is addressed to a general audience, not just to Christians. That means it doesn't quote the Bible a lot. Instead it describes biblical principles that can be applied by Christian and non-Christian alike in the work place.

That approach has raised some consternation among readers. People have come to me expressing surprise, saying, "This isn't like your other books. It doesn't give a direct Christian message." Book reviewers have made similar comments.

People seem uncomfortable with the idea of Christians writing books for general audiences.

What's at work here, I'm afraid, is a ghetto mentality. Christian readers buy Christian books, written by Christian authors, produced by Christian publishing houses, sold by Christian bookstores. We no longer seem to care that we're out of the mainstream.

But that's no way to influence our culture.

The great writer C.S. Lewis said the best way to influence the culture is not to write explicitly Christian books. It's to write popular books on every subject imaginable--with Christianity as the underlying perspective.

Think, for a moment, what would happen if you lived in a Hindu culture. You may never read a book explicitly teaching Hinduism. But what if every book you did read--on science or politics or self-help--simply assumed a Hindu philosophy, and interpreted the world by Hindu principles.

Over time it would be very hard not to absorb Hindu ideas.

In fact, that's exactly how many Westerners end up as secularists today. Almost no one reads books explicitly defending secularism. But most of the books people do read--from schools textbooks to best-selling novels--assume that this life and this world are all there is.

After a steady diet of that, when they turn to the Bible and read about God and angels, heaven and hell, it all sounds unreal. They don't have any rational arguments against the Christian faith. It just doesn't fit their mental picture of the world.

That's why Christians need to be writing books that everyone reads--so we can be the ones painting their picture of the world. Some Christians are already doing that. Paul Johnson has written a highly regarded history book called Modern Times. Aleksandr Solzenhitsyn's books on the Soviet Union helped to undermine communism. Malcolm Muggeridge was a British journalist who delivered pungent critiques of modern culture. Walker Percy's books give imaginative and whimsical comments on modern life. And Flannery O'Connor's short stories convey Christian themes.

So let's not let ourselves get stuck in a Christian ghetto. It's good, of course, to read books on spirituality and the Christian life. But we also need to be reading Christian books about issues of interest to a general audience. Books that deal with topics our non-Christian neighbors care about. It's a good way to teach ourselves how to address the secular world around us.

Reading books like that helps us reach out of our Christian ghettos--and into the world.

Next steps

Try this: What are some of the most significant contributions of Christian thinking to contemporary life? The dignity of humankind? The work of science or the arts? The importance of education? Choose one of these and, using the Library Search box at The Colson Center, see what you can learn about how Christianity helped to shape these. Then, outline some “talking points” for discussion what you learn with some of your non-Christian friends. See if you can help them to understand the value of a Christian worldview by appealing to the good things Christianity has contribute to our way of life.

Be sure to order your copy of our new DVD series, Doing the Right Thing. Here’s a great resource for investigating God’s way of helping us know what’s right to do. You might also like to read some of the selections in Wednesday’s “Talking Points” column.