An interesting blurb by Chuck Colson about culture, arts, and its relevance
to society. Check it out......

*A Christian Consensus on Culture**
**Culture Matters*

January 23, 2008

Is it possible, or even worthwhile, for Christians to reach a consensus on
impacting culture—from the performing arts, to music, to literature? Well,
there are probably as many answers to that question as there are Christians.
But theologian T. M. Moore, in his compelling new book *Culture Matters*,
explains why it is so important that Christians reach a cultural consensus:
"All culture," he says, "is a gift from God. The challenge to us is in
learning how to take what is good in contemporary culture, reclaim and
retool it, and put it to work in a Christian framework for forming [a] new
culture."

Sadly, Moore goes on, "No consensus exists among the followers of Christ
concerning how to approach and make use of the artifacts, institutions, and
conventions of culture in a decidedly *Christian* manner, and this in spite
of the fact that we are called to do all things unto the glory of God."

As T. M. points out, this lack of consensus keeps the Church from
effectively engaging and transforming culture.

T. M., who serves as dean of our Centurions program and is a long-time
advisor to me, holds out hope that Christians can actually reach a cultural
consensus. He suggests "some general principles around which" we can all
agree. And he shows how Christians throughout history have transformed
culture: from Augustine with his great book *City of God*, to the Celtic
Christians with their artistic endeavors to the glory of God, to the
twentieth-century poet Czeslaw Milosz.

The more recent examples T. M. provides are especially valuable. A Christian
poet like Milosz shows how Christians can take an art form that many now
consider obscure and irrelevant and infuse it with new meaning and life.
This is exactly the kind of example we need to show us how culture can serve
as "a powerful prophetic voice," as T. M. puts it. At the same time, Milosz
shows us what it means to be "an artist, and not a preacher": a crucial
lesson for any Christian artist to learn.

And Milosz—as well as other talented Christian poets, painters,
musicians—shows us that we do not have to be mere second-class imitators of
culture; we can be first-class and transform it.

How do we do this? Our task is two-fold. First, we must participate in
culture at the same time that we are engaged in a biblically based critique
of culture. For too long, Christians have ignored the arts and have, thus,
failed to realize that culture and the arts can be conduits of God's truth,
grace, and beauty.

Second, as the body of Christ, we need to support those among us who
exercise their God-given artistic gifts. When we join together "for creative
engagement in culture matters," T. M. argues, we can "create a greater sense
of unity in the body of Christ," as well as increase our impact on culture.

As T. M. writes, "If we can agree on some common objectives . . . then we
can begin to consider, as individual believers and responsible communities,
what the best steps [are] for each of us to take . . ." In that effort to
transform culture—as opposed to being transformed by it—I can foresee this
deeply insightful little book being an indispensable guide.

For information on how you can obtain a copy of T. M. Moore's *Culture
Matters*, visit our website, BreakPoint.org <http://breakpoint.org/>.

--
Richard Dongses
c: (510) 295-9734
rdong...@gmail.com