A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today's World

Book Review: A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today's WorldAuthor: John Stonestreet and Brett KunkleFormat: HardbackTopic: Christian LivingScope: Contemporary Living and Influence in the CulturePurpose: To equip Christian leaders, parents, and students with the tools to successfully navigate the culture. This means they will be able to flourish as Christians even when much of the culture seems to be against them.Structure: The book is separated into four sections.1. Why Culture Matters. This section defines culture and gives reasons why Christians should care about culture and what happens in it. (Chapter 1. What Culture Is and What It Does to Us, 2. Keeping the Moment and the Story Straight, and 3. A Vision of Success).2. A Read of the Cultural Waters. Here the authors explain some of the underlying trends in our current culture and how we should think about them. (Chapter 4. The Information Age, 5. Identity After Christianity, 6. Being Alone Together, and 7. Castrated Gelding and Perpetual Adolescence)3. Pounding Cultural Waves. These are the individual things that are *trending* in our culture right now. In other words, a lot of this is about what people argue about on social media. (Chapter 8. Pornography, 9. The Hookup Culture, 10. Sexual Orientation, 11. Gender Identity, 12. Affluence and Consumerism, 13. Addiction, 14. Entertainment, and 15. Racial Tension)4. Christian Worldview Essentials. This section finishes the book with essential skills/tools needed for Christians to prepare themselves to engage and mold the culture. (Chapter 16. How to Read the Bible, 17. Why to Trust the Bible, 18. The Right Kind of Pluralism, 19. Taking the Gospel to the Culture)What it does well: *This book defines and explains culture well. Culture is something we all think we know, but is incredibly difficult to explain. Stonestreet and Kunkle navigate this obstacle commendably. In defining and explaining their view of culture they enable the reader to understand their prescriptions throughout the book.*This book is not full of alarmism. Many books of this type from similar sorts of authors are pessimistic and "sky is falling" tomes. This is not true here. Throughout the work the authors do not shy away from pointing out what they think is going wrong in the culture, but there is always an undertone of hope. In fact, the hope they have often moves from being an undertone to downright, in your face hope. It was incredibly refreshing to read a book on culture by Christians that wasn't condemning of the culture. Instead they want to redeem and restore it.*The authors avoid being overly partisan. It is clear these authors are conservative both theologically and politically. However, they are quick to criticize some sacred cows of their own camp. Two examples come quickly to mind. First, in the chapter on racism they are quite critical of the common conservative retort "All lives matter" to the Black lives matter movement. Stonestreet and Kunkle rightly explain that "yes, all lives matter-including preborn ones-but we ought not give the impression that we aren't carefully listening to the concerns of those specific fellow image bearers who believe their value is being dismissed"-290. Another example is when the authors attack much of the method people use for reading the Bible. They rightly criticize reading the Bible by wrenching verses, stories, and even whole books from their context. It is not a magic book and we should spend time actually reading and studying it, not finding prooftexts for our pet issues.*Also, this book is hugely practical. This should go without saying because the title is A Practical Guide to Culture. However, this book has its finger on the pulse of culture in ways many similar books attempt but never reach. Stonestreet and Kunkle give "action steps" for everything they write about.*Lastly (though there is a lot more done well), this book is permeated with scripture. It almost oozes with scripture. There are at least 164 direct references to scripture and many more indirect references. This was very nice because it would have been easy to write this book without the counsel of scripture. However, the authors were not content with the easy job. They wanted to show they have wrestled with this subject in light of God's word.*There is a lot more that is done well, but to explain more is beyond the scope of this review.What it lacks: *This book is not as nuanced as Niebuhr's Christ and Culture or Carson's Christ and Culture Revisited nor as academic as Myer's Understanding the Culture, but to be fair it isn't meant to be. This is a practical guide to culture and it reads that way.*One thing I have a small problem with is the discussion of "calling" at the very end of the book. The authors define calling in a common way that I wrestle with. They see calling as the intersection where our vocation and our worship or mission are most effective and most gratifying. Now, I would hope people are effective in their mission and gratified in their work, however, I am not sure this is the biblical definition of calling. As I read the Bible, it looks like we all have the same calling and we can fulfill that calling in any place as long as it isn't inherently sinful. Also, the authors quote Frederick Buechner in saying (in a roundabout manner) that it is unlikely we are fulfilling our mission and worship if our "work is writing TV deodorant commercials." Now the authors may not agree with Buechner wholesale here, but I think it is entirely possible to write deodorant commercials for God's glory.Some quick highlights: "Too many Christians have a tendency to react to what is loudest and noisiest in our culture, which often means overreacting to what isn't ultimately important and underreacting to what is."-21"...culture's greatest influence is in what it presents as being normal. Clearly, not all that seems normal ought to be, but what is left unexamined is also left unchallenged."-28"Culture tends to shape us most deeply by what it presents as normal. We are creatures of cultural habit. Our loves, our longings, our loyalties, and our labors can become products of the liturgies our culture imposes. We live according to them but rarely think through them. Unintentionally, we become culture shaped rather than intentional about shaping culture."-39"Telling us 'That's bad, so stay away' didn't work"-42"Asking 'Where do I draw the line?'-called the line approach to culture-is too simplistic to be helpful. First, not everything labeled Christian is good, and not everything labeled secular is bad. Much that is labeled Christian-movies, songs, leaders, schools, churches, ministries, and organizations-fails to reach basic levels of excellence and honesty. And much that is labeled secular accurately portrays fallen humanity, displays artistic genius, and brings good to the world. As Gregory Thornbury, the president of The King's College, is fond of saying, ''Christian' is the greatest of all possible nouns and lamest of all possible adjectives.' It's meant to describe a person, not a thing."-45"We often think of compromise when it comes to beliefs and behaviors, but a particularly subtle temptation is to compromise in our methods."-70"The ignore-controversial-subjects-and-they'll-go-away approach to raising kids won't do. In the information age, plenty of voices are willing to talk with our kids if we aren't."-82-83"The issue of trust is complicated only if kids think that so-called Christian authorities are untrustworthy."-83"...if we don't know whom it is we are educating and whom they should become, education devolves into a disconnected hodgepodge of classes, skill acquisition, test taking, activities, and degrees. Now think of fashion, business, public policy, health care, biomedical ethics, or even youth groups. We won't know what to do in these areas if we aren't first clear on who humans are. And it's clear we aren't clear about that."-102"Instruction is necessary, of course, but discipleship happens not when we talk at our kids but when we walk with them through their struggles to a place of commitment."-110"Our kids learn their tech habits from us."-120"In many ways, adolescence is now-and this must not be missed-the goal of our culture. Somewhere along the way, we ceased to be a culture where kids aspire to be adults, and we became a culture where adults aspire to be kids, or at least adolescents, forever."-133"Rules can provide wise and appropriate boundaries, but following rules shouldn't be confused with Christian maturity. Rules can't show us the heart of a person. While rules may help limit the bad influences and temptations 'out there' they leave unaddressed the problems 'in here,' in the human heart."-138"Can we Christians stop not talking about sex, please? For too long, we've let other voices direct and dominate the cultural conversation on sex. Much of the church's contribution has been to shout 'Don't do it!' from the margins of society. We've given the impression that Christianity has a negative view of sex. But God's story offers so much more than a simple no to unsanctioned sex. For every prohibition, there is a beautiful, life-giving yes!"-173-174"The goal for Christians isn't to be blind to color but to embrace the distinctive qualities and uniqueness of God's image bearers."-290"Rather than reject God's exclusive plan, we should be grateful in the way a diseased patient rejoices when a cure is found. The redemption and restoration we have through the exclusive means of Jesus' death and resurrection are cause for celebration. That's why it's called the gospel-it's good news."-327Recommendation?: I highly recommend this book. Stonestreet and Kunkle have clearly explained their view of how Christians can navigate in today's culture. They do this by advocating to challenge and influence the culture, not by withdrawal or wholesale acceptance of culture. This is a book that is useful for anyone who cares about their own influence or their kid's spirituality. I can only hope that it is updated every few years to keep up with the issues in the culture of the time.

There are two aspects to writing that are arguably the most difficult to capture: making complex ideas simple; giving clarity to murky issues. Authors John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle have managed to present the topic of culture and cultural engagement in a simple and clear style in their most recent book A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today’s World.A Practical Guide to Culture is divided into four main parts. Part One is where Stonestreet and Kunkle set the stage. They explain what culture is and why it matters. Moreover, they properly situate culture in a larger context of the Biblical story. This is vitally important because they help us orient ourselves to Scripture and culture by keeping them in their proper order; we ought to view culture through a Biblical lens and avoid viewing the Bible through a cultural lens. The Bible is the contextual backdrop that allows us to maintain a healthy understanding and interaction with culture.In Part Two, Stonestreet and Kunkle helps us get an overview of the cultural landscape. Here, the authors want us to take notice of some of the main features and landmarks that are shaping our culture today. These include such things as the vast amounts of information that is available to each person via the internet, the struggle with personal identity and what it means to be a human being, how technology shapes and molds us particularly when it comes to our relationship with other people, and finally, how those cultural influences work to delay our maturation process.Stonestreet and Kunkle get extremely practical in Part Three when they begin to apply what they have laid out in Parts One and Two to specific cultural landmines that threaten us on a daily basis: pornography, the hookup culture, sexual orientation, gender identity, affluence and consumerism, addiction, entertainment, and racial tensions. If those look like heavy and daunting subjects, they are, but do not fear! As I stated above, Stonestreet and Kunkle manage to keep their language simple and full of clarity without losing any precision in what they are communicating.Each topic in Part Three is its own chapter with each chapter consistently laid out in four sections. The first section in each chapter is called “Don’t Buy the Cultural Lies” and looks at some popular cultural lies (or myths) about that chapters’ topic. The second section in each chapter situates the issue against the backdrop of “God’s Story” where we are shown what Scripture has to say concerning this subject. Section three lists out several practical “Action Steps” or suggestions to help the reader apply Biblical truth to these various areas. Finally, the fourth section is called “Hopecasting” where Stonestreet and Kunkle remind the readers that even though our culture is plagued by these various issues, God and His Story is still unfolding all around us meaning He is still in control and we do not have to live in despair regarding these issues.Lastly, Part Four deals with more practical application by looking to equip the reader with tools to develop a Christian worldview. To give an idea of what is covered in Part Four, the chapter titles are: “How to Read the Bible,” “Why to Trust the Bible,” “The Right Kind of Pluralism,” and “Taking the Gospel to the Culture.”Given the current culture we live in this is a much needed book for our time. One of my favorite features of this book is that each and every chapter ends with a handful of discussion questions. These questions are designed to get the reader to think and self-reflect and self-evaluate how they are doing when it comes to facing these cultural issues. I highly recommend this book, especially to families with children. It is full of good, practical wisdom and will serve your family well as you try to navigate the world in which we live.

The authors, John & Brett obviously know their material but better yet, present it in away that engages the minds of the readers. This book is not just for the parents of young people growing up in our world but for anybody who wants to understand modern culture, and the Christian response to it.Early in the book they frame the good news of God’s story by the four significant milestones of Creation, Fall, Restoration and Renewal. Using these as their framework they are able to show that Christians need to be involved in all aspects of culture and bring a “Kingdom viewpoint” to the situation that renews, refreshes and brings hope.The book ends with the challenge for Christians to use five legitimate ways to deal with the ideas, institutions, trends, fashions, and habits of our culture: celebrate, create, confront, co-opt, or correct.This book is a powerful Christian response to modern culture and how we should live within it.

Very good book arranged in four sections:1. Why Culture Matters — looks at the value of knowing what culture is, why it matters, and the value of knowing our place in God’s story so we can respond correctly. While this section is good, I have read better on the same subject.2. A Read of the Cultural Waters — looks at general characteristics of todays culture — a very helpful look at technology, identity, loneliness and immaturity.3. Pounding Cultural Waves — looks at specific issues: Porn, Hookup, Sexual orientation, Gender identity, Affluence, Addiction, Entertainment, Racism.4. Christian Worldview Essentials. The fourth part is more positive with advice about reading / trusting the Bible, and bringing the gospel to the culture.A helpful book at a level suitable to be read and discussed by teenagers and above. A good introduction to parents of some of the issues facing their children.

This book thoroughly describes the culture in which we live and outlines how to respond to this culture with Kingdom worldview. I believe if more pastors read this book, they would put the brakes on trite and pat answers in response to culture and encourage good questions for those who are seeking to know the Truth. In my opinion, this is a must-read for those who are involved in youth ministry in the church.

Who has the courage to speak truth anymore, or the time to investigate truth? This short, well-aimed and loving guide is right on.

A must-read for parents before their children enter the teen years and are confronted by dramatic cultural shifts.