Q Ideas on Culture

This week’s question from Q Ideas is ‘Why Should Christians Care About Culture?’

Several responses are offered here, including:

Andy Crouch and Gabe Lyons

Culture, Power and Institutions

We hear a lot of discussion in the church about how we should be engaging culture. What are we talking about, when we talk about culture?

Alissa Wilkinson

New Wine for New Wineskins: Highlights from Q Nashville

Before the first session on day 2 of Q Nashville even began, the joke was already circulating on Twitter: “Take a swig (of coffee) every time you hear the word ‘flourishing.’”

Comment Magazine

The Whole Big Ecosystem of Culture

All too often, students get involved in fellowship groups or other student ministries only for emotional encouragement. Of course we all need something like a pep talk now and then. But motivation is always toward something. Sheer enthusiasm for something vaguely Jesus-y leaves us vulnerable to cultural captivity.

TED

Disappearing Cultures

Christians believe that humans are made in God’s image and in their diversity reflect his multifaceted character. The cultures they create, then, also can reflect the manifold richness of God, giving us deeper insight into what it means to be human. If those cultures disappear, we lose ways of coming to know God better. In this TED talk, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis talks about cultures that are disappearing from the earth altogether. Languages are disappearing, and along with them, entire ways of life that once existed are no more.

Makoto Fujimura

The Paradox of Beauty

Why should Christians care about culture? One reason is apparent: beauty is one of the most effective ways that God’s love reaches an over-politicized postmodern culture. In this excerpt from his talk at Q New York, artist and thinker Makoto Fujimura explores how beauty, cultural engagement, and love of neighbor are inextricably related.