The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite (Hardcover)

by Dick Staub (Author)
Key Phrases: culture like aliens, culture like artists, deep presence, Apostle Paul, Holy Spirit, The Great Artist (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The early Church apologist Tertullian asked the famous question, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" In other words, what does secular culture have to do with Christian culture? Cultural commentator and radio personality Staub poses a variation on this query for the 21st century: how will Christian culture influence popular culture? Staub's short answer is that Christians should not "Cocoon," "Combat," or "Conform" in relation to popular culture, but transform it by first understanding it. Staub has an extensive knowledge of popular culture and quotes rock songs, movies and other mainstream media in a style that is not forced or clumsy. His model of what a culturally savvy Christian should be is C.S. Lewis, who "enriched culture by countering culture, communicating within it, and also creating it." Lewis, according to Staub, was able to transform the written word because first and foremost, he was a good Christian. His work emerged from a solid faith in God, which Staub believes should be the goal of all Christians. Staub's analysis of popular culture can be simplistic at times, but his passion and talent as a writer make this an enjoyable read for Christians who struggle with how to be faithful in a secular world. (Apr. 20)
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Review
The early Church apologist Tertullian asked the famous question, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" In other words, what does secular culture have to do with Christian culture? Cultural commentator and radio personality Staub poses a variation on this query for the 21st century: how will Christian culture influence popular culture? Staub's short answer is that Christians should not "Cocoon," "Combat," or "Conform" in relation to popular culture, but transform it by first understanding it. Staub has an extensive knowledge of popular culture and quotes rock songs, movies and other mainstream media in a style that is not forced or clumsy. His model of what a culturally savvy Christian should be is C.S. Lewis, who "enriched culture by countering culture, communicating within it, and also creating it." Lewis, according to Staub, was able to transform the written word because first and foremost, he was a good Christian. His work emerged from a solid faith in God, which Staub believes should be the goal of all Christians. Staub's analysis of popular culture can be simplistic at times, but his passion and talent as a writer make this an enjoyable read for Christians who struggle with how to be faithful in a secular world. (Apr. 20) (Publishers Weekly, November 13, 2007)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (April 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787978930
• ISBN-13: 978-0787978938
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #163,225 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's wrong with Christianity-lite?, September 29, 2007

By	William Muehlenberg (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Dick Staub does not like what he sees. Nor should we. Much of the Western world is dominated by popular culture. And popular culture is overwhelmingly brainless, shallow, soulless and vacuous. If Paris Hilton and Big Brother are the best we can come up with, we are in very bad shape indeed.

But it gets worse. The real answer to the cultural and spiritual wasteland of modern culture is biblical Christianity. But much of what passes for Evangelicalism today is just as bad. It too is largely shallow, intellectually empty, culturally vapid and spiritually anorexic.

Culture-lite is more than matched by Christianity-lite. Indeed, the latter is largely a product of the former. Modern culture offers nothing of substance, whereas the church should. But too often the church is slavishly mimicking the latest cultural trends in the interests of being relevant. Thus it comes off just as anaemic and shallow.

Dick Staub argues that a needy world is certainly being short-changed by pop culture, but it is also being short-changed by much of Christianity these days. The paucity and poverty of contemporary Evangelicalism is made worse by knowledge of the fact that it was not always this way.

At one point Evangelical Christians were known for their intellectual, cultural and aesthetic complexity. Think of such massive figures as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, to name but a few. Evangelical Christianity used to be on the cutting edge of artistic, cultural and intellectual endeavours. But today we have largely lost that depth and richness.

Indeed, think of the rich contributions made by people of faith in the past: Dante, Dostoevsky, Rembrandt and Bach. The Christian church led the way culturally, artistically and intellectually for centuries, producing a deep and rich culture. But today the church mostly just parrots pop culture, which is all about entertainment and amusement.

Pop culture is destroying the soul while filling the wallets - of global marketeers. Instead of promoting the good and the true and the beautiful, it is about the "cultivation of a sizable, wealthy, impulsive generation groomed to be consumers from the cradle to the grave".

Tragically, young believers are not all that different from young non-believers today. Staub reminds us of the grim statistics: evangelical's behaviour pretty much resembles that of non-believers. We tend to be just as consumeristic and materialistic, just as shallow, just as anti-intellectual and just as apathetic. Divorce rates are as high in the churched community as outside it; belief in absolute truth is at an all-time low; and Christian discipleship seems to be a lost art.

In order to see why we should be concerned about all this, we have to remind ourselves of the truth that we are made in the image of God. As Staub reminds us, human beings have intellectual, spiritual, relational, creative and moral capacities, and all these areas should be used to love and serve God.

He quotes Hans Rookmaaker who said some decades ago, "Jesus did not come to make us Christian; Jesus came to make us fully human". "We are called to be culturally savvy Christians," says Staub, "who are serious about faith, savvy about faith and culture, and skilled at fulfilling our calling to be a loving, transforming presence in the world".

Jesus asked the Father not to take believers out of the world, but to protect them from the evil one (John 17:15). Yet it seems we have succumbed to the lures and temptations of the world and lost our saltiness. Instead of transforming culture, we have become slaves of it. So we now have pop culture and pop Christianity.

The bulk of this book is about how we can once again become culture changers and cultural leaders. It is about how we can regain authentic Christian spirituality and creativity. The journal from Christianity-lite to the real thing will not be easy. It requires swimming against the tide. But that is what Jesus has always demanded of us.


This book is a much-needed wakeup call to a church that has lost its way, and has simply become a poor imitation of the surrounding culture. The church greatly needs a new vision of its Lord, of its calling, and of its world. Dick Staub thankfully helps us to do just that.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a timely and prophetic challenge, April 17, 2007

By	Scott Nolte (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found Savvy Christian very timely and insightful, personally and professionally. Staub suffers no fools or foolishness when addressing "Christianity-Lite" trivializing of the Arts and giving more credence to marketing, popular culture and political power than the Gospel's call to meaningful, costly, even slow discipleship. For those of us who "consume" (my description, not Staub's) popular film, music, television, fiction, etc., he holds us accountable for being mindless sponges - just soaking up it all up with very little discretion or mindful discernment. But he doesn't do this in a mean-spirited or prudish manner - he wants us to be alert, informed and actively engaged in appreciating goodness and truth in the Arts and recognizing delusion and untruth when they creep in.

For the artist, Staub challenges us to be fully Christian, walk boldly into the cultural marketplace, to hear the groans and joys of our fellow humans, and never be fearful of following the call to write, sing, dance, paint and act. Faith has altered our DNA: Grace has made us Aliens. But we're also God's artistic Ambassadors giving glimpses of beauty, wonder, healing and truth to people buying knock-off joy and peace.

I recommend the book for artists and readers wanting to grapple with living in / amongst our cultural influences. I'd especially recommend it to parents and church leaders who are in a position to help kids and congregations develop appreciation and discerning skills regarding the Arts, rather than cultural exit strategies that create a reactionary, fearful and cocooned Christian. And bad "Christian" Art.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars defining a culturally savvy Christian, June 25, 2007

By	W. N. Hixon (Louisiana, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Staub's book is a mostly-homogeneous mixture of deliniating the important, but obvious, and offering a way for Christians to proceed, all in regards to the superficial, shallow pop culture that surrounds us all, Christian, irreligious, or otherwise. Staub's focus is evident in the book's subtitle; it is the phenomenon that he refers to as Christianity-Lite, i.e., the Christianity that he feels is becoming more and more prevelant in Western culture that reflects well just how shallow and superficial our popular culture has become. His call then goes forth to readers hoping to see the rise of what he calls the culturally savvy Christian, from here on, the csC. The book is divided into three sections exploring three aspects of this figure: they are savvy about culture, serious about faith, and skilled at relating the two.

The first three chapters examine our culture and Christianity qua Christianity and, finally, what our faith should reflect in contrast to what it often does reflect.
To some, these chapters may seem like one of the afore-mentioned obvious statements, however, for many they will come as a (much-needed) shock, and lay an important foundation for the work. He spends much time decrying the 'three reactions to culture' that many other authors also attribute to Christianity today--N. T. Wright in The Challenge of Jesus, for one--those being, essentially, the run away, wage war, and conform responses. There's particular attention paid to the Christian sub-culture that we find today.
The book's second division, emphasizing the csC's serious-ness regarding faith, with three chapters exploring God's deep, transforming, and loving presence.
These establish the stating-the-obvious category for me. The messages are important, and well said, but certainly rudimentary; they well-commend this book to the sort of 'freshman Bible study' group that could always use more good books. The most interesting parts of this section to me are found in the second two chapters, where Staub draws out brief, yet thorough summaries of two neo-classic works: Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline and C. S. Lewis's The Four Loves. These chapters should be good reads for those unfamiliar with these books, and make a nice reminder for those who have, not to mention a recommendation for the classics.
The final section ("skilled at relating the two") was a highlight of the book, particularly the first two of the three chapters. Staub spends one chapter exploring the notion of our being aliens in this culture, straddling two different countries and citizenships, and uses C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien (mainly Lewis) as examples to look to. His portrait of Lewis is a beautiful one, and we're given a fine idea of this alien calling.
This is followed by a fine chapter on our roles as ambassadors between faith and culture, looking to the ministry of Christ and the Apostle Paul as seen Acts 17.
The book's final chapter is directed almost exclusively at the creative artist himself, offering all sorts of exhortations to him in his work. Not being much of the creative genius, this was less poignant to me, but could be very meaningful to the right reader.

The introduction will really excite you, and heck, there's the recommendation from N. T. Wright on the cover, but on the whole the book is a bit underwhelming in light of my early expectations; not to say that it's a disappointment, I just had high expectations. The Culturally Savvy Christian is certainly an important work, and I think it reflects an important attitude that will hopefully become more common in the church in the days to come, as there's certainly no good to come from Christianity's frequent disengagements from culture, and, thus, from people. Some of Staub's other works sound interesting--especially to me--but this is as fine a start as any, and for all the more elementary points that are stressed, the over-arching ideas are critical, and here well-illuminated.