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

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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.

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.

I find this book hard to put down and must stop because my eyes tire. It is a well written, entertaining, informative overview of what has gone terribly wrong with so much modern Christianity with its focus on large mega churches, of a Church that tried to indfuence its culture and was eclipsed instead, of so many of us who are looking for a way out of Pop Christian culture and a way back to our roots as disciples of Jesus. Our feel good, God wants you to be rich, and lives of cheap grace leave us anchored to the shallow end of the ocean out waiting victims of the next spritual sunami.

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.

Staub's latest contribution doesn't disappoint. If you've read his other books, you knew as much. If you are new to Dick's writing, then you are in for a treat with "The Culturally Savvy Christian." If anything, the book cannot be taken LITE-ly.

In an age of Christianity-LITE, what is the Church to do? Staub laments a Christian culture that is watching its influence crash and burn. A stroll through my local Christian bookstore pretty much proves he's right. We're a nation of faithful that is 3,000 miles wide, but only 2-inches deep... as Dick so poignantly reminds us. Row after row of Christian self-help books bombard me... little diamonds like "The Culturally Savvy Christian" can be difficult to find.

Staub isn't about self-help for the faithful -- this book is about transformation of the faithful, which is the only hope for reaching the faithless. If he merely lamented the problems of Christianity-LITE without pointing us someplace, he'd be guilty of negligence. He doesn't do that. Culturally Savvy Christians can and should reclaim influence on modern culture. By emulating the passion and love of greats like C.S. Lewis, Staub spends the last 2/3 of his book with real suggestions and ideas for picking up what we, the faithful, have broken.

The book is broken down into three primary sections: Savvy, Serious, and Skilled. Personally, I found sections one and three to be very, very strong. I bogged down in section two. My wife on the other hand, felt like section two was the strongest part of the book. So go figure! Since my wife and I are dead opposites, there is a good chance that there will be something in here specifically for you! Section two gives some deep theological insights that might be new to many people, as they were to my wife. For more seasoned theologians however, prepare to be challenged in specific ways throughout section three...

"Countering Culture Like Aliens" was a terrific chapter with some very astute observations on cultural integration. Aliens have different values, customs and behaviors, they form communities, they discern the best places to integrate with popular culture, they carefully consider what to keep from their own culture... all of this made for great readings, and shed new light on the Apostle Paul's call to be aliens.

Staub rounds us out by talking about creating culture as artists. "The restoration of the artistic endeavor is as close to God's heart as Redemption," writes Staub, "because it is evidence of that Redemption." What a beautiful way to begin reclaiming artistic power... seeing the divine embedded in art. Again, wonderful reading and highly recommended.

Staub's book is a challenge to the Christian cultural isolationalism on the one hand, and cheap, gimmick cultural imitation on the other. It's a call engage, to use our hearts and minds to till up our nation's soil with a relevant plow, to move away from an "uprooting" mentality only toward a theology of sowing creative seeds in popular culture, from which the very transforming presence of the Eternal God may spring yet again.

I am a youth pastor of nearly 15 years and have seen culture shape our youth for too long. It is now a part of the evangelical church as Dick Staub points out. This book is a call for Christians to change culture. As the church grows in numbers is it growing spiritually and changing the culture around it? This and others questions are discussed in this thought provocking book. Recommended if you see a need for change in as he calls it "Christianity-lite". Up there quite possibly with A.W. Tozer, C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer and others who made a call for us to shine our lite in culture through arts, music, literature, and every aspect of life. A book every Christian should read! The time is short!

In "The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto For Deepening Faith And Enriching Popular Culture In An Age of Christianity-Lie", noted radio broadcaster, writer, speaker, interpreter of faith and culture Dick Staub calls upon American Christians of all denominational affiliations and backgrounds to become 'ambassadors' of a counterculture to the broader community influences of money, marketing and technology which are so empty of ideas or aesthetics with respect to the national culture of commerce and secular value systems. Staub argues persuasively that much of the popular culture of today is basically toxic in its messages which have come to compete with religion as 'preacher, teacher, storyteller and identity shaper'. Staub further contends that only those who are intellectual, creative, relational and moral can revive the general culture and counter its growing toxicity with respect to the public good and the private well-being of ourselves and our posterity. The culturally savvy Christian mus follow ten rules in order to accomplish this culture transformation: read cartoons; separate fact from fiction; ask the why of things; recognize the shallowness of celebrity; become aware that popular culture is where we can best to theology; understand that the new media technologies can dehumanize us; live an un-frantic life in response to God; become more interested in being changed within ourselves than in changing the world; celebrate thoughtful artists and see God's image in them; and, most important of all, know why Jesus came to Earth -- not to make us Christians, but to make us 'fully human'. "The Culturally Savvy Christian" is life-changing reading and as such is very highly recommended to the attention of Christians seeking to live fully Christian lives in an increasingly un-Christian world.

In reading The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite, by Dick Staub, I was pleasantly surprised. Staub is a professor and pop culture officianado; however, his work is not just another proof-texting of popular culture for theological ideas and agendas. Instead, Staub calls us deeper into cultural analysis and critique, praising what is good, rejecting what is bad. Calling ultra-conservatives out of their cultural cocoons, uncritical evangelicals out of complacency, and aggressive fundamentalists away from combative cultural engagement, Staub charts a course for a very thoughtful, very honest, very redemptive approach to engaging culture.

When was the last time you read a book where you felt like you underlined most of it? For me, it was Dick Staub's latest book, The Culturally Savvy Christian. I enjoyed Staub's passionate appeal to Christians to be deep in their faith and relevant to society, both. He leaves no room for it to be an either or decision; it is both.

While I can't say Staub brings up anything completely new for me, his thoughts do affirm many things I have been pondering recently - namely, how do we restore the concept of community and live authetically, all while remaining relevant. I recognize, however, that his thoughts and points may be revolutionary for some, and I sincerely hope those people in particular read his book.

If I had to cite anything negative about the book, it would be that Staub uses an overwhelming number of quotes (albeit some great quotes), and sometimes references the same quote multiple times. During the first section of the book, he comes off as a little preachy, but I chalk that up to his passion for the topic.

I was pleased that he offered solutions, not just complaints about society and Christianity. I also appreciated his unwavering support of being strong in your faith, and at the same time understanding the culture.

I highly encourage you to pick up this book and read it. When you do, come back and tell me what you think. Personally, I'm excited and energized about being a "culturally savvy Christian."

This book has excellent documentation and rings with the truth. Staub compares and contrast the superficial culture we live in with modern Christianity. Both come out very deficient, but Christianity gets an extra kick by being called Christianity-Lite.

Staub calls a spade a spade and though a devoted Christian he attacks market oriented, feel good, superficial Christianity. His documentation of what artist say about art is excellent and his suggestion that we don't need Christian art, but artist that are Christian is key.

Staub invites us to understand our culture and not to hide from it. He proposes that unless Christians understand their culture and tell stories like St. Paul and Jesus we will not succeed in winning others to Christianity. If Christians are not artists and ambassadors they will fail. Staub also points out that the truth in non-spiritual or even anti-Christian works is still the truth and that God works through this art as well

Staub has the answer to this superficial brand of Christianity which rings absolutely true. I think, however, his solutions are more easily understood by the mature Christian rather than the casual "let me look at something spiritual" type reader.

I will use this book as a source when I confront the inadequacies of my own church.