Customer Reviews

Too Christian, Too Pagan: How to Love the World Without Falling For It

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Dick Staub's insights go against the grain of what Christians are usually taught about evangelism. Often it appears that we are encouraged to shout out the Gospel message from our safe Christian subculture across the great divide to the rest of the world. We talk to people in our language, from a perspective that has little to do with the way most people think and act and then we wonder why their hearts are "hardened" to our message. Staub poses an interesting theory. Maybe it's we who need to change. Maybe we need to start seeing God in places we didn't think he would appear, such as popular movies and music. Instead of separating ourselves from the rest of the world, maybe it's time to find commonalitites and go from there. He uses numerous antecdotes and stories, many from his own life, which help prove his point. I highly recommend this book. You may not like everything you hear and you may feel that a lot of Staub's suggestions are downright dangerous, but perhaps it's time for a little danger! Staub encourages the Church to come out of hiding and participate in our world and present culture without compromising who we are as believers. This is a delicate balance but the author navigates through this tough task deftly and wisely. Check it out!

Subtitled "How to love the world without falling for it", Dick Staub's book really makes you think. The author says that if we are truly following Jesus, we will seem too Christian to pagans, and too pagan for our fellow Christians.

The author is correct in saying that if we stay in our safe and secure Christian bubble, we won't have much influence on the world. We must be aware of what secular culture is like out there. And while Dick says that we must be discerning, I think there are some problems with becoming as involved in the world's culture as Dick suggests.

He encourages Christians to meet people where they are - go to those parties which you would rather not attend, read the secular bestselling books so you can talk to people about them, see the movies everyone is seeing, listen to the popular secular music so you can identify with what people are listening to.

While I see the advantages of being aware of popular culture, I do think there are problems with Christians immersing themselves in secular culture. I think there's a fine line that we need to walk as Christians impacting the world, but not getting dragged down by it.

Dick Staub is the Founder and Chairman of "The Center for Faith and Culture". So researching secular culture is his main job. Most of us would not have the time or energy to take part in all this, let alone WANT TO. There are many Christians who have come out of a background where music with explicit lyrics and movies depicting sex and violence were part of their lives. I don't believe it would be a good idea of these people to start taking part in these things again.

Most of us have very limited time what with careers, families, etc. Our own walk with God (reading the Scriptures, praying, reading other Christian books, meeting with other Christians) mustn't be neglected. I do think there are ways of being aware of popular culture without taking it all in ourselves. There are many websites that review movies from a Christian perspective and you can find out what a movie is about that way. I'm not saying this is the same as seeing a movie, but I don't think that's a feasible thing for most people to do, for various reasons.

I do think we can share our faith and bring into our stories samples of how a secular worldview doesn't work without immersing ourselves in such things. We can know what Marilyn Manson and Eminem are singing about without purchasing their music! If we spend out time reading all the bestselling books, will there be time left for books that draw us closer to God?

I'm sorry to be a downer when the other reviews are so positive -but I think this is a side that needs considering. Perhaps you've heard the story about how FBI agents learn to discern counterfeit money - they study the REAL THING, not the counterfeit! I think we should concentrate on the REAL THING - JESUS, and remember:

The Holy Bible, New International Version Philippians 4:8 (NIV) 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.

Let me get to the bottom-line first: This volume gets my vote for Christian book of the year! In twenty-five brief chapters, talk radio host Dick Staub adresses the issue of cultural engangement, which has plagued believers of every era. In other words, how does one effectively live as "salt" and "light" in the world without either becoming compromised or resorting to isolationism?

Virtually no stone is left unturned. Staub discusses how to practice cultural discernment when watching films, listening to the Top 40, or reading the latest hit from Oprah's Book Club. He offers wise counsel on what it means to really love your neighbor. This book offers a wealth of insight and practical application.

As a pastor for more than thirty years (who "moonlights" as a jazz musician), Staub's book resonates deep within my soul. I am recommending it to all my friends, and will soon use it as the basis for a class in my church.

"Taking Jesus into our world requires fully engaging both our faith and the world, yet few of us have learned to live a fully integrated life of faith in the world. Paradoxically, in my experience those who wholeheartedly embark on this path will end up seeming both too Christian for their pagan friends and too pagan for their Christian friends."

This quote is from chapter one of Dick Staub's wonderful book: "Too Christian, Too Pagan." The rest of the book explains this argument and gives "how to" suggestions for living this exciting and fulfilling kind of life.

Previous to December, I had never heard of this book or its author...Then a friend of mine received a copy of the book for Christmas. I didn't really think to much of it at the time (the friend has yet to read the book as far as I know) But then, through a series of events, This book kept entering my daily life through offhand comments, emails etc. I am glad it did!

"Too Christian, Too Pagan" has spoken to me right where I live. The chapter entitled "Think" is the first time I have ever read a contemporary Christian author address directly the lack of thinking that goes on in too many churches (Bob Briner and Mark Noll came close, but their topics demanded they spend more time on other things). I can testify to the truth of Mr. Staub's comment when he says:

"I am warning you, in what is generally an anti-intellectual culture and Christian subculture, your commitment to thinking will make you countercultural."

I have felt this in my journey. So few really ever do think...many in fact, live in self-imposed prisons of the mind as a result. We must remember that Jesus told us to love the Lord with our minds to set us free...not to give us one more assignment in an already busy life...

As Mr. Staub continues to unpack his argument he gives wonderful "how to" advice. In other words, he does not make a case for doing things like thinking and then leave the reader stranded to figure out how to do so...he gives suggestions on what steps to take. In his chapter "Read the Books" he suggests reading not only the latest "Christian" bestsellers, but suggests we should read the fiction popular in the culture in order to understand the culture that so many of the people God wants to reach live in. In a wonderful passage about the power of fiction to shape lives and culture, Mr. Staub writes:

"In my experience good fiction often functions like the canary in the coal mine. It sees life as it is, gasps out observations to those who will hear, and gives us a chance to puzzle through our questions, layering and thickening them with the life experience of another. Without saying so directly, through the characters and the situations they face, fiction can urge us to take action or face certain doom."

Mr. Staub suggests engaging culture by living the gospel: seeing, feeling, thinking, telling stories (like Jesus did), and being humble (among other things).

In the closing chapters of the book, Mr. Staub addresses the areas in which the church is currently failing. I appreciate the mix of love, optimism and faith Mr. Staub shows in addressing these subjects. Even with all our human frailties and weaknesses there is hope for the future if we keep our eyes on Jesus! Some of my favorite passages from this section are:

"Many Christians have allowed political combat to replace making disciples and have allowed ideological confrontation to replace being a blessing or loving our neighbors..."

"The problem is not confined to political life. There is a growing and manifest distastefulness in the attitude of some Christians toward people disagreeing with them politically or ideologically. They possess an us-versus-them approach compounded by an unwillingness to listen and discourse about areas of disagreement. Today's argumentative society is more concerned with winning than in seeking truth and is therefore more comfortable demonizing opponents than respecting them. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Christians but concerns me most among Christians, because such attitudes are inconsistent with following Jesus and inhibit our effectiveness when communicating Jesus' love to the world..."

"The glibness with which some Christians enlist God's authority in their quest to trump the ideological landscape is a reflection of the shallowness of their recognition of God's otherness and the limits this places on their comprehension of God and His revealed Word."

"Too Christian, Too Pagan" is a great book (in fact--its early, but I'm gonna be hard pressed to read a better book this year). It covers a wide range of topics with consistently penetrating insight. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Be God's.

Dick Staub as a talk show host made the ultimate mistake in trying to reach an Evangelical audience - he refused to "dumb down" his show. He is greatly missed by those who used to enjoy his intelligent and "outside the choir" viewpoints on life, love and family on a national basis. In Too Christian, Too Pagan - Staub has walked the line again - stepping on casual Christian toes while inspiring and jumpstarting those of us looking for balance in a world that is impossible to turn off with a remote control. With warm, witty anecdotes about his own personal travels and insight, interspersed within biblical wisdom - this book should be required reading for any Christian ready to escape the bunker of the Christian subculture. At the very least, it makes us wish we had the time to share a cup of Starbucks with him on a cold, rainy Seattle morning. Hopefully Zondervan will have the foresight to latch onto this man for many more books to come.

Dick Staub encourages Christians to enter the world of non-beleivers, lovingly and winsomely. He says that as we do this we will have to have a genuine love for those we meet, while at the same time holding firm to our commitments to Christ. In doing so, he says that we will often seem too Christian to those outside of Christ. Because of our commitment to Christ, we will rub many outside of Christ the wrong way. On the other hand, to many Christians we will seem too pagan. Many Christians see the non-Christian world as something to be avoided. We cluster and cloister in our closed Christian communities and never venture out for fear of contaminating ourselves. If a Christians genuinely loves the people outside of the world, he will seem too pagan to many Christians. They will think he must be compromising his faith.

The first nine chapters of the book deal with resolving the tensions involved in this too Christian/too pagan motif. The rest of the book deals with practical advice for entering the world for Christ.

From chapter 10 on the chapters are short pieces of advice. For instance, he spends two chapters on exhorting us to experience and live the gospel as the foundation for entering the world of the non-Christian. He then encourages us to learn how to see, think and feel Christianly. And he follows this up with exhortations to see the movies, read the books and listen to the music the world is listening to.

All of this is done from the perspective of being able to relate to the world. What is absent here is critical engagement with the world. For instance, his encouragement is to use movies as a kind of window into the worldview of non-Christians. He doesn't encourage us to critically interact with the worldviews of the movies themselves. This is not to say that he offers a blanket commendation of non-Christian worldviews. On the contrary, part of the reason we read the books, see the movies etc., is to discern the errors and give a proper Christian response. So, what he is basically doing is saying that we engage these things first to understand and build bridges, not to go on the defensive or the attack.

This book is written in a popular style. I would not call it meaty in the sense that he doesn't delve deeply into philosophical or theological issues. But, maybe that can be considered a strength - this book doesn't encourage one to sit comfortably in an ivory tower, but to get out into the highways and byways of life.

Dick Staub's written a "gem" of a book, here, and he tackles life from his own perspective, and along the way, he's given a great deal of thought, and reading, to trying to figure out what the Christian life is supposed to be, and the answers he has come up with are astounding.

He covers topics from relating to unbelievers, to trying to build empathy with others, to building bridges, and the culture war, among other topics. He has written a deeply moving and compassionate book, and my own feeling is that it was too short. I'm looking forward to his next book.

This is compelling reading, and thoughtful as well. He is a reader and a leader!!!

This is a book about the essence of the Christian faith and what it means to be a 21st century follower of Jesus Christ. In a day and age when the church is either conspicuously silent or obnoxiously loud and misrepresentative of Christ, we need to rediscover and live the call that Christ placed on the lives of his first followers. In "Too Christian - Too Pagan", Dick Staub offers a clear, engaging, balanced and practical exposition of what it means to be in the world but not of it. This book is theologically sound and full of life - Staub has lived the call he passes on to his readers. His anecdotes and experiences are riveting. Those struggling to understand how to relate faith to real life will find the book to be thought-provoking and even life-changing.

I'm recommending this book everywhere I go. Thanks Dick, for reminding us who were called to be!

To clarify, on page 15, Dick Staub explains that he is using the word "pagan" in the archaic sense, which means not-Christian. He acknowledges that paganism is in its own right, a religion, and Staub means no offense by his use of the word.

The idea that Christians should somehow wall themselves off from the world is, thankfully, on the wane. This book provides a great vision for the way forward, a paradigm for truly being in the world, but not of it.
The problem, as Staub points out, is that when we really live as Christ did, we'll seem too pagan for "religious" people, and probably too Christian for the non-religious.
That's okay- the good news is that by being a true friend to your non-Christian friends (not just someone who's being a friend in an effort to convert people, but also not a friend who never influences people spiritually) is what God really wants. Staub walks through the benefits and the pitfalls of this type of living and comes up with some real gems along the way.
Check this book out- it will challenge you in your relationships both with people, and with God.