Recent polls indicate 70 percent of likely American voters say the country is headed the wrong direction. How does culture change? What can Christians and churches do to influence our culture for Christ? What role could multisite church growth strategies play?
James Davison Hunter teaches at the University of Virginia and leads the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. I consider him the most profound voice on culture change in the evangelical world. I was privileged to discuss his latest book, To Change the World, with him recently. Hunter begins with ways culture does not change:
• Winning elections. It is vital that Christians participate in the political process, but electing believers is not enough by itself to change culture. For instance, divorce escalated during the Reagan administration; gay marriage was legalized in some states during the George W. Bush presidency. Neither is their fault, of course, but their position was not enough to change the culture on these critical issues.
• Evangelism and church attendance. We can build more campuses at more sites, but church growth by itself does not change the culture. More than 80 percent of Americans are identified with a faith community, yet our nation is intensely secularistic and materialistic. By contrast, the Jewish community never has comprised more than 3.5 percent of our population, yet it has received 36 percent of our Nobel Prizes.
• Popularity. More evangelical books are being sold than ever before, but they primarily target the faith community. Few are reviewed by the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. People have heard of Rick Warren and Joel Osteen, but we cannot claim our culture has been changed by their popularity.
How does a culture change? By manifesting “faithful presence,” using our highest influence as salt and light. Cultures resist organized political strategies, but they have no defense against those who use their influence to advance their worldview. Hunter asserts academic influence originates with think tanks, elite research universities, opinion journals and top-tier university publishers. Next, it moves to other educational institutions, and then it influences journalism, the Internet, mass-market publishing, public education and religious institutions. Moral influence moves from academic philosophy and law schools to public policy think tanks, special interest groups, and finally to local organizations and ministries. Artistic influence begins with visual arts, literature and poetry, classical music, theater and dance. It moves to public television and museums, then to prime-time television, mass-market movies and popular music.
We will change our culture when we leverage our most strategic influence by living faithfully as followers of Jesus. Whether your congregation has one campus or many, here’s the critical issue: Is your church a container for spiritual salt (Matthew 5:13) or a lampstand (vs. 15-16) where people “see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”?
Jim Denison is president of the Center for Informed Faith (www.informedfaith.com) and theologian-in-residence with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
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