Whether it's TV boxsets, Instagram stories or historical novels, we all consume culture. So it’s important that we are neither bewitched by it—buying into everything it tells us—or bewildered by it—lashing out in judgment or retreating into a Christian bubble.
Dan Strange encourages Christians to engage with everything they watch, read and play in a positive and discerning way. He also teaches Christians how to think and speak about culture in a way that plugs in to a bigger and better reality—the story of King Jesus, and his cosmic plan for the world.
It’s possible to watch TV and read novels and play video games in a way that actually feeds our faith, rather than withers it. It’s even possible for you—yes, you—to be that person who starts off talking to a mate about last night’s football and ends up talking about Jesus.
So be equipped to engage with culture and use it for God.
160 pages
View an excerpt here.
Contents
- Foreword by Timothy Keller
- Introduction: Faith in an age of information overload
- 1. What culture is and why you should care
- 2. The story of culture
- 3. Culture as story
- 4. “Can I watch…?”
- 5. Confronting and connecting with culture: the theory
- 6. Confronting and connecting with culture: the practice
- 7. Your turn: Cultural engagement for disciples
- 8. Here's some I prepared earlier...
We all spend hours each week watching, reading and listening. Not only does this add up to a significant proportion of our lives, but it’s also a big influence on how we think and behave. So it’s vital we think about how being a Christian shapes the way we interact with the culture around us and I know of no better guide than Plugged In. Dan Strange provides both a biblical framework and practical nuts-and-bolts tools. But Plugged In goes further, for it shows how culture can be a great starting point for speaking of Christ with our friends and colleagues. I warmly commend it.
--- Dr Tim Chester, Faculty member of Crosslands Training and author of Enjoying God
In this gem of a book seasoned author Daniel Strange manages what few people could do. He pre-digests the unwieldy and complex realm of culture studies and makes it unaffectedly clear. He also helps Christians know how to navigate in a world where culture appears out of control. He connects the decisions we must make to biblical texts, and to robust doctrines all along. Most of all he tells us why we should care about engaging culture and he makes crucial suggestions for how to do that. All of it is in a writing style that is full of imagination, enviably lucid, down-home without being folksy. This will be the go-to text for years, even decades to come.
--- William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia
There are now plenty of books calling us to find new ways of connecting our gospel presentation to the needs and questions of people in a secular, pluralistic society. Dan's book actually tells and shows us how to do it. There really is nothing else like it.
--- Timothy Keller, Founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC
