What are you doing with culture:  condemning, critiquing, copying, or consuming?  Read this from Andy Crouch and think about it…

“The academic fallacy is that once you have understood something – analyzed and critiqued it – you have changed it.  But academic libraries are full of brilliant analyses of every facet of human culture that have made no difference at all in the world beyond the stacks.

To be sure, the best critics can change the framework in which creators do their work – setting the standard against which future creations are measured.  But such analysis has lasting influence only when someone creates something new in the public realm.”

Andy Crouch, Culture-Making

Crouch mentions four possible approaches to culture:  condemning, critiquing, copying, and consuming.  In the paragraphs above, he points out that while critiquing culture is a worthwhile process, especially as it presents opportunities to create new cultural alternatives, it is not enough on its own.  Think about how you have approached “culture.”  Do you spend more time condemning, critiquing, copying, or consuming?  In what areas might you need to alter your approach (or even repent!) to make a significant gospel-toned impact on your culture?