Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling

Andy Crouch is executive editor at Christianity Today. He is a senior fellow of the International Justice Mission's IJM Institute, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the John Templeton Foundation. He is also the author of Playing God.

Culture Making is one of the few books taking the discussion about Christianity and culture to a new level. It is a rare mix of the theoretical and the practical, its definitions are nuanced but not abstract, and it strikes all kinds of fine balances. I highly recommend it.
-Tim Keller,
pastor, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, New York City, author, The Reason for God

Are Christians to be countercultural? Or protect ourselves from 'the culture'? Or be 'in' culture but not 'of' it? In this bracing, super-smart book, Andy Crouch changes the terms of the conversation, calling Christians to make culture. I am hard-pressed to think of something that twenty-first-century American Christians need to read more.
-Lauren F. Winner,
assistant professor of Christian spirituality, Duke Divinity School, and author of Girl Meets God

American evangelicals in the last hundred years have found it easy to condemn culture, critique culture, copy culture and consume culture. It has been much harder for them to actively and imaginatively create culture. Andy Crouch is out to change that. I confess I doubt whether they can rise to the challenge. But I am persuaded by Crouch's case that the Christian calling requires it. Here is a voice worth taking very seriously.
-Christian Smith,
professor of sociology, University of Notre Dame

Andy Crouch's Culture Making models what it argues: that a kingdom imagination that takes our richly enculturated lives seriously shows grace to be real, immanent and compelling. Surely this vocation must be central to God's call!
-Mark Labberton,
pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, and author of The Dangerous Act of Worship

As an artist and an advocate for artists, I am grateful for this book. Andy Crouch's edifying analysis of culture and the church and his timely call for us to be culture makers make this work invaluable in today's faith journey. This is a groundbreaking guidebook for all who are concerned about cultural issues and the church.
-Makoto Fujimura,
artist and founder, International Arts Movement

In this graceful, articulate volume Crouch challenges Christian common wisdom about creation and challenges as well our traditional understandings about the Revelation to John and how it articulates with the rest of Holy Writ. As refreshing as it is smart, Culture Making is a significant addition to contemporary Christian thought.
-Phyllis Tickle,
compiler of The Divine Hours and former religion editor, Publishers Weekly

In Culture Making, Andy Crouch has given us a vision for creativity that is not reserved for the practitioners of high art, but that reveals the dignity of the most ordinary sorts of cultural creation. It is a transformative vision that inspires to action and--in the face of the almost inevitable failures--perseverance. In the end, cultural creativity is not a gift we own, exercise and grow anxious over, but one that we receive and nurture--and through which we come to know grace.
-David Neff,
editor-in-chief and vice president, Christianity Today Media Group

Culture Making is a book that's been needed for decades, but it arrives at just the right moment. People of faith--now poised to use their influence--have much to contribute to the common good as creators and advocates, not just as critics and judges. But that requires careful thought and clear insight, both of which are abundantly found in this profound and practical book. Andy Crouch has long had a knack for observing the culture around us and then showing us how we can make it better. With Culture Making, Crouch offers all that and more. Anyone who cares for the renewal of our culture must read this book!
-D. Michael Lindsay,
author of Faith in the Halls of Power and president of Gordon College

Grappling with 'the culture' has become an obsession for contemporary Christians, but a misunderstanding of what cultures are and how they behave results in a great deal of frustration. Andy Crouch's Culture Making draws on both his broad experience and originality of insight to offer a bracing and clear-eyed view of the way forward.
-Frederica Mathewes-Green,
author and columnist, www.frederica.com

This is not a good book, because it provokes and prods, incites and inspires. It takes you on an uncomfortable journey, defying the status quo and questioning accepted perspectives. It offers a fresh voice with trenchant thinking, forcing you to blow the dust off the mantle of your own settled proclivities. It resonates deeply within you, even on those points you may question. It addresses the heart of the challenge of our day. No, this is not a good book. It is a great one.
-James Emery White,
pastor, professor and author of Serious Times

In this marvelous book Andy Crouch makes the case for cultural discipleship by giving us an exciting overview of the drama of creation, fallenness and renewal. And along the way he offers much wisdom about the very real cultural realities that we face as twenty-first-century Christians.
-Richard J. Mouw,
president and professor of Christian philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary

A deep and thoughtful reminder that the resurrection of Jesus empowers us to cultivate the garden, to build in the ruins of our world, and to create within and around us cultures of life.
-Kelly Monroe Kullberg, author of Finding God Beyond Harvard: The Quest for Veritas, and founder and director of Project Development, The Veritas Forum

Good books are either brilliant or helpful, but the best books are both--and Andy Crouch has attained that rare combination of virtues in Culture Making. As a Christian, as a parent and as an organizational leader, I would like to make a difference in the world. Crouch not only helps me understand where that yearning comes from, but how to pursue it with passion, commitment, power and spiritual health. Culture Making is a joyful gift of intelligence and practical provocation for thoughtful Christians.
-Gary Haugen,
president, International Justice Mission, author of Good News About Injustice and Just Courage

As an academic and a culture critic, I am not given to gushing over new publications. But Culture Making brought me pretty close to doing just such a non-scholarly thing! With so much coming out these days on religion and culture, one becomes a bit jaded about the possibility of something really fresh emerging. Well, this book is fresh, compelling, and engagingly written. More important, it goes deeply into its subject.
-William Edgar,
Themelios (thegospelcoalition.org), vol. 33, no. 3

Culture Making is a fresh and relevant take on how Christians should relate to the wider culture. This book will serve to make us more effective interpreters of and contributors to the cultural landscape.
-Eric O. Jacobsen,
PRISM, January 2009

Thoughtful and engaging. . . . Crouch's book does signal a hopeful development, which is that the evangelical pursuit of culture warfare was and is a dead end. -D. G. Hart,
First Principles (www.firstprinciplesjournal.com), March 23, 2009

"Very readable and thought-provoking."

-- Byron Snapp, Calvary Herald, August 29, 2009

"This book will clarify your thinking, inspire your production, and affirm your parenting."

-- David Balzer, Mennonite Brethren Herald, August 2009

" Culture Making is an enjoyable and fascinating book that helps demystify the idea of culture."

-- John Dunham, YouthWorker Journal, November/December 2008

"This is a must-read book for those who are tired of talking and ready for action. The author sets the scene and tells the story of culture, then rapidly sweeps the reader into this story, finishing with a heart-stopping, imagination-grabbing challenge to go and make something of the world."

-- Alissa W., Book Bargains and Previews (bookbargainsandpreviews.com), September 2008

"If people tell me that something is a must-read, I tend to be a bit skeptical. That said, I was pleasantly blown-away by Crouch's book. I loved the approach of talking about 'postures' and 'gestures' toward culture. One last thing to praise was the chaste humility of the book. All to say, Culture Making probably is one of those rare must-read books that comes along every so often. A book of rare learning, helpful and accessible synthesis, and godly humility, it might actually change the evangelical culture on how to make and engage culture. If so, all I can say is thanks be to God."

-- Sean Michael Lucas, seanmichaellucas.blogspot.com, September 18, 2008

"With all the books on the market about the intersection of faith and culture, you have to wonder why we need another one. The answer is simple: it's unlikely that any other book out there accomplishes what Culture Making does, and certainly not in the way that Andy Crouch does. Substantial content, beautifully expressed. Highly recommended."

-- Marcia Ford, FaithfulReader.com, September 2008

"Andy Crouch, long a culture influence through film, writing, music and service, points Christians to a new, deeper understanding of their calling in culture. Readers will be profoundly impacted by this book written by one of today's top voices on the subject."

-- Ann Byle, Grand Rapids Press, August 16, 2008

"Those who have struggled with the sacred-secular dichotomy will find this book life-giving; every Christian interested in changing culture should read it."

-- Publishers Weekly starred review, May 26, 2008

"Crouch works through the Bible's narrative arc to show the hand of God in the development of culture and makes the case that Christians must be producers, not just critics, of culture in order to create societal good."

-- Relevant, July/August 2008

"Simply the best book that I've read recently. Not only is it brilliant, it's accessible. I cannot gush about this book enough. It really is that good."

-- Margaret Feinberg, Christian Retailing, July 6, 2009

"Theologically rich and practically helpful, Culture Making is a significant contribution to the discussion of Christ and culture and a useful guide for those who want to make something of the world God has created."

-- Outreach, March/April 2009

"A masterpiece!"

-- Byron Borger, owner, Hearts Minds Bookstore [from the 2015 Jubilee program guide]

"Thoughtful and engaging. . . . Crouch's book does signal a hopeful development, which is that the evangelical pursuit of culture warfare was and is a dead end."

-- D. G. Hart, First Principles (www.firstprinciplesjournal.com), March 23, 2009

"Crouch writes as one who cares what Christians do with their time in light of God's Kingdom coming."

-- On Mission Today, January 14, 2009

" Culture Making is a fresh and relevant take on how Christians should relate to the wider culture. This book will serve to make us more effective interpreters of and contributors to the cultural landscape."

-- Eric O. Jacobsen, PRISM, January 2009

"As an academic and a culture critic, I am not given to gushing over new publications. But Culture Making brought me pretty close to doing just such a non-scholarly thing! With so much coming out these days on religion and culture, one becomes a bit jaded about the possibility of something really fresh emerging. Well, this book is fresh, compelling, and engagingly written. More important, it goes deeply into its subject."

-- William Edgar, Themelios (thegospelcoalition.org), vol. 33, no. 3

"Crouch's voice is intriguing and fresh--offering an alternative that escapes the many 'Jesus-stamped' merchandise items as an evangelical tool and implementing a fresh vision for creativity and engaging cultural lifestyles."

-- Worship Leader, November/December 2008

"Good introduction to how Christians need to do more than fatalistically talk about the dangers of the world."

-- Marvin Olasky, WORLD Magazine, November 15/22, 2008