A few weeks ago I started reading books on my iPhone’s kindle app. At first I wondered if this might cut down on the number of books I carry around in grocery satchels…which never looks hip. As a switch-off, I’m pretty sure it looks I’m playing Yahtzee on my phone…which always looks hip.
The first book I downloaded on my iPhone turned out to be a gem. It’s a book by Kevin Vanhoozer called Everyday Theology. Although I’ve really enjoyed everything Vanhoozer has written, most of his books weigh more than a small child and are stuffed with sentences no human being can decipher late at night. This book is a smidge different. The main thrust of this book is what Vanhoozer calls “cultural hermeneutics”—reading and interpreting the texts and trends of our culture in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. All too often liberal approaches to cultural engagement overemphasize the place of culture in the Christian life while many conservative Christians ignore culture altogether. To this end, Vanhoozer writes:
“When the people of God learn to read the signs of the times and to respond to culture so that they become a sign of the end time, they will have achieved not only cultural literacy but counter-cultural wisdom. For the church is to be a contrast society, an ecclesial excorporation that demonstrates a way of living blessedly here and now by taking not only every thought but every cultural text and way of life captive to Jesus Christ. What the world needs now are Christian cultural agents who demonstrate the understanding of faith by performing the gospel and giving concrete form to the kingdom of God wherever two or more are gathered, in the country garden, the city gate, the megachurch, the multiplex.” [pg 59]
To my surprise, great quotes like this were followed by a series of essays that engage cultural texts and trends, from the music of Eminem to the grocery store checkout lane to the phenomenon of Internet blogs. At one point Vanhoozer observes that the personal blog sometimes functions as a form of “confession without repentance” in our culture. Anyone interested in the intersection of Christian faith and culture that remains faithful to the witness of scripture will thank Jesus for this book.
Sidenote: It’s also a strangely ironic book to read on an iPhone.
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