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All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes |
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All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christians and Popular Cultureby Ken Myers (Crossway, 1989) |  | There aren't many books like this one.
I don't mean to say, however, that there aren't other books on popular culture
(there sure are), nor even that there aren't other books on pop culture from a Christian perspective (there are). But many "Christian" treatments on this difficult subject swing to opposite ends of the pendulum. One extreme condemns popular culture altogether, although its driving motive to encourage holiness among God's people is laudable. The other extreme is basically accepting of popular culture, taking exception only with those TV shows, movies, books, etc. which are obviously heinous or repulsive. The intent behind this view is to encourage a dialog with our unbelieving culture through identifying with what it likes. This intent is also commendable; still, the view itself is very naïve because it fails to recognize that worldliness can take on very subtle forms.
Myers' volume succeeds because it takes a careful middle path between these two extremes. For example, in his chapters entitled "Popular Culture's Idiom" and "Popular Culture's Medium", he gives thorough commentaries and critiques on rock n' roll and television - how they started, how they got to be our culture's prominent forms of modern entertainment, and how inherently problematic they are for Christians (though he does commend a discerning use of both). More importantly, in the chapter "Where Have All the Standards Gone", he provides a thoughtful chart which compares and contrasts popular culture with "high" and "folk" cultures, preferring the latter two over the former because they encourage character development. Many Christian writers, including two whom I highly admire, have dismissed this chart as elitist bunk, but I beg to differ. Provided that it is humbly presented (and modelled) as wise thinking rather than biblical dogma, the chart could do the church a lot of good.
Be warned: this is heavy stuff, and not for the casual reader. Sean McCausland, Woodgreen Librarian |
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