Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling

By Andy Crouch and Tish Harrison Warren

Christianity Today Book Award winner
Publishers Weekly's best books
The only way to change culture is to create culture.
Most of the time, we just consume or copy culture. But that is not enough. We must also do more than condemn or critique it. The only way to change it is to create it.
For too long, Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided "culture wars." But Andy Crouch says we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators God designed us to be. Culture is what we make of the world, both in making cultural artifacts as well as in making sense of the world around us.
In this expanded edition of his award-winning book Crouch unpacks the complexities of how culture works, the dynamics of cultural change, and tools for cultivating culture. Keen biblical exposition demonstrates that creating culture is central to the whole scriptural narrative, the ministry of Jesus, and the call to the church. With a conversation between Crouch and Tish Harrison Warren as the new afterword, this expanded edition addresses the current landscape and forges a way for the future of culture making. Enter into it with guided questions for reflection and discussion for a deeper experience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IVP
• Release date: Sep 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781514005774

Andy Crouch

Andy Crouch is editorial director for The Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today International and executive producer of Where Faith and Culture Meet, a series of short documentary films on Christians creating "a counterculture for the common good." He is a member of the editorial board of Books & Culture, and a senior fellow of the International Justice Mission's IJM Institute. His writing has appeared in several editions of Best Christian Writing and Best Spiritual Writing. He lives with his family in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Reviews for Culture Making

[steve777_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very insightful book about God's view of culture and analysis of different ways in which Christians may participate in and influence culture.

[lt999 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's not easy to change culture. Change usually happens gradually and unexpectedly. Behind the changes though are people. People change culture. Andy describes how Christians can create and cultivate culture in the way God intend. But in a way we are merely participating in making culture with God. One thing I liked about the book is Andy backed his theme of the book with the scripture. He saw the limitation of culture making on our own but at the same time challenged the reader to culture making in practical ways.

[cope4phd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent and sometimes provocative new way of looking at Christians and culture. Crouch offers a more comprehensive understanding of culture -- well beyond "high culture" of the arts -- than typically found among Christian authors. His retelling of the Biblical narrative in its cultural context is very engaging. Well worth the read.