Journal: Eikon
Volume: EIKON 04:1 (Spring 2022)
Article: Ten Resources That Have Helped Me Make Sense of Our Current Culture and How Christians Are Responding to It
Author: Andy Naselli

Eikon 4.1 (Spring 2022) p. 118

Ten Resources That Have Helped Me Make Sense of Our Current Culture and How Christians Are Responding to It

Andy Naselli

Andrew David Naselli (Ph.D.) is associate professor of systematic theology and New Testament for Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis and one of the pastors of Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Eikon 4.1 (Spring 2022) p. 119

“[Worldliness] makes sin look normal and righteousness seem strange.”

—David Wells1

“World is the bad part of culture.”

—John Frame2

Our culture is rapidly making sin look normal and righteousness seem strange. The bad part of our culture seems to be getting worse so quickly that it is hard to keep up. Even a socially liberal tennis champion such as Martina Navratilova can shine brightly one moment (she is a lesbian who promotes homosexuality) and flame out the next because she has not kept up with the leftward march (she believes that males who identify as “trans women” should not compete in women’s sports). J. K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series, was a cutting-edge voice for feminism one moment but now is canceled because her old-fashioned feminism doesn’t embrace every aspect of transgenderism.

What is happening in our culture? I approach that question not as a culture expert but as a pastor and theologian. My main burden is to do what Titus 1:9 says that an elder must do: “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and

Eikon 4.1 (Spring 2022) p. 120

also to rebuke those who contradict it.” As an elder or pastor, I must not only be able to teach sound doctrine, I also must be able to rebuke those who contradict sound doctrine. That is part of shepherding. That is why over the past several years I have been attempting to better understand our current culture and how Christians are responding to it.

The speed at which our culture is changing in a progressive direction is astonishing. To better understand our current culture, I have prioritized reading books that summarize and reflect on the bigger picture. If you try to make sense of our current culture primarily by watching the news or following news stories on social media, it may be challenging to step back and evaluate the big picture.3

I would like to share with you ten resources that have helped me make sense of our curre...