Affecting Culture Through Stories?

Becky Miller is a Christian fantasy author who's done a lot to organize writers and readers, and to make booksellers aware of the demand for such fiction. She also thinks intensely about how her Christian worldview should shape and influence the work she does. She shares the results at her blog A Christian Worldview of Fiction. Over the years, we've had some great conversations -- sometimes agreeing, sometimes not -- so I'm thrilled to see her interacting with a point I made earlier this week in my interview with The Book Report. First, the quote:

In a blog post including information from an interview about his soon-to-be-released non-fiction book, Rethinking Worldview, Mark Bertrand said this: After all, the average Christian has been much more profoundly influenced by non-Christian art and entertainment than he has by non-Christian evangelism and apologetics.

That line made total sense as I thought about the 22% of our population who have converted to belief in reincarnation, without people standing on the street corners handing out tracts about it. Or holding reincarnation tent meetings.

When we think of the way culture influences us, too often we assign malign motives to the process. The fact is, some of the most influential people aren't attempting, first and foremost, to corrupt your thinking. They just believe in what they're doing and try to do it as best they can. The resulting influence -- for better or worse -- is a by-product of that effort.

As a Christian, I want two things. First, to be aware of the shaping influence of culture in my own life, so that I can live more deliberately. I'm a consumer of culture -- there's no getting around that -- but I want to be a conscious consumer, and a critical one at that. Second, to make a positive, truthful contribution to the culture so that whatever influence I have is for the good.

For more of Becky's thoughts on the subject, visit A Christian Worldview of Thinking. There's always a stimulating discussion going on, so it's a site well worth remembering.

Comments

[Marvin]

What I want to know is how do I get a signed first edition? O, and could you have it bound in goatskin, No? Well, anyway how about the signed first edition?

[J. Mark Bertrand]

Marvin, there won't be any goatskin bindings on the first run! Signed won't be a problem, though. :)