Natasha Crain, an Excellent Resource for the Kingdom.
I have featured author and apologetics instructor Natasha Crain in two of my previous posts: Equipping the Next Generation and Equipping the Next Generation, Update.
Natasha recently wrote an article titled How to Build a More Discerning, Less Naïve, and Better Culturally Engaged Church. I encourage everyone who is concerned about the hostile culture to read and heed her guidance.
Awakening the Church to the Need for Cultural Engagement.
Natasha is a former Marketing executive. She draws on that expertise in her timely article. The following paragraphs are the second and third in the article:
“Let me start by saying that the title of this article is a rather sweeping proposition. Obviously, this is a single article, the issues are complex, and I’m not claiming that what I write here is a complete answer to all the problems we have. But I want to offer what I see as some key levers needed to drive change in how Christians engage with today’s culture.” (emphasis added)
“In my years as a marketing executive, I came to deeply appreciate one particular model that people in the marketing field have used for over one hundred years (in various shapes and forms). It’s a simple funnel that describes the psychological stages people go through before committing to an action:” Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action. (this is the funnel graphic summarized.)
“If we want to move more Christians to the bottom of the funnel—the action point of being more discerning, less naïve, and better culturally engaged—here are the key levers I see at the awareness, interest, and desire points leading there.”
- Grow awareness of worldview differences by addressing biblical illiteracy.
“If a person doesn’t realize that their understanding of the Bible lacks appropriate context and depth, they end up navigating the stormy cultural waters in whatever way happens to make sense to them based on what they think the Bible says. Ironically, without an accurate biblical anchor, their Christian views get completely watered down by the cultural waves…and discernment no longer functions effectively. They’re less able to engage effectively with culture because they aren’t even fully aware of how a biblical and secular worldview really differ.”
- Grow interest in cultural engagement by addressing (lack of) conviction.
“Even if a person gains a better understanding of what the Bible says on relevant cultural topics (the awareness I just addressed), it doesn’t mean they’ll be interested enough to become culturally engaged. There could be many reasons for that, but there’s one that’s especially problematic: a lack of conviction that Christianity is objectively (and exclusively) true.”
- Grow desire for engagement by destigmatizing the relationship between politics and religion.
“Let’s now say that we have a person who is aware of what the Bible says on today’s hot topics and they’re interested in engaging culture because they’re convicted that the Bible offers the one true picture of reality.
That doesn’t mean they’ll actually do something.
Marketers are well aware that awareness and interest do not always lead to a strong desire to do something because there’s often some kind of barrier. There are a lot of barriers I could list here with respect to cultural engagement, but a major one I’ve seen is the prevailing stigma about mixing politics and religion.”
Action Requests
- Please go read the whole article, pick one of her suggested actions from the end of the article, and
- Send me an email letting me know what you intend to do. I will create a prayer list specifically for these actions.
Thank you, and God bless you.
Michael Oswald
Michael Oswald is a follower of Jesus who lives in Boise, Idaho. Unless otherwise specified, the opinions expressed in this article are his own.
© 2020 Michael S. Oswald
“Reasons for the Faith, aka Apologetics” 