How does the way Jesus Christ marked out for us in the Bible relate to the ways of contemporary culture marked out for us in the 21st century?
It is a perennial question that has plagued Christians living in the Western hemisphere since at least the middle of the 18th century. And one only has to glance at the number of books, articles, blog posts and podcasts related to the subject to see that there are about as many answers to that question as there are people thinking the question.
H. Richard Neibuhr’s classic work, Christ and Culture, surveys several of the Christian answers, ranging from what he considers “withdrawal” from contemporary cultures to active “engagement” with those cultures. And despite the many attempts of Christians to tackle the question, it continues to insist itself on the life of each generation of Christians.
Hovering behind the attempt to answer the question is a cluster of concerns: How will the way of Jesus Christ speak to new generations in a compelling mode? What if people, and even whole age groups, begin to leave the Church? How is the church of here and now going to address the contemporary individual’s needs and doubts, questions and concerns, desires and revulsions?
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