D. A. Carson has done it again. He has written another masterpiece; a book that causes us to think about what it means to be in the world but not of the world. Knowing what culture is, how to relate to the culture, and how to think about it as it relates to the church and kingdom are crucial questions. So much of contemporary Christianity has gone to the opposite extremes, some in partial reaction to a fundamentalist withdrawal attitude about the church. This is happening to such an extent that we must ask who is determining the church's agenda or who is driving the ship, culture or Scripture?

Today, we find Christians attempting to divorce themselves from culture. though it is actually impossible; simply going with the flow of culture and not questioning it; or caught in the middle wanting to know how to understand, interact, and live within culture.

Carson approaches this topic by using the classic typology of H, Richard Niebuhr's Christ and Culture, which poses five different approaches to the question of Christ, Christians, and culture and how they are related or interact. (Some of us studied Niebuhr's book in seminary and have found it to be a reference point for discussions on culture.) Carson's theology enables him to take the five options of Niebuhr and suggest that they are actually not separate approaches but should be parts of the whole. He does this in a manner that helps us to see how we can live in the world and relate to the culture in a way that helps us focus on a biblical worldview that enables us to know our role and calling.

If there is one thing that we can be certain of, especially in this age of communications and a shrinking global village. it is that we do not live in a monolithic culture. Actually it is quite diverse, not only globally but right in our own backyards. We need to know how to relate to the culture in a Christ honoring and serving way. Withdrawing is certainly not an option, even if it were impossible, and allowing the culture to determine our worldview and lifestyle is also not the answer. While there is some validity to seeing the culture as relative because of its diversity, there are some things that transcend the diversity that should unite Christians globally and help us to better understand what it means to be a part of a kingdom that is not of this world. As Carson says, some want to by-pass this discussion for various reasons in a way that allows them to focus on evangelism and church planting. Others living by a dualistic philosophy simply do not try, or know how, to connect their Sunday church life with the rest of the week.

- Charles Dunahoo