Culture

In the previous two Artios Leadership Conversations, Artios College co-directors Israel Steinmetz and Amber Riggs discussed the relevancy of culture in the Christian life. Specifically, the first conversation explored why Christians should care about their surrounding culture. The second conversation followed up with the explanation of why Christians should study their culture. Why should we care about it? Because we ...

Christianity is changing. Not in the core essentials that were affirmed by the apostles. But rather, the way we talk about, communicate, and even view our faith has changed radically in the past few decades. Anyone who spends much time reading serious analysis of 21st century Christianity, culture, and ministry will frequently come across the term “postmodernity”. Indeed, much of ...

“It seems like we are speaking two different languages.” If you have ever thought this, you aren’t alone. As religion columnist Phyllis Tickle observed, approximately every 500 years, Western culture—and the Church in particular—undergoes such a significant change in paradigms that words often develop two sets of meanings. True to the pattern, we are currently in an era of significant ...

Let’s face it – American culture has undergone radical changes in the past several decades. For Christians, the changes seem to be happening faster than most of us can comprehend. How can we influence a culture to follow Christ when it seems like we are speaking two different languages? Especially when it seems like even within the Church we are ...

Do you ever glance through a newsfeed and wonder, “how can people think that way?!” It can be tempting to just look away in disgusted anger. And yet, as Christians who are navigating today’s culture in the hope of influencing others to follow our path to Christ, we would be wise to follow Stephen Covey’s famous advice to “Seek first to ...

What do those currently ages 17 to 40 have in common? They are millennials. That’s a 23 year age gap! Beyond claiming the same generational status, 17 year olds and 40 year olds have little in common. Commenting on this broad age range in her recent article, 6 Reasons I’m Excited to be a Millennial, Amber Riggs notes: As a pioneering millennial ...

The millennium had barely turned when I first became acquainted with the labels that would define my generational identity. As researchers looked at the culture that had shaped us and hypothesized about how we would collectively respond to and shape our environments as we grew into adulthood, I found myself both fascinated and enthralled by what I read. We were called ...

The first time I saw Veggie Tales I was a high school sophomore in a room full of guys from around the country and we couldn’t stop laughing at Larry the Cucumber’s hairbrush song. Veggie Tales was funny stuff. Every half-hour episode was packed with witty cultural references, silly vegetables and a nice moral lesson, always ending with the affirmation, ...