Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World
Edited by C. J. Mahaney, Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2008, 191 pages, hardcover, $12.99.

I rarely watch movies. I rented Spitfire Grill from Netflix two months ago and it has been sitting next to my computer gathering dust. My wife asked me last week if I ever planned on watching it. “Of course,” I said, “When I get some spare moments to carefully evaluate what tripe or nonsense is being hurled at me in the name of ‘entertainment,’ I’ll sit down with you and we can enjoy it.” I don’t like movies. Yet, for some reason, the section on media (written by Craig Cabaniss) of Worldliness struck to the very core of my heart and convicted me. Honestly, the whole book did that from page one but I was most surprised about that media section.
     I suppose the real challenge in publishing a book about worldliness would not be designing a gorgeous cover and layout (which Crossway did) but not falling too far into either of the big “L Sins”— that is, legalism or licentiousness. Many books on the subject obviously have a foot, or their whole body, landing squarely in one camp. Some books are simply a moral list of all those terrible things in the world we surely should not be a part of.  Others tout a bizarre form of Christian liberty in which everything, especially “art,” is sanctified and redeemed and so Christians should enjoy everything as God’s gift.
     This book has one incredible strength and one minor weakness. The strength is that the authors manage to avoid both legalism and licentiousness and they refrain from any black and white lists of do’s or don’ts.  Instead they focus on the real problem: the heart. At first, I sensed Craig Cabaniss leaning in the direction of legalism when he wrote, “Christians in John’s day didn’t have the internet, cable television, or iPods, but the desires of the flesh have been around since the fall. To be sure, the packaging and delivery of the world’s offerings have advanced technologically, but their substance has remained as primitive as a talking serpent.” Are you telling me that when I listen to music on my iPod or watch a movie or surf the internet that I am giving in to the serpent? But then, and this happened in every chapter, the author qualified his statement, “Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to watch television, rent a DVD, surf the internet, or spend an evening at the cinema.” Now that sounds like a contradiction. But I quickly found out that these authors are not about do’s and don’ts; they’re about Christian liberty exercised rightly. They’re about striking at the core of the heart.
     In the first chapter Mahaney writes,

“The root issue is within. Before applying this discernment to the world around us, we must start with ourselves, for the root issue is internal, not environmental. We must learn to discern worldliness where it lurks – inside our hearts.”

Many Christians get so wrapped up in their legalistic lists or their very intentional lack of lists, that they forget the root issue is not whether you ever set foot in a theater, it’s why you set foot in that theater; it’s not whether you listen to loads of indie music on your iPod, it’s why you listen to loads of indie music on your iPod; it’s not whether you watch twelve movies a week, it’s why you watch twelve movies a week. Surely that challenges most of us. Who hasn’t passively enjoyed some form of secular entertainment that espoused a secular worldview?  Mahaney nails it when he says,

There may be nothing wrong with the desires in and of themselves; but when they dominate the landscape of our lives—when we must have them or else!—we’ve succumbed to idolatry and worldliness...So what are you captivated by? Really, what do you think about most often, what images have the power to arouse your interest? It’s probably whatever is coming to mind right now. And we must ask ourselves, what value does it have? If you’re more excited about the release of a new movie or video game than about serving in the local church, if you’re drawn to people more because of their physical attractiveness or personality than their character, if you’re impressed by Hollywood stars or professional athletes regardless of their lack of integrity or morality, then you’ve been seduced by this fallen world. (pp. 30-31)

     There was one weakness though I don’t believe it ruins this book by any means. Perhaps it is personal, but I really would have liked to know how these authors handle the world we live in. What movies do they watch? Why? What music do they listen to? Why? How do they justify shopping? Buying things? Living in moderately nice homes? I felt a practical void that lingered just below the surface. It would have been helpful for any of them to have stated their daily practical position on some of these issues and given a reason for why they did or did not engage in what one person may call worldly while another may engage in it every day. I was left to wonder how I am supposed to apply the principles of the book with no practical examples. I often wonder that about these authors in particular. Their theology is rock solid, their preaching is beautiful, they get the gospel right, but I would really like to know how they glorify God in their iPod listening, internet surfing and movie watching. It isn’t as if the book was completely empty of practicality, for instance Cabaniss suggests of movies and television that we must, “Watch on purpose and resist a lifestyle of passive viewing,” but even that is merely an idea in thin air.
     In all this is a fine treatment of how worldliness works and what worldliness is. The authors make you think (something many of us are not prone to doing with our secular involvement) and they write compellingly. I recommend this book especially to teenagers and young people, but the book is not restricted to youth.  Anyone struggling with the question of worldliness—and if you live in America you ought to struggle with this question—should at least read a section in this wonderful little book.

R. D. Thompson

Culture Shift

R. Albert Mohler Jr.  Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2008.  160 pp.  $14.99 (hardcover)

              Navigating western culture is like navigating a ship in thick fog, without a compass, in the midst of a field of icebergs that are moving all the time.  It would be one thing to navigate through a field of icebergs without fog and with a compass and with stationary icebergs but the confluence of those things spells one thing: shipwreck.  Sure and imminent destruction is what awaits the poor mariner who attempts to navigate this sea.  Does the word “perilous” come to mind?  Let me explain.  Most days I follow a fairly consistent routine: I wake up, get dressed, read my Bible and study, and then check the news via my friendly internet provider.  Then the confusion sets in.  Even after a few minutes on Reuters or the BBC everything gets foggy and starts to feel dangerous.  Abortion, international strife, genocide, rape, murder, fierce political debate, and scandal all add to the haze. If these things were reported without bias as mere news it may not be so horrid.   It would be horrid no doubt but less horrid.  Most news articles serve to lend to the confusion because of the clear and obvious agendas that are barely hidden beneath the surface.  Often it is nearly impossible to tell what is good and what is evil because the lines between the two are completely blurred, or what one will say is good in one article another will say is bad in another article.  So I get away from the cursed screen and abandon trying to wade through it all and go out into the workplace.  Here I am assailed by co-workers who could do or say just about anything in a given day.  Whether its talking about their explicit sexual escapades from the evening before, how staggeringly smashed they were at the party last night, or the recent CNN special on how Jesus’ bones were found or the Bible can’t be true, there is sure to be plenty of offensive talk, gossip, and slander.  It can be just as confusing as reading the news, especially if one is a monogamous, truth-loving Christian.  On a good day I usually leave feeling at best fatalistic or at worst highly melancholy.  Relieved from the day’s duties I may go grocery shopping or to some other retailer to run the day’s errands.  Here, I am assaulted by materialism at its best with items in each section of the store screaming, “Buy me!  I’ll make your life better!”  And then at the checkout line are the wonderful magazines clearly not edited by anyone with any specific morals and which shout for you to pick apart the woman on their glossy covers.  In short, by the time I get home I have spent the day being assaulted by myriads of worldviews, hundreds of people without any moral compass, and everyone with different interpretations of life.  Understand the icebergs in the fog metaphor now?  I need a lucid guide who understands the world I live in.  Of course, the Bible is my ultimate compass by which I live, and evaluate the world I live in, but every once in a while a person comes along who speaks 21st century language with convincing clarity and applies the Bible to my situation.  I need those people.  All generations need those people, and most generations have had one or more of those types who have spoken to the issues of their day through writing or other forms of cultural commentary.  R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville Kentucky, is just such a man.  In the midst of the perilous field of icebergs in the fog I need someone who knows where I’m coming from and what I need to hear.  In his brutally clear book, Culture Shift, Al Mohler is a sure guide and a wonderful mentor to help us navigate the danger.

              The day I found out Mohler had a book in the works, I went straight to my local Christian librarian and bade him pre-order it for me.  I wanted my copy as quickly as possible.  Why did I want the book so bad?  Mohler has been something of an anchor for me in the midst of, no pun intended, a shifting culture.  I discovered Albert Mohler in the midst of a time of life when I was morally and culturally confused and unsure of how the church should conduct itself in matters of postmodernism, politics, and life in general.  The very first time I heard him, he was sounding the call that we should love the homosexual but hold fast to the biblical truth that homosexuality was sin and should not be permitted in our churches or in our lives.  It was after this, in exploring his blog, listening to his radio program, and watching more addresses from him, that I became convinced that postmodernism needs to be addressed strongly and biblically, and that, in Paul’s words, the church is “the pillar and support of the truth” in a culture reeling from relativism.  Whether it has been his brilliant response to the New Atheists, his compassionate call to love homosexuals but address sin as sin, or his extremely lucid, practical, everyday responses to everyday questions in a confused and confusing world, there is no one more qualified to write this book.

              Culture Shift’s driving force is a clear call to engage the world that is around us with the gospel especially in issues political.  It is driven by the questions, “How are Christians to remain faithful as we live in this culture?  How should we think about so many of the crucial moral questions of our day?”  Says Mohler,  “These questions are not merely academic .  They will eventually touch every church and every Christian family.  Our homes are constantly invaded by the culture all around us.  Our children are targeted by advertisers and the marketplace of ideas.  Entertainment has become a constant - symbolized by the satellite dish and the iPod.  There is no place to hide.”  This nails the issue square on the head and characterizes Mohler’s cogent prose throughout the volume.  Naturally, the most commendable thing about this book was his constant return to the gospel as a central driving force for me to engage in politics and to wage active worldview war with the culture in which I am steeped.  The questions begin to be answered for us as Dr. Mohler writes that whatever our bent in today’s moral confusion, “Disengagement from critical issues is not an option. . .We love our neighbor because we first love God.  In His sovereignty, our Creator has put us within this cultural context in order that we may display His glory by preaching the gospel, confronting persons with God’s truth, and serving as agents of salt and light in a dark and fallen world.  In other words, love of God leads us to love our neighbor, and love of neighbor requires our participation in the culture and in the political process.”  Further, “As evangelical Christians we must engage in political action, not because we believe the conceit that politics is ultimate, but because we must obey our Redeemer when He commands us to love our neighbor.”  The message is clear: to be a true witness to the gospel I must be an active Christian in a fallen world.  This is no social gospel but the reality of the situation.  Remaining aloof from politics and the moral wars therein is not allowed by my Lord!

              In what issues does Mohler say we ought to be active?  Culture Shift is set up from several of Dr. Mohler’s commentaries published on his blog.  The book spans from “Christian Morality and Public Law” to the use of torture in the war on terror and from abortion to the moral implications of America’s bombing of Hiroshima.  As always with Dr. Mohler, my favorite of his theses involves abortion and the strange confusion that has set in during the course of the American history of this debate.  In addressing this issue, he looks at a certain woman named Rebekah Nancarrow and how this woman was set on having an abortion, until she saw her baby via ultrasound.  Commentating as he does so well, Dr. Mohler says, “That one shot was all it took.  Once she saw the image of her living baby, she lost all interest in her abortion. . .The panic setting in among the abortion rights crowd is understandable.  Once a woman sees the baby living in her womb, abortion is revealed for what it is - the murder of a living human being.  Needless to say, this gets in the way this gets in the way of the abortion rights agenda and cuts into the profits of the abortion industry. . .The abortion-rights movement has finally met its match.  The abortion industry is scared to death of the fetus, knowing that the mere image of a living baby in the womb is the refutation of every argument they can assert and all coercion they would employ. . .As Rebekah Nancarrow came to understand, she was carrying a baby, not a glob of tissue.  That vision of life changed everything.  Now, the question comes down to this: who’s afraid of the fetus?”  Need I say more?  Al Mohler’s Culture Shift is surely worth the 15 dollars!

              Francis Schaeffer once said, “No discipline has tended to think more in a fragmented fashion than the orthodox or evangelical theology of today.  Those standing in the stream of historic Christianity have been especially slow to understand the relationships between various areas of thought. When the apostle warned us to ‘keep [ourselves] unspotted from the world,’ he was not talking of some abstraction.  If the Christian is to apply this injunction to himself he must understand what confronts him in his own moment of history.  Otherwise he simply becomes a useless museum piece and not a living warrior for Jesus Christ.”  This was in 1968, well before modernism met its timely demise, and was written with the same intention that Al Mohler seeks in Culture Shift.  It is prophetic of our own times.  What looked like a emerging problem in 1968, has become a reality 40 years later: Christians are either acquiescing to the confusion wrecking their ships on the moving icebergs of western culture or are simply dropping anchor in the middle of everything hoping that no icebergs come and hit them.  There will be a collision for those who refuse attempt navigation.  The Christian living in these times who desires to navigate the field of icebergs that is western culture would be wise to listen to those who speak truth into the world surrounding them and with Culture Shift, cultural commentator R. Albert Mohler Jr. has given us a wonderful and practical tool with which to navigate.  I wish that every “lay” Christian would read this or at least have a copy on the shelf for when the confusion sets in.

              Happy Reading!

              R.D. Thompson