One of the more enjoyable parts of going to the Catalyst Conference in October was getting a chance to meet Kary Oberbrunner. Speaking from a more personal level, Kary's just a great guy. In between two main sessions, we escaped the conference center (and all its noise—man, Catalyst is loud), sat down on a curb, and had a meaningful conversation about life and ministry and everything in between. Which leads me to an observation from a more professional-theological-ministerial level: Kary is a thoughtful guy with a lot of good things to say to the church as a whole—and to us as preachers.
Why am I talking about Kary on this fine Saturday (in a post that I suspect most of you will read on Monday due to weekend busyness)? Because soon after Kary and I met, I agreed to be a part of a blog tour about his new book The Fine Line: Re-envisioning the Gap Between Christ and Culture.
We don't normally do this sort of thing on the ole' PT Blog, but here's why we're doing it now: 1) because some of you have expressed interest in more direction as to what to check out book-wise, and 2) because we're really trying to use this blog space to raise the level of sound thinking and study for preachers when it comes to matters concerning culture. With that in mind, I point you in the direction of Kary's work.
Kary's working thesis in this new work (slated for release in January 2009) is this: far too often those who follow Christ have fallen into one of two camps when it comes to culture—separatist or conformist (militaristically against or carelessly of the world). In terms easy to digest—and thus easy to apply in life and ministry—Kary offers what he is convinced is a third camp, a better camp: Transformists. Transformists are Christ-followers who find a healthy, effective, relevant balance between Christianity and culture, both loving God and loving people.
This book has a lot to say to us as Christians, but I would contend it has a lot to say to us as preachers. How do we help people navigate the complexity of being "in the world but not of it?" How can we illustrate that complexity in our own preaching—in our weekly opportunity to speak of culture, speak to culture, speak into culture, speak of a new, transformed culture, or even, as Andy Crouch says, speak in such a way that we create culture? There's a lot here to explore and a lot here to pass on to fellow ministers, fellow staff members, elders, and a congregation as a whole.
Here's a video about the book.
Here's a list of endorsements for the book.
Here's where you can pre-order the book for 32 percent off.
Here in this post is our encouragement for you to check this book out.
Keep an eye out on the blog for a few book reviews in early 2009. We always offer two "Book of the Year" awards on the mother site—one for a preaching book that helps sharpen our skills and another for a more generalized book that feeds our soul. I'm looking to put together a few mini-reviews for the best of the rest.
Posted by Brian Lowery at 6:00 AM on November 15, 2008
