What does it mean to “engage culture?” Certainly it does not mean the church has any intention of wedding itself to the worldly culture around it. On the contrary, the word “engage” has many other meanings, two of which are practical to this discussion.

The first definition is “to win over or hold the attention of.” Christians have much to offer the world outside the church. When biblical truths influence culture it is to the benefit of that culture. All society, believers and unbelievers, benefit from following the Bible’s mandates for societal structure. This does not mean that we hold unbelievers to the same standard of behavior as our brothers in Christ, it does mean that we are to influence the community in which we live. Our ultimate goal goes beyond influence, however, it is to win over as many as possible. In this task we can neither avoid the culture by locking ourselves inside a Christian culture (thereby avoiding our mandate to seek and save the lost), nor can we adopt the culture and make it our own (which would take too lightly the sinful influence of man’s culture). Instead we must try to hold the attention of the culture and win it over for the kingdom.

The second definition is “to enter or bring into conflict with.” Often we cannot influence the culture without being in conflict with it. We must point out evil when and where we can, but when we do so we must also provide the solution to that evil. Too often Christians criticize society without offering a way to change it. This is what it means to engage the culture: to criticize when appropriate, to offer meaningful solutions based on biblical truth, and to attempt to win over as many as possible.

These two concepts of “engage” fit neatly with the two responses one usually encounters when trying to win people over to Christ. Either they will understand the truth and desire to be a part, or they will understand the truth and—often vehemently—reject the truth creating conflict with the Christ-follower. Evangelism is people centered. It is easy when talking about engaging “culture” to forget that means engaging real people. For a culture to change one must win the hearts and minds of people.

We now understand what “engaging culture” means, but how important is this task? Should Christians care about the success or failure of the cultures in which they live? Daniel cared, as did Esther and Mordecai. So did Moses. Paul on Mars’ Hill used the culturally familiar to teach foreigners about Jesus. Through their involvement much in their respective cultures was redeemed. They accomplished this only because they did not hide from, or go into partnership with, the worldly culture in which they lived. Instead they engaged the culture and never strayed from their biblical teaching.

So how does one engage the culture? How do we engage the unbeliever in an attempt to win them over? We must meet them on the battlefield of life, a battlefield I call Culture-Space.

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