“When the serpent told Eve that if she ate of the fruit from the tree she would become like God, knowing good and evil, he spoke a half-truth rather than an outright lie. He twisted the truth to make his offer sound attractive and harmless even though it was in direct rebellion against God’s laws. Satan does the same thing in our present culture. Casual statements that sound good on the surface often go unchallenged by Christians, not because we’re avoiding confrontation, but because the statements appear to make sense and we don’t perceive their underlying errors.”

“No one has a monopoly on truth, and we’ll live in harmony if we tolerate each other.”

“Marriage can be between any two people, and it should last only as long as they are happy.”

“We have the freedom of choice to become who we want and to do what we want.”

“There’s a partial truth in each of these statements, but each is based on an underlying lie that reflects a cultural worldview strongly opposed to Christian revelation [emphasis mine]. “We must identify and challenge these lies . . . because they contribute to the moral disintegration of our society and violate God’s good intentions for us.”

“Contemporary American culture has drifted far from its Judeo-Christian moorings. The church bears some responsibility for this in its failure to be salt and light to the world. Another cause is that the liberal elite want to create a future that bears little resemblance to a Christian model. Over the past generation, the ideas and values of this group have permeated popular culture.”

“Scientific and technological advances have improved our quality of life in some respects, but our sense of the sanctity of life, the traditional family, and the moral standards of our society have all suffered greatly. As Christians, we have a hard time responding adequately as various laws, events, and people affect popular culture and challenge what we believe and how we live. Thus, we often fail to challenge the implicit lies that drive the changes in our culture.

“These lies are found in our churches, families, media, politics, art, and education. They affect us and our families and how we relate to each other at all levels of society. This book identifies seven core lies that shape popular culture. They sound good on the surface, yet they reflect a worldview diametrical to Christianity. . . . ”

“The seven chapters in this book, adapted from a selection of Charles Colson’s BreakPoint radio commentaries, discuss significant events and changes in our culture over the past decade. These commentaries help us to understand some of the laws, events and people behind the changes in popular culture and the worldview that informs them. They also help us to examine these cultural currents in light of God’s truth. Supplementary materials in each chapter facilitate the practical application of these concepts, helping Christians to challenge cultural lies and to effectively influence their culture for good.”

“How do we confront these lies? First, we can be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek personal spiritual renewal in these areas. If our own lives are out of line with the truth, we can’t witness effectively on behalf of the truth. . . . ”

“All of us are affected by deceptive and antagonistic worldviews. Lies That Go Unchallenged in Popular Culture exposes underlying cultural agendas and helps us to interpret what is happening in our society. With these insights, we can interact more effectively with those outside a Christian worldview, expose false and harmful premises, and articulate the merits of our own position. We can also present our faith more knowledgeably when we understand the needs of our contemporary society.”

“ . . . The cultural topics addressed in this book are relevant and interesting, and we need to examine them in the light of God’s revealed truth to identify and counteract the lies they promote. The section titled Truths to Consider summarizes some important concepts in a way that makes them easy to understand and recall.”

“There will be no effective cultural response unless spiritual transformation begins with individuals. The Spiritual Dimension sections consider how fraudulent worldviews challenge the spiritual lives of individuals and groups within the church and helps us to be the salt and light that Jesus asks us to be.”

“ . . . The influencing Culture sections suggest persuasive ways to help others see the logic of eventual destruction found in these worldviews as well as alternatives that can liberate their minds and hearts.”

“I hope that as we are inundated in our society by the effects of negative and destructive worldviews, we won’t despair but will see the truth and its life-transforming implications. May God give us the courage to respond in love to the individuals and institutions among whom He has placed us.”

“The answer, writes Laconte [Joe Laconte, in his new book, The End of Illusions, and in this excerpt referring to World War II events—including the holocaust] was that “. . . the latest fads in theology, psychology, and economics had fattened the Bible’s hard-nosed teaching about evil and its deep link to human personality . . . Indeed, the fatal flaw of liberal intellectuals was what the realists called ‘the dogma of the natural goodness of man,’ ” This heresy assumes that “sin resides mostly in social and political institutions”; once man is freed from them through reform or revolution, he will “rise to new humanistic heights.”

“It took theologians such as Reinhold Niebuhr to attack this heresy and revive the scriptural definition of sin. Sin is humanity’s rebellion against God and His laws. Hitler’s rage and maniacal fury against the Jews could be stopped only through confrontation, Niebuhr asserted. Tragically, it took a world war to convince many Christians that Niebuhr was right. It is vitally important that modern Christians recall both the lessons of history and the lessons of Scripture. The line of good and evil runs through every human heart, . . . “

“. . . After all, as Lindsley reminds us, the most fundamental doctrines of our faith—our fallen state and our desperate need for a Savior—are doctrines that make for humility, not pride.

“At the same time, we still need to be able to talk about absolutes. An explanation of the Christian worldview makes no sense without them. . . . ”

“ . . . we must never forget exactly Who and what we’re defending. . . . The defense of the Gospel is most effective when combined with the demeanor of Christ.”

“Can we express our beliefs firmly and clearly without taking responsibility for other people’s beliefs and responses in a codependent way? We are responsible for sharing the gospel appropriately, but the outcome is not in our hands.”

“In All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes, Ken Myers says that “the challenge of living with popular culture” may be the most serious challenge facing Christians today. In some ways, it is even more difficult than the persecution Christians faced in earlier centuries. Of course, being thrown to the lions is pretty gruesome, but at least it was an easily recognized threat. Popular culture is very subtle and can cause a gradual erosion of character than many Christians don’t even recognize.”

“What do you mean, we don’t recognize it? You may ask. Any Christian can tell you that the level of sex and violence has risen sharply in movies, rap music, and dime-store novels.”

“True enough, Myers says. But these are concerns about content; what we often overlook is form. The form of popular culture can shape the way in which we respond, regardless of the message. . . . ”

“Harlequin romances, soap operas, and rock music don’t require intellectual discipline. They’re easy to understand, and they offer immediate gratification.”

“If anything, popular culture avoids making the audience work. It grabs our attention with catchy lines, loud music, and sensational visual effects, all designed to appeal to the sense and the emotions.”

“Over time, these things affect us. By focusing on immediate experience, pop culture discourages sustained attention. By angling for an emotional response, it discourages the use of our minds to analyze what we see and hear.”

“Pop culture is a bit like junk food. There’s nothing inherently sinful about it, but too much of it can spoil our appetite for healthy food. Too much candy can ruin our taste for a fresh, crisp apple.”

“ . . . There’s no harm in popular culture per se, but there is harm in making a steady diet of it. Constant consumption of movies, television, and rock music can encourage simplistic emotional responses to life instead of disciplined thought and analysis.

“Learn to love the things that feed the mind—and the soul.”

“The offerings of popular culture may be more of a challenge to Christians than direct antagonism. In offering immediate gratification, they discourage critical thinking and intellectual effort.”

“Christians are rightfully concerned about the content of sex and violence, but the forms in popular culture also have a degenerate effect on our minds and emotions. They overpower us and discourage us from focusing on higher forms that contain more developed structures.”

“Has too much popular fare affected your attention span? Not only higher culture, but Bible reading, . . .sermons, and times of prayer can be shortchanged. Talk if over with God, and ask Him to give you a hunger to pray and to do the hard work of studying the Scriptures.”