Author Trevin Wax briefly defines “cultural apologetics” as the practice of using cultural touchpoints as inroads for gospel witness. Wax argues that cultural apologetics first analyzes a given culture—its beliefs and plausibility structures and how it defines “the good life”—and then brings the gospel to bear on that culture in some way, as a precursor to evangelism.
Transcript
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Trevin Wax: Cultural apologetics begins with a particular posture toward the culture. The missionary theologian, Lesslie Newbigin urged Christians toward a missionary encounter between the gospel and whatever culture it is that we are trying to reach to make inroads into into a culture you you must be comprehensible. So it’s important to understand the ways in which the gospel fulfills the deepest longings of the people in that culture.
And the ways in which the gospel exposes the lies that people in that culture believe. And often those two things are connected. It’s it’s the longing for transcendence for a relationship with God, when misdirected that leads us to believe lies to to fall for falsehoods. Cultural apologetics is about the discovery of what makes people in a particular culture tick, you know, why do they believe what they believe? What what is plausible in this society? What is their view of the good life? You can see this in films and TV series and books and songs and musicals and YouTube tutorials.
Cultural apologetics looks carefully at the culture and then looks for ways to bring the truth of the gospel to bear into a missionary encounter with that culture. So if apologetics is about making arguments to defend Christian truth, cultural apologetics is about making arguments that showcase the beauty and goodness of Christianity using cultural touch-points as an inroad for gospel witness, it’s a precursor to evangelism that sets the stage so that the beauty of the gospel can be accentuated.
Trevin Wax is vice president of resources and marketing at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, World, and Christianity Today. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured several times on Christianity and culture at Wycliffe Hall of Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, has served as publisher for the Christian Standard Bible, and is currently a fellow for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He is the author of multiple books, including The Gospel Way Catechism, The Thrill of Orthodoxy, The Multi-Directional Leader, This Is Our Time, and Gospel Centered Teaching. His podcast is Reconstructing Faith. He and his wife, Corina, have three children. You can follow him on X or Facebook, or receive his columns via email.
