Book Review: Faith and Pop Culture by Christianity Today Study Series

Christianity Today has put together a series of studies designed to be used in a small group setting. I got a chance to look at Faith and Pop Culture, one of eight books in the series. Each book uses various Christianity Today articles to use as springboards to start the discussions. In Faith and Pop Culture, the reader is challenged to answer the question, "Can we find Jesus in popular entertainment?" (back cover) The goal for this study is to "wrestle with the positive, negative, and neutral aspects of entertainment and the place it should have in the life of a Christian." (p. 9)

Each of the eight lessons have the same basic format, which helps as you are working through each one. One thing I like about the "open up" section is there are 2 options to choose from. One option might work better for your group, or it might just help you think of another way to introduce the topic for your small group. The eight lessons are diverse and cover a large range of topics. But I see one topic missing from the list: music. One other thing you might notice as you go through the study is a bias in the question writing. I understand every author has a bias when they write, so I'm not trying to be picky. I think it is important to note that some of the questions are leading toward a "right" answer.

Overall, I would say this is a good resource to use to help you talk about the use of pop culture within your small group setting.

My advice (rating) – borrow from a friend (3 out of 5)