How to Understand and Engage with Culture (feat. Daniel McCoy and Chad Ragsdale)

Get the book The Disciple’s Mind: Thinking Like a Disciple of Jesus: https://renew.org/product/the-disciples-mind-thinking-like-a-disciple-of-jesus/ 

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Today’s episode will help us think critically and faithfully about how we engage with culture, offering a biblical framework for balancing truth and grace in a complex world.

In this episode, professors Chad Ragsdale and Daniel McCoy dive into what it means to think critically and engage culture as faithful Christians, drawing from their co-authored book.

Chad kicks things off with the question: “How do we love God with all our minds?” He outlines a helpful framework—four ways Christians typically interact with culture—based on two axes: accommodation vs. hostility, and anti-culture vs. counter-culture. He explains how each approach can have its place, but when a temporary strategy becomes a rigid default, it often loses its biblical grounding.

Daniel then contrasts the destructive nature of Satan with the creative nature of God. While the enemy tears apart relationships, truth, and virtue, God brings things together—truth and love, compassion and courage—to create something new and life-giving. He shares everyday examples, like navigating LGBTQ+ issues with both grace and truth, or parenting with both tenderness and honesty.

The conversation emphasizes that discipleship means staying thoughtful and flexible—continually learning, asking hard questions, and avoiding knee-jerk responses to culture. Chad highlights the need for churches to regularly teach on these tensions, encouraging deep, ongoing reflection rather than simplistic answers.

Overall, this episode equips Christians to engage today’s world with wisdom and grace—grounded in Scripture, guided by love, and always open to learning how to better reflect Christ in complex cultural moments.