Veneer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sociologists describe culture in analytical categories, psychologists probe into the inner worlds of the current generation, and philosophers question the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Veneer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sociologists describe culture in analytical categories, psychologists probe into the inner worlds of the current generation, and philosophers question the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-10T05:06:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-05T01:25:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/files\/2011\/05\/Screen-shot-2011-05-04-at-8.11.33-PM.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/\",\"name\":\"Veneer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-10T05:06:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-05T01:25:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Sociologists describe culture in analytical categories, psychologists probe into the inner worlds of the current generation, and philosophers question the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Veneer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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{"id":16497,"date":"2011-05-10T00:06:58","date_gmt":"2011-05-10T05:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/?p=16497"},"modified":"2011-05-04T20:25:17","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T01:25:17","slug":"veneer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2011\/05\/10\/veneer\/","title":{"rendered":"Veneer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Tim Willard and Jason Locy\u2019s new book, Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society<\/a><\/em><\/strong> has done just that. But this is no textbook. Instead it is a book to read in small chunks \u2026 pondering the ideas and the stories and the reflections. What the two authors do is peel back the layers of our superficiality, and they do so from the angle of those who are pressed to acknowledge where culture is taking them. What is offered here is a cultural theology, a theology that pushes us through and beyond culture into the goodness of God and magnificence of God\u2019s glory and grace. What we find here is that the pain of our life is numbed by the chasing of cultural codes.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a>We move through the language of culture to the language of God.<\/p>\n

What are the major themes of our culture? What directions does it take us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead of analytics, we get symptomatic stories and reflections. Studies of the language of culture: (1) celebrity and fame, (2) consumption, technology and (3) the myth of progress leads to fundamental inversion in the world \u2026 and then the authors take us through these three languages of our culture to the satisfying language about God, magnificence, relationship, transcendent love \u2026 and we are challenged to the uncommon way. To find our identity in God.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a fantastic angle on a real issue: \u201cNothing seems real. The fake feels real, and so the real seems unbelievable. All of society looks upside-down\u2026 a counterfeit world\u201d (88). Familiarity with culture turns culture inside out to reveal the underbelly and reveal that there\u2019s too much veneer, not enough reality, and not enough of what authentically matters.<\/p>\n

So what can we do?<\/p>\n

1. Pursue renewal in our relationship with God and in personal relationships.
\n2. Pursue renewal of your life purpose.
\n3. Pursue renewal in your reverence for God by countering idol worship.
\n4. Pursue renewal in what and in whom we find reliance.
\n5. Pursue renewal as a member of God\u2019s family, the church.<\/p>\n

And \u2026<\/p>\n

6. Exchange dissatisfaction for gratitude.
\n7. Exchange getting for giving.
\n8. Exchange hype for reality.
\n9. Exchange transaction for relation.
\n10. Exchange the common for the extraordinary.<\/p>\n

What I really care most about this book is what 20somethings think about it. I truly wonder if this isn\u2019t a cultural theology written from within. Make sure your youth pastor has this book \u2014 and make sure, too, that your pastor has it. And if you are a pastor this book just might establish the themes for a series on God vs. culture.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"