We should follow the example of Christ himself, actively engaged as salt and light in the world, contending for the faith and engaging the culture—with an eye towards restoring the culture—all from a distinctively Christian worldview.

In 2010, sociologist James Davison Hunter—perhaps best known for coining the phrase “culture wars”—published To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. The book sparked a debate, especially among Christians, over how best to approach cultural change.

Hunter criticized strategies for cultural change that ignore “high-prestige centers of cultural production,” such as film, media, and the arts. In his view, elites shape culture from the top down. Though suspicious of politicized approaches, Hunter acknowledged that power had to be wielded by someone. He therefore advocated for a strategy he called “faithful presence.” Rather than seeking to reclaim culture or withdraw from it, Christians should serve as faithful witnesses within their spheres of influence.

Now, 16 years since its publication, a fuller assessment of Hunter’s thesis is possible. First, cultural “outsiders” play a much more significant role in driving cultural change than Hunter’s thesis allows. As writer and cultural commentator Aaron Renn has argued, while elites often institutionalize shifts in the culture, change often originates from the margins. Christianity began on the margins. The apostles were not the elites of their day. Though figures like Paul and Constantine were elite converts, the faith’s early growth demonstrates the potential for cultural impact from the margins of society.

This is not unlike the social change that has occurred in the years since Hunter’s book. Social media has disrupted elite media institutions. Influencers shape narratives more often than academics. “Outsider” politicians, from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, have dominated political power. While elites remain important, they don’t tell the entire story of cultural change.

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