Editor's Note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Andy Crouch's upcoming book, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, (IVP Books, 2008).

If you want to make a powerful and lasting impact on the culture, you’ve got to do more than just consume it, critique it, condemn it, or copy it. The only way to truly change the culture is to create something new for it – something that will inspire people enough to start to reshape their world.

Here’s how you can use your creativity to change the culture:

Engage the culture. Forget about trying to withdraw from the surrounding culture; that effort is ultimately futile because you can’t help but be influenced on some level by your culture. Instead, choose to participate in the culture. Rather than worrying about the culture influencing you in negative ways, do all you can to influence the culture in positive ways.

Don’t separate your faith from the rest of your life. Integrate your faith fully into your lifestyle by following God’s guidance in every part of your life. Remember that your faith isn’t just about what you do at any given time or place; it shapes who you are and who you’re becoming as a whole person. As you interact with the culture, your faith should naturally influence all of your decisions.

Embrace your calling. God has given you the desire you have to take what exists in the world and make something more of it. Take your calling to be creative seriously by pursuing it with passion. Pay attention to your interests and develop and use your talents to the fullest. Ask God to help you discover what contributions He wants you to make to the world. Then do your best to do so.

Cultivate culture. Take care of the good things that your culture has already given you. Preserve and nourish the best of what people before you have contributed to the culture.

Dare to take risks. Be willing to think and do things that have never been thought of or done before – things that make the world a better place. Ask God to help you overcome your fears so they won’t block you from using your creativity to the fullest.

Tap into the Gospel’s power to transform culture. The Gospel’s power can’t be contained in any particular culture; it reaches into every culture and changes it by changing the lives of the people within. It doesn’t just abandon the old and replace it with the new. Instead, it transforms it from the inside out. With God’s power at work to make even the impossible gloriously possible, every culture can be changed for the better. So make a daily habit of inviting God to work through your life to change the culture, rather than trying to change it yourself. Rely on God’s unlimited power instead of your own limited efforts.