Notice where God is already at work, and join Him there. Look for ways in which God is bringing about something new and better throughout your culture - at your company, school, church, stores, neighborhood, parks, and anywhere else you go. Ask yourself where the impossible is becoming possible, and realize that God is at work there. Consider how you can join God's work. Think about specific ways in which you can empower people by helping to meet their spiritual and physical needs.

Use your power well. The awesome creative power you have at your disposal is a gift from God that you can either use for great good or abuse in ways that lead to destruction. Resist the temptation to engage your power in the wrong ways by humbling yourself to serve other people on a regular basis, genuinely listening to other people's concerns, investing your resources into the lives of people who aren't as powerful as you, and making it your goal to accomplish God's purposes rather than your personal goals. Regularly check yourself to honestly evaluate whether or not you're trusting in God's power rather than your own.

Work with other people. Your contributions to the culture will have a greater impact if you work on them together with a group of other people than just by yourself. Look for people you know and trust; with whom you share passion and conviction and commitment; and whose gifts, talents, and needs complement yours. Work as a community toward common goals.

Discern the impact of your work. Regularly examine how much your creative work is impacting the culture, and in what ways it's doing so. Where are you experiencing God's grace at work to multiply your efforts? How can you focus your efforts on the most fruitful areas to produce the most positive change?

Stay closely connected to God through spiritual disciplines. Make sure you're practicing spiritual disciplines such as prayer and Bible reading, meditation, and study on a regular basis to maintain the close connection with God that you need to rely on His power daily. Get a fresh dose of spiritual power every day to help you engage and change the culture around you.

Sustain hope when you fail and celebrate your successes. When your creative work fails, ask God to help you learn all He wants you to learn from the experience. Trust that, if you follow where He leads, He will ultimately bring about good results from your work somehow. When your creative work succeeds in changing the culture, thank God and celebrate the positive changes you've helped to bring about. Let the memories of your successes so far inspire you to keep giving your best effort to your work.

Adapted from Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, copyright 2008 by Andy Crouch. Published by IVP Books, an imprint of InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., www.ivpress.com. 
Andy Crouch is editorial director of the Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today International. He also sits on the editorial board of Books & Culture and has been a columnist for Christianity Today. He was editor-in-chief of Regeneration Quarterly and for 10 years served as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard University. He is a coauthor of The Church in Emerging Culture and a contributor to the Worship Team Handbook.