Jump directly to the Content

Leader's Insight: NASCAR and the Emerging Culture

New traction for understanding shifts in postmodern ministry.

A few years ago I moved from North Carolina to New Jersey. The culture shock was not too bad, but one of the things that made the transition worse was the prevalence of NASCAR fans in the Garden State. I thought I was escaping the redneck South only to find that racin' and rasslin' were really big among my new mid-Atlantic neighbors. The Yankees' accents may have been different from the southerners', but they loved Dale, Jeff, Rusty, and the boys all the same.

I don't care much for the sport, so at first the whole NASCAR-in-Jersey thing bothered me. But then I began to ask why the sport had broken across the Mason-Dixon and was taking over the civilized parts of the nation. My theory is that NASCAR has an inherent appeal to postmodern people. If true, then this means the church can learn a few things by paying attention to the distinctive aspects of NASCAR. I'm not saying you need to start watching the points standings or put a bunch of decals on your car, but maybe this will help you put ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
No More One-Man Band
No More One-Man Band
Larry Osborne and Chris Brown on the payoffs and pitfalls of transitioning to shared leadership.
From the Magazine
Empty Streets to the Empty Grave
Empty Streets to the Empty Grave
While reporting in Israel, photographer Michael Winters captures an unusually vacant experience at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close