I just finished reviewing three curriculums: Where you live matters; Advancing the common good; and Being countercultural from Q and hosted by Gabe Lyons. The three curriculums engage a variety of ideas and people as discussion starters. The topics are not surprise and the standard boogie people of evangelicalism are once again harpooned. 

Though the curricula provide helpful leaping off places for discussion, there were two elements missing. These missing elements undermine the overall intent of the curricula and leave one feeling that the issues are merely "hot" topics within "pop" Christianity (i.e. evangelicalism). The first missing element is a lack of historical grounding. The church has a long history and it has at times contributed constructively to culture, and even led the way. A clear example is the work of Arthur Guinness described in Stephen Mansfield's, The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World. This lack of historical grounding is addressed quite nicely in Jamie Smith's Letters to a young calvinist.

The second missing element is a clear biblical theology that is missional in character. How do the issues addressed fit into the larger scope of God's intentions for creation. Tim Keller perhaps get the closest to addressing the larger narrative in his biblical theology of the city. The issues addressed must be understood and explained with the context of the biblical Story, not drawn from the story and then validated through proof texting. Michael Goheen's A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and Biblical Story  could serve as a clear biblical theology for approaching the identified issues in a more robust manner.