The Applause of Heaven: Max Lucado and the Cutesy in American Evangelicalism

Best-selling evangelical author Max Lucado's appeal is indicative of a motif in evangelicalism that I call “the cutesy.” Evangelicals who use the cutesy seek the knowing smile, serenity, or the heart-felt and precious “awww.” Instead of dismissing the cutesy as unworthy of attention, we should pay close attention to how and why evangelicals especially turn to these types of expressions in certain cultural moments. Lucado serves as the premiere example of the deployment of the cutesy and its power in contemporary evangelicalism to provide psychological stability to his audience. This desire for stability in the modern world runs counter to a political evangelicalism that seeks a militant faith but develops from the same cultural moments and can serve similar functions. The cutesy is another example of why evangelicalism maintains its prominence in contemporary life.