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Recently I came across a great post by my friend John Stonestreet at Breakpoint talking about the leading edge in cultural formation–the arts. It also talked about how churches can discourage Christians who are artists in their church (BTW – that is not a good thing).
Here is a partial (but very helpful) list:
First, they said, treat the arts as window dressing for the truth rather than the window into reality it’s intended to be. Second, embrace bad art just because it’s “Christian.” Third, value artists only for their artistic gifts, but not for the other contributions they can make as thinkers and servants with a unique perspective. Fourth, demand that artists only give answers in their work, but never raise questions. Fifth, never pay artists for their work—take advantage of them in ways we would never do with plumbers or accountants. And finally, only validate art that has a direct salvation application.
But equally important is for artists to learn that the goal of art (if Christianty is true) is not merely self-expression. Its about paraphrasing Reality.
Artist Makoto Fujimura argues that for the Christian, art must be more than self-expression. It must be communication, because as Christians we deal with objective reality. As one of my mentors once said, art’s job is primarily to “paraphrase reality.” I like that. We can present beauty without being trivial, evil without being gratuitous, and redemption without being hokey.
And the Christian artist is a communicator also because God created through communication—through His spoken word. The creative individual made in the image of the ultimate communicator must be one who communicates as well. Not just what we feel, but what is true and real. Art’s job is to paraphrase Reality. Now this doesn’t mean Christian art must be preachy or obvious, but it should make us think more deeply and better about life and the world.
Living out the Christian worldview means caring about ideas and the imagination. Its a both / and not an either / or.
Read the rest of the excellent commentary at Breakpoint
Read the article by Philip Ryken on the Arts
I also address the arts and the Christian worldview in my latest book.