not that i am any great writter, but i just finished a piece for our church newsletter on the clash of culture and arts and their use in the church. but it got me wondering about the use of the arts in church and how we need to be willing to tap into places of people's existance that we ARE missing...

Why do the arts matter? Is it important that we participate in culture? Is there a connection to God when art happens?

Here’s a thought on the arts from C.S.Lewis & why the arts matter, “To see with other eyes, imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts as well as our own.”

In other words, when someone creates something in the arts it allows us to enter a place in our hearts and minds and souls that we may have not been able to go on our own.

But immediately, when we begin to talk about culture and the arts our minds tend to go to negative places. We are tempted to think of all the things that have gone wrong with the arts & the way art has been mis-used. And to be fair, art has been mis-used & there’s been plenty that has gone wrong. But our response, at times, has been to withdrawal and push back from the table. So the conversation & development of the arts has gone on, for the most part, without many Christian voices.

mistakes to the cultural interaction? - do tell...

1 – we discourage our children from pursuing careers in creative spaces

The worry from the parent’s seat is that our kids will become the “starving artist.” True or False? The truth is that 1/3 of the nation’s economy comes from the arts field. The arts have become every bit as stable as medicine, law…name the field and there’s money to be made. It is becoming very important that we encourage students with artistic abilities to pursue the development of those gifts. Did you know that Anderson University has a very accomplished Art Dept. with a fantastic glass blowing studio? It’s true! If the church, God’s church, is going to have an impact on the culture that surrounds us Christ-followers need to get back to the table of cultural definement. And that means that Christ-followers need to pursue the gifts of creativity and arts that God has placed in their lives. And we parents need to encourage that!

2 – we only champion prescriptive art

Another way of saying this is that we like art that shows the world the way we wish it was. We like to see a world that doesn’t have hunger and war & clean water issues. So when a movie is made about the civil war in Rowanda we turn the channel. When Christian organizations promote the ability to bring clean water to places that have none through well-made documentary-style film making we shut down inside. Something inside of us grows cold. That needs to change.

The Biblical character Nehemiah looks at the world that he lives in and prays a prayer that shows the heart of one moved by God. You can check the specific prayer in ch.1, but here’s the essence…Nehemiah sees the world as it is, and then he sees the world as it could/should be. And the tension between the two weighs so much on his shoulders that his heart is broken by what’s going on. And he cries out to God and says “I want to change what’s happening here! You God, and You alone can help me do that!”

He didn’t say, “Well, this stinks. I suppose I’ll just stay in my little hut and ignore what’s happening.” Or he didn’t say, “Let me write a little check to pay for some new stuff and I’ll see ya later.” He took an active roll in changing the culture around him.

Here’s the short of the cultural discussion for this month – when we allow ourselves to”see with other eyes, imagine with other imaginations, to feel with other hearts” we open the world up beyond our front door and see new things. Things that make God happy, that we may have never seen before. Things that make God sad & angry; & again – things that we may never have seen.

So the challenge here in this first installment of the cultural discussion is this:

Are we willing to encourage those with artistic gifts to pursue the development of those gifts; without saying discouraging things under our breath?

AND are we willing to take a more open-minded look at the culture without turning away from the things that make us uncomfortable? I’m not referring to taking in the things that are mis-uses of art. But are we taking in art at all?

God is speaking through the arts all the time, are we listening?

– much of the info. here comes from time spent with Erik Lokkesmoe who hosts a web resource called brewing culture

– another great web resource for the arts and what Christ-followers are doing about it is art within