The Arts and Broadening Christian Dialog

It appears we are discovering that faith based messages embedded in the arts, which we thought had no perceivable Christian connection, can become a powerful tool in the hands of artistic believers. It can widen the scope of faith for those who can't see God outside the confines of a subculture, while creating dialogue with those who have no faith at all, or at least who think they don't. God created everything; the spiritual and the sacred, ecology and stewardship, art and creation; everything is interconnected as an expression of him.The 20th century was a unique period in human history. It was the only century in which the arts and faith were separated and antagonistic. Before the 20th century, the arts were an important part of the spiritual. It wasn't the exception but the rule. It was an era when Christ's people drove culture as opposed to seeking ways to be culturally relevant. Michelangelo’s David, da Vinci's Last Supper, Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi, and Raphael's Epiphany, all cultural icons with deep ecclesiastical roots. Oh, and monks still make the best beer.If we could broaden our minds as to what constitutes a church activity we might not limit the life of the church to an hour per week on Sunday mornings. When leaders do that it’s easy to see how some forms of art might have a hard time finding their place. But when we recapture the idea of church life that draws us into vibrant, daily, life-changing community, then we can begin to imagine an artistic element to our body life.Cultural dialogue is something Christians should have been doing all along in society, but were prohibited in the last century because of a flawed worldview that segregated Christian inspiration from the mainstream. Captivating culture again and giving it meaning through the eyes of faith rest solely on the shoulders of the Christ-follower. But a flawed doctrine called dualism left ‘cultural dialogue’ an unexplored arena for over two generations.The sacred/secular schism, called dualism, theologically elevated the sacred at the expense of the secular. But to consider the secular a threat to faith is to give enormous ground to the enemy before a battle has even begun. We have claimed so little in this world. We have been like children playing in a wooden sandbox on the edge of a beautiful white sandy beach that stretches as far as the eye can see (and we brought our own sand).When people come to see art, they encounter God. Whether it's watching a dramatic performance, listening to a new rendition of Amazing Grace accompanied by an acoustic guitar, enjoying a solo, or a sculpture or painting, something happens when people's creative juices are primed by the arts. ~Fred