ART

Oh the very name “Christian art” makes me wince. I think of imitation, playing it safe… should I label myself a Christian artist I expect the thought police would soon be at my door to fruit pick my work looking for any deviation from the sanctioned norm. I speak as a visual artist. There has always been a place for the musician in the church, however the visual artist is often suspect, I think. Maybe that is changing?

Am I being unfair?

I don’t think so. As a Christian who happens to be an aspiring artist, photographer and writer I had the privilege of listening to a room full mostly nonbelievers discuss Evangelicals, in the midst of laughter and their perception of us.

Even as their thoughts and talk displayed a misunderstanding of my faith, they nailed us on the Christian culture. We look ridiculous in their eyes for the very reason stated above; imitating the culture at large than offering a sanitized version of art and music or whatever. We were discussing what they called “offensive or creepy” Christian T-shirts, ones is particular that suggest certain types of people are going to hell. I immediately thought of Derek Webb and The T-shirts that We Wear. Webb is one of the more edgy and controversial “Christian artist” who I greatly admire and love.

I also love my writing class who had this discussion and when I heard it I immediately wanted to blog about it, but I had to wait until I was done with school.

Their refrain was, “why can’t they come up with something original; Christian rock, Christian t-shirts, Christian Guitar Hero. (roll their eyes) And I feel the same way. But I wish it were different.

As a proponent of what I call Art Ministry I am forever thinking and rethinking what it means to be a Christian artist or maybe an artist who happens to be a Christian. I am not satisfied with either description. In my evolving definition of art ministry I find myself proposing that all art references something. There is no art that is completely original. Art is revision at its worst or dialog at its best. As an artist you speak truth to me in song, paint, poetry… then I engage and respond and hopefully something will come forth that is fresh and connected to you or to the community we find ourselves a part of. True dialog doesn’t have rules or a set of expectations but a natural flow. If you are conscious of God at work in you and observant of life around you it births an authentic art that references both the world I live in and the God who dwells within me. That doesn’t happen with a formula.

Life is rough sometimes, how can we avoid being edgy? How can we speak to the culture if we ignore the injustice and the needs we see around us? If we would just open our eyes. I think sometimes as the church we don’t want to talk about it, what is happening to people, how we can impact them. We will make a t-shirt to tell them they are wrong. Wouldn’t dialog instead be refreshing?

How many times did Jesus say, “those who have ears let him hear?”

How many times was Jesus accused of eating with sinners?

If we have the Good News to speak, let us do so creatively and with excellence. Let us share it with those who need to hear it in a way that they understand. Let’s not play it safe. Let us not preach to the choir. Let us not be a subculture that speaks a language that those who need to hear the message don’t understand.

Over my winter break I have the opportunity to do art with some my son’s friends. As believer we will wrestle with the question of being an artist and speaking for God and what that means and how do we do it with excellence. How do we impact those around us and what role do we play in redeeming a culture.

One of the most profound things to happen to me in art class at UTD was a dialog I had with Greg Metz, my instructor. I was taking his silk screen class and I wanted to do silk screen of a last supper presentation at my church. I wanted to use a photo one of my art ministry students took. His comment was this. The last supper is the most reproduced art in the history of art. It is old. Do something new. Think about this, as we enter the sanctuary we bring the world with us. We do it seamlessly. We take the elements. The question is when we leave the sanctuary do we take communion out with us? Think about that.