 According to Christian art history, art is one of the finest expressions of mankinds spiritual aspiration. This contrasts sharply with the arrogance of modern art, which sets itself against God. Indeed, art is more than just word or dance or painting;
it is also the voice of ones soul in his or her spiritual quest. Sadly, the Malaysian Church has yet to recognise the role of art in Kingdom building. At best, art is merely seen as an evangelistic tool. NECF Malaysia Executive Secretary (Research) finds out from Colin Kirton how art can help us discover and articulate our faith. Colin is a freelance performing artist and the Artistic Director of Footstool Players, a theatrical company that provides entertaining and thought-provoking dramatic productions about the Christian faith. It also seeks to encourage and equip the Church to use drama as a medium of communication in Christian ministry.
As a Christian, how do you view art?
Firstly, as a person enjoying the artistic work of someone else, art is a gift from God, created for our blessing. My response to that is naturally grateful worship. I am of course excluding art that dishonours or blasphemes God in some way.
Secondly, as a person exercising my artistic abilities, art is an expression of my worship of God. The creative spark within me is part of my being created in the image of God. This is one of the most beautiful aspects of being created in Gods image, probably only second to the ability to love. When I exercise my creativity as unto Him as I believe I am expected to do by my Creator I worship Him and reflect His image in a fallen world.
How do you combine art and faith? Do artist-Christians have an obligation?
Our primary obligation is worship. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Footstool Players derives its name from Psalm 99:5, which calls us to exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool . We see all our theatrical endeavours as ultimately submitted humble worship at the feet of our great God, so that He may be exalted through all that we do.
I believe that God has given us unlimited scope in terms of the artwork. It does not necessarily have to be about God or religious themes.
However the total body of our work as an artist should reflect and be consistent with a Word-centred worldview.
Our secondary obligations, which really flow naturally from our primary obligation to worship God, are no different from those of any other Christian: Love our neighbour; the celebration of what is good, just, and righteous; speaking on behalf of the downtrodden and needy; encouraging one another, and so on. The only difference is that as artists, we may use our art as the medium of expressing what is on our hearts or communicating our message.
In this increasingly visual-oriented culture, the Bible seems to have lost its appeal in its written form; young people today dont read. How can art provoke them to read the Bible and help them understand Gods work through Scripture?
Art makes the familiar unfamiliar so that the audience is forced to see something with new eyes. Footstool Players do this through theatre. Theatre is actually storytelling, and that is pretty close to the way the Bible goes about communicating Gods heart to us! Much of Scripture is narrative, metaphor and poetry. It makes great subject matter for theatre!
In the 21st century, audio-visual has become dominant, not just with young people, but with the older folks too! We need to rise to the occasion and find ways to communicate Scriptural truth in the media of the day. This is certainly not to diminish the need to read our Bible! But there is a need to creatively explore other options to capture the minds and hearts of people. I am always amazed at how, years later, some of the audience can articulate details and the point of the theatrical pieces we have performed, when they are often unable to even remember what their pastors preached about two Sundays ago!
 Artists see with different eyes. Paul Tillich said, Artists do not merely express a moment of the social situation of their time. They express the dynamics in the depths of society, which come from the past and run toward the future. Therefore, they have a prophetic character.
It is not that artists have a vision of a future which is not yet real. They are not romantics, but in their creative depths they are aware of those elements in the present, which will determine the future of society.
A most telling example of the prophetic function of the artist was the way in which the expressionist painters before the First World War foresaw the catastrophes of the 20th century (1987). How can artists play a prophetic role in Malaysia?
Yes, all artists see with different eyes, but not all are necessarily gifted with the so-called prophetic discernment which Tillich describes. Yet, there is probably a greater streak of that discernment among artists than there might be in the general populace. Perhaps because the artistic temperament tends to be more reflective and introspective, artists tend to have a greater sensitivity to what is happening around them, which is in turn expressed in the artwork.
Again, I dont want to narrow artistic expression among Christians to merely a prophetic role. There is snootiness among some secular artists that if an artwork does not make some social statement, or promote some agenda (usually left-wing!), it is despised as being low art, or commercial! We can easily breed that same kind of more-prophetic-than-thou attitude in Christian-themed art!
But, yes, I would agree that some of the most powerful prophetic statements can be manifested through artists who are sensitive to the heartbeat of God in this day and age and circumstance. In fact, artistic Christians need to continually seek the heartbeat of God so that their artwork may reflect that heartbeat, instead of trying to be prophetic for prophecys sake or feeling pressured that their artwork must be prophetic in some way. When God becomes the focus and pursuit, He will by default use art in prophetic ways that the artists themselves may not have realised when creating the art!
I look upon prophecy as declaring the Word of the Lord or calling the people back to God, so in that sense, we all have a prophetic role to play through our art forms.
In the play entitled Runaway Bride, the Footstool Players 2005 production, we tackled, in seven short sketches, many of the maladies affecting todays Church such as apathy, consumerism, legalism, compromise, idolatry, and lack of love towards the needy. Since it was an exposé of the sinful condition of Gods people and a calling to return to their mandate and position as the Bride of Christ, it was prophetic.
An earlier production, Let Go, Let God dealt with the very struggle we face in releasing ourselves to God who asks us to trust Him with total abandon even when His ways do not seem consistent with His character, or our circumstances seem too overwhelming. Was it prophetic? Certainly! Try Habakkuk for a similar message!
Historically, Christianity has played a significant role in social influence and community transformation. How can art play a role in transforming the nation through the local church (NECFs theme)? Christians are called to be salt and light. How can Christians engage their culture through arts?
Let us first remind ourselves that it is not the art per se that transforms people or nations, but the Spirit of God. But the art may be the medium that He chooses to use to facilitate that transformation.
I feel very strongly that if we Christians are going to engage our culture through art, we need to take a good hard look first at how we view art.
Too often art is viewed merely as a propagandist tool of the Church, seeking to bash everyone on the head with the Four Spiritual Laws! We are also, in the words of Franky Schaeffer, addicted to mediocrity .
If we are going to impose such so-called art on a secular world that has such high standards, we are lacking the credibility entirely! The sad thing is, so much of what the Church attempts to do is in this vein! How can we then be taken seriously? How can we gain an audience for what we have to say?
Art can act as a bridge between believers and the communities. Art provides an avenue for our stories to be told, our feelings to be voiced and empathy to be shared. We as Christians should be telling our stories our testimonies in effect and, above all, Gods stories, through art!
We must also seek to be listeners, empowering the communities to share their stories with us through artistic expression. Empowering communities artistically allows them to process what is happening in their lives, and around them. Perhaps in doing so, we can point to the God who desires to walk with them through all that they experience.
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Colin trained and performed in professional theatre in Canada before returning to Malaysia in 1998. He now freelances in the arts and entertainment scene as an actor, director, writer, trainer, musician, singer, host/emcee and voiceover talent.
He also regularly teaches on issues pertaining to the arts and faith, directs creative projects and conducts practical theatre skills workshops towards equipping and encouraging the Malaysian Church in using the creative arts in worship, teaching and outreach. Colin worships at Subang Jaya Gospel Centre, where he also serves as a deacon. In our next issue, he will share how the Church can embrace art and nurture Kingdom-minded artists.
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