How can the Church embrace Art & the Artist?

How can the Church embrace Art & the Artist?

By COLIN KIRTON
Artistic Director of Footstool Players and freelance performing artist

Firstly, the Church needs to engage its mind as per 1 Cor. 1:15 with regard to arts and culture. For too long, it has hidden behind its hand-me-down fears, suspicions and prejudices. It has been guilty of giving simplistic answers to complex issues. Specifically, the Church needs to engage its mind in terms of:

(a) the scriptural foundations for the arts: To understand what the Scripture has to say about artistic expression and form a theology that is based on biblical truth instead of tradition or prejudice;

(b) the culture in which it exists: To understand and weigh cultural artistic expressions in the light of Scriptural truth, and discern with godly wisdom what is and what is not acceptable to God. In this respect, there is a need for consultation among the believers, particularly with artists who have delved into the origins and contexts of these cultural art forms, in order to provide meaningful insight and direction in dealing with these issues.

Secondly, the church needs to recapture its imagination. The imagination is the bridge between the heart and the mind, and therefore a conduit for truth about God. God pays high regard for the imagination in His Word through His widespread use of metaphor, imagery, paradox and story. The evil one is just as aware of the power of the imagination, and seeks to usurp it for his own purposes, for the Word warns us that sin begins its life-cycle in the playground of our imaginations (James 1:15). In essence, therefore, the heart of biblical prophecy is God speaking to His people in such a way as to attempt to recapture their sin-tarnished imaginations.

Unfortunately, contemporary culture has been guilty of stripping the imagination, of dulling us into mindless robots that chant the media’s mantras. The Church has been no less at fault, firstly in its suspicion of the capacity of the imagination and therefore viewing it as something to be subdued, and secondly through its blatant tendency to tell people what to think as opposed to causing them to think.

We need to return to a healthy worldview of the imagination and revisit it as one of God’s chosen avenues for communicating His truth, especially in art. As for embracing artists, we need to see them as artists called by God to the greater sphere of life, and not just the evangelistic church meeting!
Within the Church, if our artistic expression is also an expression of worship, then the total environment and culture of the Church ought to reflect an acceptance and ‘friendliness’ towards artistic expression as part of its corporate worship. The Church can include the artist’s gifts in the overall life of the church, from its worship to its teaching, outreach and social action. The church’s décor, for example, can reflect that ‘art-friendly’ culture. Towards these ends, artists should be encouraged to serve in the leadership of the church and its ministries.

Also, we need to release our artists to the marketplace. It is of utmost importance that artists entering the marketplace do so with the full support and accountability of their local church body.

The Church however has traditionally been suspicious or fearful of releasing their artists into a “secular” marketplace. Some of these fears may be valid given the fact that the marketplace is not without its pitfalls for those with inadequate spiritual foundation. We certainly do not want them to end up as ‘sheep among wolves’.

At the same time, the enemy’s camp is the Church’s mission territory and therefore the artistic marketplace is a mission field that greatly needs to be reclaimed for God. The artists are its mission agents. If art shapes our culture, then we need to build up a new generation of missionaries who will enter into that culture as God’s avant-gardes, influencing it, even revolutionising it, for His kingdom purposes.

As such, the Church can honour, nurture, support and commission the artists and their giftings in the marketplace. This involves:

• Identifying, unlocking and releasing artistic gift within its members;
• Valuing and affirming the artist as an individual, and his/her giftings;
• Training the artist towards excellence in his giftings and obedience to his calling;
• Encouraging and influencing its artists to be salt and light in the marketplace, and as good stewards of their giftings, and not merely practitioners of their art in the context of their churches.

However, it isn’t just the Church that has been suspicious of the marketplace. The marketplace has for too long been suspicious of the Church! The presence of artist-Christians in the marketplace who are able to communicate true Christian spirituality can help to eradicate such suspicions, as well as misconceptions and stereotypes. The pagan Cuban artist Raquelin Mendieta has said that “art and spirituality are one and the same; works of art are prayers on the altar of life”. Certainly, creativity is our spirituality in action, our expression of worship, and we need to rectify the distorted image of our faith, and therefore our God, that many secular artists have.

Yet, it is insufficient for the Church to merely endorse their artists’ entry into the marketplace. As pointed out earlier, the artistic marketplace has more than its fair share of pitfalls. The artist-Christians working in the marketplace needs to have a lifeline to the Church. As with all its missionaries, the Church needs to care for its artists in the frontline of secular culture. It has to provide adequate spiritual foundations and counselling for artists entering the marketplace, and continue to keep them accountable to their calling and steadfast in their discipleship. They need to be supported in prayer, as well as in practical ways. This includes moral support for their craft in the marketplace, for example purchasing artwork, attending concerts and plays, providing venue and resource for exhibiting/promoting their ‘non-religious-themed’ work.

The Church must realise that artists need space – space to create, space to experiment, and space to take risks and even make mistakes. As much as their art, artists are works in progress, and much patience is required to allow the Master Artist to work in and through them. They are often sensitive people whose spirits can be easily crushed, and it is important that the Church extends grace and restorative encouragement in their error rather than adopting an “I told you so” response.

The general attitude towards, and treatment of, artist-Christians in the past has resulted in many casualties – wounded artists who have as a result retreated from their art or retreated from their local churches, or even their faith. In many cases, the scars are deep. They withdraw spiritually and end up lonely and in isolation, becoming reluctant to reveal their vulnerabilities and thus unable to maintain accountability with spiritual mentors.

On the other hand, pride is an issue that many artists struggle with, and there can often be reluctance on their part to seek such accountability.

The local church needs to initiate dialogue with its artists in order to understand them as unique individuals – their temperament, aspirations and struggles – and to foster a mutual respect for each other that would facilitate a healthy relationship that promotes that much-needed accountability.

Of course, ideally, who can comprehend the situation of the artist better than another artist? Therefore it is also important that the artist-Christian in the marketplace actively seek out like-minded artists from the Christian community who will be able to provide mentorship both in terms of developing practical skills and providing spiritual anchors. Preferably, more experienced artist-Christians should be seeking out younger colleagues in the marketplace in order to invest in and impact their lives (2 Timothy 2:2).

The networking of artist-Christians in the marketplace will help reinforce accountability (Ecclesiastes 4:12) and provide fellowship and a springboard for sharing ideas and encouraging one another.

What words of encouragement do you have for young people who are gifted in arts and who desire to pursue art making as vocation?

Firstly, love God above everything else. Jesus said it. It’s the greatest command and the reference point for the whole of life. Your making of art has to flow out of your love for God and its natural corollary of loving others. If you love your art more than you love God, you are worshipping the created rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25).

Secondly, get yourself grounded in His Word. If you don’t get good scriptural foundation for why you do what you do, you’ll be easily swept by every false doctrine in relation to your calling and artistic expression. Trust me, these come not just from the world, but also sadly, from within the church! A book I would recommend for every person wanting to pursue arts as a vocation is Imagine: A Vision for Christians and the Arts by Steve Turner, who among other things, provides a broad scope of Scripture and its impact on how we “do art”.

Thirdly, strive for excellence. Excellence is an attribute of God, and we must reflect that in our art. Beware you don’t confuse it with perfectionism, which affects many artists. Perfectionism is pride in another guise. Perfectionism is self-directed; excellence is God-directed.

Fourthly, just do it! If God has gifted and called you to do art as vocation, trust Him to lead you into a fulfilling career. Forget what others say about getting a ‘real job’. Don’t let the critics rattle you. Be prepared for being misunderstood by Christians who may want to pigeonhole you into only certain ways of expressing yourself artistically, and non-Christians who may be suspicious of your motivations for art or the creative choices you make. There will be discouraging times, but persevere knowing that this is how God has wired you and how He has called you to be His ambassador. There is nothing more fulfilling than being right at the centre of God’s purposes for you.