I'm reading this book and I must admit that it's going very, very slow. It's not an easy read as it traces the roots of visual representations of faith from the very beginning of the church. Much of it is historical and a good reminder of just how far things have come; and just how far we have to go.In the introductory chapters some of these quotes that have caught my attention are:
"Our culture no longer shares deep underlying values that can find expression in widely appreciated works of art and architecture. Rather, each of the ethnic, lifestyle and generational subcultures has it's own particular values and pursuits" (page 15)
"In fact, it is tempting to say that until Christians in the church get serious about supporting the arts they ought to temper their critcism about the kind of art that is produced" (page 17)
"Unless we are moving forward in seeking the genuine transformation of culture, then we are standing still and it is transforming us." (page 23)See what I mean? There are these huge statments that make me stop and think. I just have to take this thing very slowly.
My thoughts on these quotes:
Our desire to transform culture as Christian artists is sincere, genuine and I believe growing. However, it would be naive for us to think that just because Christians jump into the art scene once again that it will magically transform and return to the High Art that we've known in the past.
In fact when Christians return to the world of artistic culture, they may find that the gap between the culture has widened so much that they are engulfed in the loneliness and darkness which pervades much of the secular culture. It is naive for us to think that just expressing our art in a public form will transform culture. True, it must be seen and experienced just beyond the church culture, but the values that the church has and society has have never been more divergent and at odds.
In the last part of the quote he talks about the different subcultures and how they have developed their own set of values. I'm afraid this may be true as we have seen in the spotlight with national elections that we are a more fractured society than we have ever been. Will we return to a set of common values? I don't know--I pray that we will.
The church must again begin to support the arts and artists if we value and esteem this avenue of expression to the world. A long time ago the church was the major Patron of the arts and yes, at times it was self-serving for the purposes of leadership and agendas.
I believe that the church must once again find itself as the Patron of good art and art worthy of esteeming these values that we hold dear. It is in finding these valuable art forms and expressions that we may once again find away to communicate the love of Christ with ears that have grown deaf to our "verbal" assaults and empty attempts to "get them saved" for the sake of being saved.
Our world is a more suspicious world these days. Our witness has lost it's power in words only. Now we must use our lives and our gifts that have been given by God.
The last quote is what really gripped my heart.
Unless we are moving forward in transforming the culture around us, we are losing ground. To do nothing about it doesn't mean that we are maintaining the status quo. In fact to do nothing means that we are losing ground.
For too long we have stayed out of the world of arts in protest of the values that have been expressed. Maybe we wouldn't have lost as much ground had we stayed in the battle and continued to express our values and beliefs even in the face of criticism and mockery. Wouldn't that have been the proper thing to do for the sake of the kingdom instead of making a holy huddle?
So-what do you think? How do these thoughts resonate with you? I'll be interested to hear your take on them.
This post is part of Water Cooler Wednesday's over on Randy Elrod's blog, Ethos. It's a place for people to discuss things like this.
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