Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Arts, God, Church
Well, I am continuing this thought from this book I am reading about U2. I know, I know some of you don't like U2 and may be getting tired of this. But I think today's thoughts are very interesting.
There is an entire chapter describing the change in music that U2 went through. The lyrics changed a bit, the music was a bit different. It was the Rattle and Hum CD that was the start of the change. Of course everyone that has followed the band know that the Pop Tour was different and the CDs they came out with during a stretch in the 90's was really different from anything they had ever done. What is interesting to me is the fact that they continued to remain true to their beliefs, faith and devotion to God. While so many in the Christian world 'crucified' them for their videos, apparent lifestyle, etc; they continued making music, touring and humanitarian efforts.
The Author of this book points out a couple of things. His comments hit me hard. he pointed out the stark difference in how the arts (painting, music, church decor, etc) have changed and how they are viewed now as opposed to how they were viewed at one time. It seems we live in a time in church history that does not value the arts. I am not saying this is a universal thing but if you think about it, how many people do you know that are able to use their gifts as an artist, musician, sculptor, designer, writer, actor, (insert your own title here) in a church setting or context. Now I know that there are changes in the tides in some of the mega churches. But look at the architecture of the churches of just a couple hundred years ago, 500 hundred, 1000. Look at the way churches were used from the time of Christ to now. How about how artisans, poets, painters, actors, musicians, etc are viewed then to now. Our society has come to hold scholarship, intellectualism, analytical skill, rhetorical skill, and mathematics in such high esteem that we have forgotten that not everyone is gifted in those areas. I am sure there are exceptions out there. But overall we (the church universal) have forgotten that talent comes in all shapes, forms, and abilities. I can tell you where people that are ‘creative’ in the arts have turned—the music industry, movie making, etc. I personally know over 30 teens that I work with that are and will be very successful movie makers, musicians, artists, etc. Where can they use their talent in our churches? Have we forgotten the artistry and creativity of the Temple, the Tabernacle of our Lord? Have we forgotten the intricate detail given to building and forming the Ark of the Covenant? Have we forgotten that we reach people with the gospel message in ways other than verbal? Think about it. How can we share a message of hope, grace and reconciliation visually? How can we bring about God’s Kingdom message to those that are ‘creative’ without allowing people that are ‘creative’ to use their gifts and talents? What say you????
There is an entire chapter describing the change in music that U2 went through. The lyrics changed a bit, the music was a bit different. It was the Rattle and Hum CD that was the start of the change. Of course everyone that has followed the band know that the Pop Tour was different and the CDs they came out with during a stretch in the 90's was really different from anything they had ever done. What is interesting to me is the fact that they continued to remain true to their beliefs, faith and devotion to God. While so many in the Christian world 'crucified' them for their videos, apparent lifestyle, etc; they continued making music, touring and humanitarian efforts.
The Author of this book points out a couple of things. His comments hit me hard. he pointed out the stark difference in how the arts (painting, music, church decor, etc) have changed and how they are viewed now as opposed to how they were viewed at one time. It seems we live in a time in church history that does not value the arts. I am not saying this is a universal thing but if you think about it, how many people do you know that are able to use their gifts as an artist, musician, sculptor, designer, writer, actor, (insert your own title here) in a church setting or context. Now I know that there are changes in the tides in some of the mega churches. But look at the architecture of the churches of just a couple hundred years ago, 500 hundred, 1000. Look at the way churches were used from the time of Christ to now. How about how artisans, poets, painters, actors, musicians, etc are viewed then to now. Our society has come to hold scholarship, intellectualism, analytical skill, rhetorical skill, and mathematics in such high esteem that we have forgotten that not everyone is gifted in those areas. I am sure there are exceptions out there. But overall we (the church universal) have forgotten that talent comes in all shapes, forms, and abilities. I can tell you where people that are ‘creative’ in the arts have turned—the music industry, movie making, etc. I personally know over 30 teens that I work with that are and will be very successful movie makers, musicians, artists, etc. Where can they use their talent in our churches? Have we forgotten the artistry and creativity of the Temple, the Tabernacle of our Lord? Have we forgotten the intricate detail given to building and forming the Ark of the Covenant? Have we forgotten that we reach people with the gospel message in ways other than verbal? Think about it. How can we share a message of hope, grace and reconciliation visually? How can we bring about God’s Kingdom message to those that are ‘creative’ without allowing people that are ‘creative’ to use their gifts and talents? What say you????
Comments:
<< Home
For real! When I was working with college students at MTSU, we realized that there was a need to cater to those artists. We had several devotionals that allowed these folks to use there talents for the glory of God. What a blessing it was to have people paint, write, sing, and draw as a form of worship to our Creator. I miss you guys and continue to pray for you and His work in that area.
# posted by 
: 6:49 AM
: 6:49 AM
Whoa...are you saying the God wants the whole brain not just the "right" half?
I think we are afraid of the mutliple "interpretations" that art intrinsically has. There isn't enough control, and it's hard to pin down directions that artists are going. It's always been a problem. Michaelangelo caught flack for painting nudes in the section called "Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel. Another artist was even commissioned to cover up the offensive "parts."
Art, music, creating, and expression are all vital parts of being human. Looking at natrure you can see God has all of those qualities and he infused them into us, His most favored creation. So shutting them out of the church is one of the most catastrophic things the church has done over it's relatively revent history.
I think we are afraid of the mutliple "interpretations" that art intrinsically has. There isn't enough control, and it's hard to pin down directions that artists are going. It's always been a problem. Michaelangelo caught flack for painting nudes in the section called "Last Judgement" in the Sistine Chapel. Another artist was even commissioned to cover up the offensive "parts."
Art, music, creating, and expression are all vital parts of being human. Looking at natrure you can see God has all of those qualities and he infused them into us, His most favored creation. So shutting them out of the church is one of the most catastrophic things the church has done over it's relatively revent history.
Beautiful thoughts on creativity and how we need it. Also thanks for introducing me to the spiritual side of U2. It helps explain why they frequently came to my mind in silent moments and I never knew why.
# posted by : 12:40 PM
: 12:40 PM
Not that you were looking for them, but here are my thoughts on the subject of the Arts, or the lack thereof, in the church:
Look around, the wasting away of the Arts is not unique to the church, it is a societal problem. In my judgment, it is one of the major downfalls of democracy. In the golden age of art (to include, painting, sculpting, and the development of what we now call classical music) it was never geared toward the masses. It was geared to an intellectual elite. This allowed the artist to work in subtlety and nuance. For example, light and darkness were used in painting to reflect the artist’s thoughts on a particular subject. The audience, educated as they were would pick up on these details and either appreciate them or discard them.
With the American Revolution and the wave of revolutions that followed worldwide, came the idea that Art, like everything else, should be for all the people to enjoy. It is here that we see a dramatic fall in the intricacy of art. Artists, no longer having an educated audience, had to “dumb down” their expressions. The resulting cascade of idiocy known as modern art and modern music gave us headline grabbing work like the picture of Jesus submerged in Urine (wow, that is deep) and the picture of the Pope smeared with elephant poop (Is the artistic part of that that the artist took the time to find elephant crap instead of using his own?). Or take modern music for example, almost any genre, strike that, ANY genre and you have such an enormous amount of elephant poo to sift through before you find one decent, meaningful, non-repetitive song. This trend has been going on for so long that perversion and oddity have been now replaced perspective and talent in the Art world.
AS a result, many in the church view the Arts as the most secular portion of society. And really, who can blame them? Go in to a Music or Movie store and grab a few random samples. Chances are that you will be holding music that talks about drugs, pimps, sluts, sex, guns, violence, domestic abuse, alcohol use and abuse and/or hate. The movies will probably contain cursing, nudity, sex, violence, gambling, drugs and/or homosexuality. It is no wonder that they are scared to bring this aspect of society into our churches.
I realize the perspective of someone who says that we should not “throw the baby out with the bathwater,” but that person has to understand the perspective of someone that has seen so much “bathwater” that it is hard to imagine that a baby could be in it.
Just my thoughts.
Look around, the wasting away of the Arts is not unique to the church, it is a societal problem. In my judgment, it is one of the major downfalls of democracy. In the golden age of art (to include, painting, sculpting, and the development of what we now call classical music) it was never geared toward the masses. It was geared to an intellectual elite. This allowed the artist to work in subtlety and nuance. For example, light and darkness were used in painting to reflect the artist’s thoughts on a particular subject. The audience, educated as they were would pick up on these details and either appreciate them or discard them.
With the American Revolution and the wave of revolutions that followed worldwide, came the idea that Art, like everything else, should be for all the people to enjoy. It is here that we see a dramatic fall in the intricacy of art. Artists, no longer having an educated audience, had to “dumb down” their expressions. The resulting cascade of idiocy known as modern art and modern music gave us headline grabbing work like the picture of Jesus submerged in Urine (wow, that is deep) and the picture of the Pope smeared with elephant poop (Is the artistic part of that that the artist took the time to find elephant crap instead of using his own?). Or take modern music for example, almost any genre, strike that, ANY genre and you have such an enormous amount of elephant poo to sift through before you find one decent, meaningful, non-repetitive song. This trend has been going on for so long that perversion and oddity have been now replaced perspective and talent in the Art world.
AS a result, many in the church view the Arts as the most secular portion of society. And really, who can blame them? Go in to a Music or Movie store and grab a few random samples. Chances are that you will be holding music that talks about drugs, pimps, sluts, sex, guns, violence, domestic abuse, alcohol use and abuse and/or hate. The movies will probably contain cursing, nudity, sex, violence, gambling, drugs and/or homosexuality. It is no wonder that they are scared to bring this aspect of society into our churches.
I realize the perspective of someone who says that we should not “throw the baby out with the bathwater,” but that person has to understand the perspective of someone that has seen so much “bathwater” that it is hard to imagine that a baby could be in it.
Just my thoughts.
Dude, you know as an artist (although I find it hard to call myself that) and a Christian I've got some thoughts. Fist off I think I would've been more comfortable exploring my talents when I was yournger if I didn't think all artist were weird and had issues and couldn't like sports. Obviously I've found out that wasn't true, but it took some secular co-workers and more mature Christians to help me out with that.
Why do I bring that up? Becuase I think some people in Church don't know what to do with left brian people. I don't think anyone does that is right brian. My point is that yes the Church should embrace us more and at more of an early age. Learn what God thinks about creativity and teach that.
Second, all you people that work in churchs get off your bootys and do somethin about this. Stop analysing all the reasons why and put your talk to actions.
I love my church and one of the reasons why is they are always trying to come up with all kinds of ways to use the talents of their members. Recently they've created a minsitry call "The Creative Arts Ministry." Creative huh? And guess what they did a couple months ago. We had an art show that various members participated in at my church. By the way part of being creative is knowing what to steal so try putting together some kind of art show are something. Theirs your first idea. Have fun with it.
Post a Comment
Why do I bring that up? Becuase I think some people in Church don't know what to do with left brian people. I don't think anyone does that is right brian. My point is that yes the Church should embrace us more and at more of an early age. Learn what God thinks about creativity and teach that.
Second, all you people that work in churchs get off your bootys and do somethin about this. Stop analysing all the reasons why and put your talk to actions.
I love my church and one of the reasons why is they are always trying to come up with all kinds of ways to use the talents of their members. Recently they've created a minsitry call "The Creative Arts Ministry." Creative huh? And guess what they did a couple months ago. We had an art show that various members participated in at my church. By the way part of being creative is knowing what to steal so try putting together some kind of art show are something. Theirs your first idea. Have fun with it.
<< Home
