Biblically Speaking

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The last newsletter pointed out the general retreat of the pious deeper and deeper into our sanctuaries and out of the world. We also looked at how Christianity is taking on more and more of a spiritual "inner" character with fewer and fewer outward signs. There is a "running away" from the world by the church both corporately and individually. Our God is truly the "Lord of all the earth" we must press that claim in every sphere.

One thing that we have run away from is the Christian idea of truly fine art. In culling through volumes of "art" looking for truly artistic works for the front of our church bulletins, we have discovered very little great modern Christian art. There is little to compare these days to Mattia Pereti's "Descent From the Cross", Gustave Dore's "Jacob Wrestling With the Angel", or Michelangelo Buonarroti's sculpture "The Pieta".

"Today, Christian endeavor in the arts is typified by the contents of your local Christian bookstore-accessories-paraphernalia shop. For the coffee table we have a set of praying hands made out of some sort of pressed muck. Christian posters are ready to adorn your walls with suitable Christian graffiti to sanctify them and make them a justifiable expense. Perhaps a little plastic cube with a mustard seed entombed within to boost your understanding of faith. And as if this were not enough, a toothbrush with a Bible verse stamped on its plastic handle, and a comb with a Christian slogan or two impressed on it. On a flimsy rack are stacked a pile of records. You may choose them at random blindfolded, for most of them will be the same idle rehash of acceptable spiritual slogans, endlessly recycled as pabulum for the tone-deaf, television-softened brains of our present-day Christians."

Interesting quote. Is it really that bad? In his recent book How Now Shall We Live?, Charles Colson says, "Who more than Christians have good reason to appreciate and create works of art?" Colson goes on to encourage the church to "reclaim its artistic heritage and to offer the spiritual direction that contemporary artists need..."

There are few Christian artists today because Christendom has retreated from that sphere and handed it over to the world. When the church rushes out, National Public Radio, the Nation Endowment for the Arts, and many other government programs step in to fund filth and debauchery entitled "art". Where has the church shifted its emphasis? I call it Christian Clipart. We have few Christian artists, but we are inundated with Christian clipartists...just visit your local fine art gallery then drive immediately to the local Christian store and see if Franky Schaeffer doesn't have a point.

When was the last time you or your church gave any support (as a mission effort) to a struggling Christian artist? When was the last time you, someone you know or your church bought a fine Christian art piece? As long as the heathen are the ones paying for art, we will get heathen art. Thomas Kinkade should not be the exception, but the minimum standard by which Christian art is judged.