Art And All That Part The Last

Yes, indeed, I think it's quite time we put this subject to bed.  More and more I am noticing that it is being dealt with on an extensive level in the blogosphere and in Christian circles:  smarter and more spiritually knowledgeable people than I are wrestling with it in a good manner, and I am confident that progress will begin to be made in putting the Arts in their proper place in our worship of God.  Yet there is one last caution that I'd like to leave my readers with--as I promised the last time I wrote here:

Coming up next:  the not-so-good attitude that is beginning to display itself among us...

By "us" I mean Christian artists. 

From last time you may remember that I referenced  the article (insert link) Artists Build The Church from (insert link)  The Gospel Coalition's blog.  Consider the following quotes from that article:

Though successful in his work, Youngren’s real desire was to plant a church in an urban hub that would cherish art as revelation and value artists as spiritual leaders.

Youngren hoped to plant a church that could specifically minister to artists and clear a place at their feet where the entire congregation could sit and learn from them.

In most evangelical churches, many view artistic expression as being merely supplemental to other forms of revelation and understanding. Its centrality to worship is muted.

God is in the sublime, but the sublime is often only accessed by artists. To inadvertently push artists into the margins, then, is to limit a congregation’s experience of God to the finite realm of mediocrity. Artists ought to be central to any church body, because they can reinforce these unseen truths in people’s souls. Guerra is well aware of his responsibilities as an artist and does not hold their power lightly. “It’s a gift to participate in the searing of truth in people’s lives,” he says.

See if you note an underlying message here, as I do:

"cherish art as revelation"

"clear a place at their feet"

"Its centrality to worship"

"sublime is often only accessed by artists"

"artists ought to be central"

"it's a gift to participate in the searing of truth in people's lives"

And hear these words from Mako Fujimura, in his  Letter To North American Churches:

"Instead of having quality artists at the core of your worship, we were forced to operate as extras; as in “if-we-can-afford-it-good-but-otherwise-please-volunteer”, Extras."

"Meanwhile, in the institutions called museums, concert halls and academia, we are asked to be gods."

"Artists have skills and power that a dictator is afraid of, or want to use; and you, the church, unwisely neglected them."

These quotes and many others have me quite concerned that the pendulum could easily swing too far in correcting the neglect of True Art in the church, and end up deifying Art and The Artist:  indeed, it seems that this is an underlying theme in the work of John Guerra and Mr. Fujimura's thoughts as expressed in the articles referenced.  Too easily are our hearts given to idols, and I sense a temptation toward a "priesthood" of artists in the church.

That would be a tragedy.  Art belongs in the church in a much more fundamental and acceptable way than it has had heretofore.  But to elevate it beyond a scriptural emphasis would only set up another idol for our hearts to gravitate toward.  Art is not revelation:  Art is based on revelation:  the revealed Word of God in Jesus Christ.  The only feet we should be sitting at to educate our spirituality are the feet at which Mary sat (Luke 10:39).  The sublime is accessible to us all through our relationship with the Father.  Artists are not central to our worship:  Art is a medium of worship and always will be because the Great Artist gave it as such--but it is the Great Artist Who should be central.

Mr. Fujimura asks the following in his letter:

"Do you not know that the first people known to be filled with the Holy Spirit were not priests, kings or generals, but artists named Bezalel and Oholiab, who built Moses’ Tabernacle?"

Yes, Mr. Fujimura, your facts are correct.  However, please note that it was not Bezalel and Oholiab (Exodus 36:1)who were ordained as priests.  In fact, after they built the Tabernacle, they are never mentioned again in scripture.  They fulfilled their callings and followed God's instructions to create an atmosphere that allowed people to be pointed toward the One True and Living God.

And that was all.  No tabernacle set apart for the worship only by artists.  No letters to the people requesting more respect and attention for artists.  No special classes taught by artists so that people could truly understand the art they used in the tabernacle.

They just fulfilled their callings faithfully and obediently.

May we all do the same.

Thinky Things

Here is a link to a more balanced Q & A session which, I think, puts Art in it's proper perspective.  The host is none other than Shai Lin, Christian rap artist.  I encourage you to listen.  And then, consider following the following good advice from the Gospel Coalition blog article:

"Anyone can submit to beauty and art by simply learning to appreciate it. Learn how to read a novel or a poem. Learn how to listen to music and experience a painting. Support the artists in your community not just spiritually but also financially. Seek out creative and unsolicited ways to do this. Attend a [Christian Musician] concert or buy their [album]. Purchase a painting or attend a friend’s show."

Follow this advice not because you want to support artists, even Christian artists...but in order to worship more fully The Greatest Artist. 

And Hold Fast...

‘But I’m borrred!’

As a mother, one of the best strategies I learned early on was delegation.  So, this week, when things got really busy and I started to feel overwhelmed, I reached into my bag of tricks and came up with that old standby--after which I called my oldest daughter and asked if she had anything she was just itching to tell the world.

Because, you see, I know my children. They all got WORDS...and lots of them.  They got it honest...that's all I'm sayin'.  So, for the very first guest blog post here on the HoldFast, I present to you a piece written by none other than the one responsible for the name of the blog: my daughter Lacy Burnett.  (And thanks, love.  You done me proud!)

Recently, my husband and I were watching a show in which a main character is dealing with therapy sessions that just don’t seem to be working. “It will help you to write down everything that happens to you on a blog,” says his therapist, to which he replies hopelessly, “Nothing ever happens to me.”

Of course, this being a TV show, 30 seconds later all sorts of things start happening to him, and he is extremely happy with the change.

Unfortunately, it’s just a show, and while we certainly understand his boredom and rejoice with him when things get exciting, everyone knows life just doesn’t happen like that. Life is routine, and boredom and discontent are a constant temptation.

But I argue this is often worse for Christians. We, after all, are the ones meant to experience exciting, thrilling things, similar to the stories of David, Moses, and Paul in our holy book. We’re the ones who are supposed to have the power of the Holy Spirit after all, and what good is that if it doesn’t make life interesting, right?

Too many Christian authors don’t speak against this notion, or else, they directly endorse it.

One example is in one of the most popular Christian books today, Jesus Calling. Author Sarah Young states in her introduction: “I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more.” The rest of the book consists of messages she believes God gave to her, outside of the Bible, accessorized here and there with verses, and written in first person.

What happened? Why wasn’t the Bible, the book God gave over thousands of years and filled to the brim with more than we could possibly understand about Him, not enough? Why did she feel she needed to put more words into the Creator’s mouth?

She was effectively saying “Nothing ever happens to me in the Bible.”

Of course I can also understand that feeling. When I was little, my siblings and I learned quickly that the words “I’m bored” or “I have nothing to do” were dangerous! Mom or Dad would start to smile and say “Well, we can fix that...” and if we didn’t run to find something to do quickly enough, we’d get stuck with some chore we definitely didn’t want. So we figured out how to entertain ourselves, for the most part, and even thinking of the words “I’m bored” automatically spurred our minds to think of something to do.

That still works, and just this past month I’ve found that God needed to use it with me again.

Until recently I’ve been unemployed, and with all the housework done, the meals experimented with to the limit of my poor husband’s patience, and the dog brushed within an inch of her life, I found myself sitting at the computer thinking “I have nothing to do...” Promptly the wheels started turning, and God brought to mind some Bible chapters that I was far behind on reading. The temptation then was, “But that’s not what I want to do!” and that laid bare my real problem.

See, I’d forgotten something very important: that life isn’t about me, it isn’t here to entertain me. My job is to glorify God, and that means there is always, always, something to do. While God promises us rest, the Bible never condones idleness of mind or body for it’s own sake, and there is so much written in the Word that we can be doing for the one who died for us. Sometimes it’s reading and studying, sometimes it’s working to remember and perform everyday tasks that slip to the bottom of the list because they aren’t “fun.” Sometimes it’s having fun, finding something to laugh about or to learn. Sometimes it’s doing something for someone else, volunteering, or finding a creative way to bless those closest to us.

But sadly, while reading more of Sarah Young’s book, I noticed that “Jesus” tends to be very focused on the reader. Everything is focused on bringing the reader into “My Presence,” which is described as a euphoric sort of experience that Christians ought to be having all the time.

But nowhere in the Bible does Jesus encourage this constant search for a mountaintop experience. Instead, we are told to pray without ceasing, to be thankful, to love one another, “aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands” (1 Thess. 4:11). Sometimes it’s those “boring” things, the routine things, that, when done with the right heart, glorify God the most.

Art And All That Part X

I don't know how many more Art And All That posts there will be:  I am noticing that more and more blogs, sermons, and Christian Artists are talking about this subject, and doing a much better job than I am.  I expect that I will finish up my own work in "stirring the pot" on this subject soon.

Interestingly enough, I recently found out (with the assistance of my son-in-law, who apparently spends time scouring the internet for blog fodder for me, his mother-in-law!), that there is now an evangelical protestant church in Chicago whose target audience is artists.  The inspiration for The Line church came from an article by none other than Makoto Fujimura--I told you he was someone to watch!

The Line church is set up a little differently than usual.  The result of the vision of Aaron Youngren, former corporate climber at Amazon, with a deep desire to experience a church where artists were spiritual leaders.

Being an artist in his own right—a musician and a writer—Youngren had long struggled to reconcile the seemingly off-kilter role the arts had played in his own church experience, and he hoped to correct that at The Line.  Youngren hopes that part of the ministry of The Line will be affirmatively answering the question

"Can the art that is present in the world be redeemed and be a part of the church?” By “redeemed,” Youngren doesn’t just mean hung up on the wall, but fundamentally changed from the core so that, as he said, “everyone can respect it and see it right alongside the rest of art and know that it’s different.”

To accomplish this goal and target artists as a missional "tribe" for the purposes of reaching them with the gospel, Youngren looked for a "mature Christian, theologian, and public artist" to bring onboard as artist-in-residence.  The church supports  Jon Guerra, a musician with the band Milano, and he receives a modest living from them just to create art, though he does often lead worship on Sunday mornings.

This is a novel approach, and I think a good move toward recognizing the importance of art.  Several other points are made in the article which I'd like to point out before I take up the matters that concern me.

Regarding the question concerning redeeming art referenced above, the article states:

Many churches in Youngren’s past had been aware enough to ask this question, but answered it negatively, believing refined art is not appropriate for a church setting. “In other words,” Youngren said, “We can turn the amps up, we can make it sound more modern, but when it comes to things like abstraction, impression, and subtlety, we think they are best left outside the corporate church setting.

This is a failing in our churches and our worship.  In my experience, our God expresses Himself as often in abstraction, impression and subtlety as He does in fact, certainty and practicality!  Scripture is clear about this, stating that no one has an excuse for ignorance about God because God's Art proclaims it! (Romans 1:20)

Another great point emphasized in the article is contained in the following quote:

The church should foster imaginations, but they must be wise imaginations. At The Line, artistic excellence is always paired with spiritual maturity. Becoming more Christ-like, not just better artists, is its main priority. “If we ‘re not doing the hard work of studying Scripture and taking care of our own spiritual lives, why in the world would people listen to anything we put out?” Guerra asks. “There needs to be a well from which we are drawing, and that well needs to be rich in the truth so that we aren’t given to vagueness or heavy-handedness.”

Well, Mr. Guerra, I can answer your question ("If we're not doing the hard work of studying Scripture and taking care of our own spiritual lives, why in the world would people listen to anything we put out?")--non-Christians are willing to listen to or look at pretty much anything that stimulates their sensuality.  Unfortunately, too many Christians don't care enough about the theology behind the art to be properly discerning about it, which is one of the reasons we are in this mess--and that's what leads to the vagueness and heavy-handedness.

 So, yes, I agree with the premise in the above quote.  Christian Artist...what is your goal?  Is it a priority for you to be more Christ-like?  Or have you decided that your art is more important than your theology and your prayer life?

And Les Rorick, a 25 year old actor who began to attend The Line, says a most profound thing in the article:

“I always gave worship leaders a huge latitude of grace, thinking that, as an evangelical, the text is more important than how it sounds. But now I’m in a process of finding a balance in that. Finding that the sound is an expression of other attributes that are important, like goodness and beauty.”

And lastly, and encouragement to embrace True Art and support Christian Artists:

Submitting yourself to this tribe is not limited to attendance at The Line, or churches with a similar elevation of artists. Anyone can submit to beauty and art by simply learning to appreciate it. Learn how to read a novel or a poem. Learn how to listen to music and experience a painting. Support the artists in your community not just spiritually but also financially. Seek out creative and unsolicited ways to do this. Attend a Milano concert or buy their new EP. Purchase a painting or attend a friend’s show. By supporting artists, you are co-collaborators with them in creativity and truth-searing. And remember that, as Fujimura pointed out, “the first people known to be filled with the Holy Spirit were not priests, kings, or generals, but artists named Bazelel and Oholiab, who built Moses’ Tabernacle.”

Thinky Things

So far, so good.  These are all great ideas and thoughts about True Art as we have defined it.  I encourage you to meditate and comment on these. 

Coming up next:  the not-so-good attitude that is beginning to display itself among us...

Read the whole article on The Line here.

Thinking Poor

Two scenarios:

Scenario ONE

It is 25 years ago, and my husband and I are in the sewing shop surrounded by exciting fabrics and notions.  We are speaking to our friend who owns the store as she shows us sewing machine models.  The model I have been using is a verified antique bought for me by my mom when she found it on sale and in working condition: we now have two children who are getting older, and we need a more reliable, more modern machine.

We are poor.  I cannot tell you how poor.  The reason we are in this shop in this town is because my husband just got laid off in the great oil bust of the late 1980s, and we have taken the separation money and have moved to his college town so he can finish his degree.  Making clothes is still cheaper (at this time) than buying them, so investing in a sewing machine is a wise purchase.

We look at all the models, even those priced very much higher than we were planning to spend.  Finally we decide:  not the cheapest model, and not the most expensive.  We choose the model from the expensive line that is most likely to be repairable by my husband himself, should it break.  Our friend the shop owner comments on how blessed she is by my husband's attitude in laying out so much money for a sewing machine.  I remember the warm feeling I had as my husband shared with her that he believed in buying the best you can afford because it would last longer and cost less in the end, AND that since he would have done that in buying tools for his garage, he wanted to make sure I got the best tool we could afford for the house.

(I am fat.  She was thin and beautiful.  But I will never forget the day she told me she didn't think her husband would stay with her if she gained any weight.  That's a story for another day…)

Scenario TWO

I know a couple where there are no children in the home, the husband has a great job which pays well.  They are older, and have taken good (maybe too good!) care of their money over the years.  They are not hurting, not by any stretch of the imagination.

However, in their pantry you will find stacks and stacks of ramen noodles, bought on sale.  On every chair in their home you will find a stack of newspapers containing coupons which the wife will try to go through and diligently cut out every coupon and find every sale.  They do not need any more ramen noodles, but they will buy them anyway, if they are on sale--because they are cheap.  They each carry cell phones, but they are used, old models which have not been upgraded in years, and which do not work half the time.  The husband refuses to upgrade to a phone plan which allows texting: If the wife uses more than twenty texts a month, her husband has words with her--her best friend cannot answer the few texts she receives from her because her friend has asked her not to use up her texts by answering.

In their very nice suburban home, which they bought new and have lived there for 12 or 15 years, there are a few problems:  in one case, there are several windows that have become loose and allowed water into the walls, which are now molding and rotting.  The wife tried to explain this to her husband several years ago when all that would have been needed was for the windows to be changed out.  But the husband could not bring himself to spend the money.  Now, however, there is water damage that will cost a lot more than just the replacement windows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I could go on.  There are more than two scenarios to illustrate this principle.  Sometimes it seems like I am surrounded by this kind of thinking!

We at our house call this kind of thinking "thinking poor".  There's a pun in there, for those who are wise enough to see it.  And being poor does not necessitate thinking poor.  In fact, in the end, thinking poor causes poverty, I'm convinced of it.

Here's how it works:  thinking poor causes the purchase of the cheapest possible option, no matter the construction or condition of the item.  If it's a couch, you buy it from WallyWorld because they are supposed to have the cheapest stuff:  it says so right there on the t.v.  But...in three years that WallyWorld couch is going to be trashed because it was cheaply made.  You're going to end up back at WallyWorld for a couch AGAIN.

Let's say that instead you do one of two things:  you do without a couch for a time, save up your money, and purchase a little bit better model of couch at the local furniture store down the street.  No, it's still not the best, but it's better than what you had, and it's of good construction.  OR, perhaps you go to the local flea market or thrift shop, and you invest the time necessary to find a good, used couch which is built really well.  In both cases you've invested in more than just a couch.  You've invested in your self-discipline, you've invested in local businesses, and you've invested in an item that will be less of a liability.  This kind of thinking will clearly not lead to poverty.

Compare the futures of these two options:  one will continually be back at WallyWorld purchasing "new" but badly built couches every three years.  The other will pay a little more, but the couch will last MUCH longer.  In the end, the second option is the one that actually MAKES money!

Over time, I have watched many people fall into the trap of thinking poor and I have pondered what goes on "under the hood" of this process.  The best I can come up with is a deep root within the person of a quality you may be surprised to discover:  self-pity (which is a branch of pride, by the way).  Yes, I really believe that self-pity may be at the bottom of a lot of bad purchasing decisions.  Consider this:  the person wants something, but resents the fact that they are "poor" (poor being a variable dependent upon the definition of the person themselves, and not on any objective standard) and feels cheated by life because of it.  So they purchase a "new" item, which makes them feel good about themselves, but they have to purchase it of the cheapest variety because they don't believe their circumstances would ever be better or that they can do anything about it.

In the case of the couple above, they were too "poor" to replace the windows in the home God gave them, but now they discover that they are actually going to be even MORE poor after having walls torn out and replaced along with the windows!  And think about what their decisions concerning cellphones show about them:  they may think they are being wise to keep old phones and ask their friends not to contact them.  But what price are they paying in their relationships because of this?  We may never know:  but I know that it feels somewhat offensive when my friend is allowed to text me, but I am not allowed to text her in return.  A very tiny investment in better phones and a texting plan would repay them many times in relationship credit.  Not only that, but that husband could love his wife by showing how he cares about her friendships--and it would cost so little.

Now, here's a disclaimer:  I am not saying that everyone should ignore their bank balance and their living circumstances and just buy the best of everything for themselves because they deserve it!

I've been poor most of my life--or at least poor as compared to American standards.  I have yet to really miss a meal or spend a night without a roof over my head.  But I have had to watch my money carefully, and there were times in our lives when I would have been taking food out of my children's mouths if I had decided to buy a coke.  So I do know what it's like to be living paycheck to paycheck, not able to afford any extras.

The opposite of "thinking poor" is not "thinking rich".  It's thinking right!  Do the math!  Think through the problem using your head, not your self-pitying heart.  Delay your gratification long enough to purchase an item that will last for awhile and will in that way actually help you get your feet under you--rather than buying an item that is instead going to be a liability and keep knocking your feet out from under you at the worst times.  Buy some ramen if you must, but save some of that money for vegetables:  you can never replace your health, and eating ramen all the time will rather destroy that precious commodity.

Here's another example:  don't shop at the Dollar Store, or any of it's many permutations.  Or if you feel you must, go in there and compare prices.  Just once, look at the price of what you buy in there and then head out to the local grocery store or WallyWorld.  Check the price on the same item.  Dollar Stores are not cheap!  People tend to shop there because it seems like a good concept:  everything is a dollar, right?  Except that what is stocked there is often of the cheapest, most worthless quality, and the price can actually be higher than in other stores in the area.  If you must shop there, be very sure that you have done the math and are buying the best you can afford at a reasonable price.

Another point to be made, and at which I've already hinted, is that thinking poor is not limited to money.  In fact, what I find is that people who think poor about money invariably think poor about just about everything.  Take, for example, the couple and the issue with the phones:  they are not thinking at all about what a cellphone is really for.  They are only thinking about how much the cellphone costs--which is not what cellphones are about.  And what about the coupons?  They are not thinking at all about the items they really need and will use, but rather about their cost.  The wife will use hours of time going through some of those papers and cutting out coupons for things which they will buy but never use, simply because they are on sale.  Her investment of time is not benefiting the Kingdom of God or her family, but rather the opposite.  Consider also their home:  in every chair is a pile of these papers.  Taking the risk of tossing a few coupons that could save them a few cents would make their home so much more pleasant to live in:  would allow them to use their home more often for godly hospitality.  What price are they paying?

1. Think through purchasing and other decisions without self-pity

2. Consider ALL the "costs" involved--not just the money.  Time, stress, relationships, ministry, replacement/repair; all these are costs!
3. Do the math--all of it.

Apply this to coupon shopping, for instance.  First of all, make sure that shopping with coupons is not a way of saying "poor me, I'm so poor, I can only afford what I want if I shop with coupons."  Be careful also that it is not a way of being prideful; "I am a good shopper because I save money by shopping with coupons".

Then, consider all the costs involved:  yes, that coupon may allow you to purchase 6 cans of minestrone soup for a dollar: 12 if you can borrow the newspaper from your neighbor who never uses coupons, and take it to a second store to get another deal.  But your family HATES minestrone soup!  And what about the time it took you to cut out all those coupons?  Is it possible there was a better use of your time?  If not, then fine.  But be sure.  And what about the gas involved in going to BigLots for bread and cooking oil, WallyWorld for Hamburger Helper, and Kroger for hamburger?

This is one reason I do not shop using coupons on a regular basis.  I have shopped around my area, found the establishment which generally has the best prices on most items which I normally buy at the best quality, and I restrict myself to shopping there.  It does not cost me precious time searching for or cutting out coupons (time which I could be spending with my kids), gas and travel time (driving from one establishment to another to get the best deals on all the different items I use), nor stress and frustration.  It's a good deal in more than just cents!

Thinky Things

So far I have yet to mention scripture at all concerning this subject.  Allow me to just list several below that I think are applicable.  If you don't agree or you can't see how one applies, leave a comment saying so and I'll try to explain.

Lastly:  ask yourself this:  what if God thought about His sacrifice for your salvation the way you are thinking about your money or time expenditures?

Proverbs 6:10–11

Proverbs 26:12

Proverbs 26:16

Ecclesiastes 5:10

Isaiah 55:2

Matthew 6:24–34

Matthew 10:16

Matthew 25:24–29

Matthew 26:6–13

1 Timothy 6:10–11

Hebrews 13:5