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.