Christians and the Arts
July 26, 2009
A few weeks ago, Gabe Schmidt and Dan Julian co-wrote the weekly article about why Christians should engage the arts. I appreciate their biblical basis for this, as it is often missed in our brand of Protestantism. In the creation account and the tabernacle and temple plans, God reveals himself as artist, and it is right for us to cultivate an appreciation for the artistry of his creation and the expression of his image-bearers as they reflect this creativity through various art forms.
Depending on how much you follow television and movies, you may have responded with anything from curiosity to befuddlement that the title of Gabe and Dan’s article referred to watching TV and movies. I know I had some questions, so I shared a lengthy e-mail interchange with Dan about the title of the article and would like to share two of my responses with you.
First, about the topic of the arts in general, I wish Christians would engage well-established, enduring artistic expression more than we do. I personally know the worlds of music and literature better than I know the visual arts and theatre, but there are stunning creative expressions in all of these forms that we should be exposed to. Gabe and Dan’s article should compel us to walk through an art gallery, listen to a symphony, or read a well-written novel, both to expand our awareness of how other humans have expressed their experiences and to increase our points of contact for bringing the gospel to bear on our culture.
Second, how does this relate to watching a movie or a TV show? If you have ever flipped through the channels or perused Hollywood’s offerings, you know that there is plenty that does not belong in the same sentence as Bach, Dickens, or Picaso. And in my opinion, if you are choosing between reading a Chekhov play or watching a rerun of Law and Order, you should read Chekhov.
However, the fact remains that many of us watch television and movies (some too much, but that is another topic), and though it might not be on the order of hearing Handel’s Messiah, it is still artistic expression. In our e-mail exchange Dan helpfully pointed out that if we relegate our TV viewing to mere entertainment rather than engaging it as art, we run the risk of soaking in the worldview it presents and we miss the deeper levels of what other humans are trying to communicate.
Most of us would agree that the amount of programming that merits such engagement is sparse, and it should go without saying that we must first engage God’s word and make sure we are holding fast to the gospel if we are to bring Christ-saturated eyes and ears to what we see and hear in our world. But with those priorities in place, what kind of questions should we ask when we view TV or movies? How is it that we do what Gabe and Dan called us to-be interested in art-even when we’re watching a TV drama?
Since these brothers introduced the topic a few weeks ago, I have asked them to write a follow-up article giving us helpful pointers for how to interact with what we watch in a proactive, Christian, culture-engaging, arts-reclaiming way. I join you in looking forward to their insight.
Pastor Chris