Artists See

It troubles me that the church, in general, is not more involved with art, with artists, because—at least from my perspective—it seems that there is a disconnect with the church in America and society in America; something, or someone perhaps, a group of people need to bridge the (growing) gap between the evangelical church and secular culture.

 

Here’s the great difficulty in America: because we are capitalist, and everything is something to be bought—(notice that we even speak in economic terms when we speak of relationships; we invest in people; we spend time with them; they are worth a lot to us; their friendship is valuable; now, I’m not saying it’s altogether wrong, even Paul talks like this sometimes [1st Corinthians 6:20], but I definitely think that the economic jargon is overdone and, if I may say it, sickening)—and because of this, the fact that (literally) everything is something to be bought, the gospel has been transformed into something to be bought as well. And that is wrong—but here’s the problem: in America, almost all we understand is commodity, price, so then how do we effective share the gospel, spread the gospel, if not by selling it because our society only understands things that are sold?

 

I saw Donald Miller the other day with my friend Tori, and he is honestly brilliant. He was on this panel of Christian authors and it was great and all, but I have to admit, the whole “Christian Book Expo” thing was—well, it was sickening. It literally made me sick to my stomach. Everywhere there were banners that said, “Be Transformed!” And I know that’s wrong, but if God is so intimate and powerful, then why do we have to advertise him like a new toothbrush? They handed out these brochures that were worse, in terms of advertising density, than fashion magazines or telephone poles in New York. Everything was, Buy This!—You Need This!—You Aren’t A Good Christian Unless You Have This!—and that is all bullshit.

 

The Truth is not a what but a who.

 

Why do we take something so beautiful (the very gospel of Christ, the good news, grace incarnate!) and make it something—tangible. God and his mercy should be alien; the gospel should be something we never understand, because the gospel is God’s love for his people, and who here would claim they understand God and his love? Certainly not me.

 

Instead of selling the gospel, like a toothbrush, instead of asking our neighbors to church every third week of every second month, instead of turning the gospel into another product, instead of making something beautiful something ugly, why don’t we mimic the Lord’s grace in our homes, our neighborhoods and cities and states, our country; why don’t we open our homes to strangers, to people who curse God’s word, to the filthy and the rich, to the intellectuals and the uneducated, to the Republicans and the Democrats, to the black and white, to people of all nations? What if we took grace seriously and did simple things like invite the neighbors we’ve never talked to over for dinner, or bake cookies for the old couple next door, or order flowers for the widow across the street, or make sack lunches for the homeless? Wouldn’t that be beautiful? It would most certainly be beautiful.

 

 Let’s just love people. There’s no reason to make the gospel an advertising campaign, into something complex and nitpicky that we can fully understand; let’s keep the gospel simple (it is love and grace) and mysterious (we will never understand God, never).

 

In the first paragraph I mentioned that the church has lost (or never claimed) its connection with artists; and that is a wretched thing. Artists can see things that no-one else can; not pastors, not priests, not intellectuals, not counselors, not businessmen or businesswomen, not PhDs or scholars.

 

Though it is bold thing to say, I think that artists—often, but not always—see clearest the depth of man’s fall and, consequently, if they know Christ, they best perceive the grandeur of God’s love. We need this love in America; artists should be helping churches the way CEOs run businesses.

 

Artists capture best God’s creativity.

 

Artists see.

 

I think Jesus is an artist.

 

Artists can make anything beautiful; they can translate things the way nobody else can; they can connect people’s minds with their emotions.

 

Jesus is an artist. Jesus made death beautiful. Jesus connects us to God.

 

Is there a more beautiful piece of art—in the world, the galaxy or universe—than the gospel?

 

Thank you for being an artist, Jesus:

 

Psalm 19:1—The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.