By the Book

We live in a country where 70% of the people claim to be Christians. The majority of Americans say they believe in God, yet mention God in a song or create artwork that depicts any Biblical Truth and we are instructed to keep it in the church where it belongs. Didn't Jesus command us, that's right COMMAND us, to go into the world and make disciples? (Matthew 28:18-20) If we want to impact the world around us, don't we have to show them how God has an impact on every part of our lives? I'm not talking about preaching to the world every time we pick up a pen to write or every time we perform, but letting them see what a genuine relationship with God looks like. Maybe we have become the ugly stepsister because instead of letting God's Spirit flow through us and our creations we try to cram the gospel down the throats of our unsuspecting victims. I bet you're thinking - "Well, that's kind of harsh, isn't it? Aren't the arts a great tool to be used for evangelism?" Yes! but it is not the only thing the arts are good for. And how did Jesus evangelize? He simply said, "Follow Me." (Matthew 9:9)

Let me clarify a few things and wrap this up. I do not pretend to believe that one little Bible study is going to solve this issue. I do hope it will get you thinking about how you can be a part of reclaiming the arts for God's glory. I do believe that the arts can be a wonderful outreach to people who have not started a relationship with God but that is only a very small part of a much bigger picture. As Christians we must look for opportunities to expand outside the doors of our churches and move into the world not to be influenced by the world but to be a positive influence in the world. Doesn't Colossians encourage us to do whatever we do to the glory of God? That means in every performance no matter where it occurs we need to be doing it for God. Not everything will always clearly communicate "the gospel" but we can choose to perform and write things that do honor God.

I challenge you (and this is a challenge for me as well) the next time you see a Christian artist venture into the secular art world to pray for them, that God would use them in a mighty way. Let's face it - in the past when this has happened the Christian world tends to criticize and assume that the artist has "gone away from God." The world we are called to reach is not the safe world we have created in our churches. We are aliens in a foreign land, so we can not expect to become the princess of the art world but the quality of our art can display the glory of God regardless if the world understands or not. Cinderella was abused and misunderstood most of her life, it was not until the prince rescued her that the world saw her for who she really was. Aren't we just waiting for our prince to come and rescue us as well?