Christian Aesthetic Declaration Revisited

Canvas Conference 2016 and the corresponding Creativity & the Christian Course was an extended weekend of teaching on the relationship between creativity and theology, and a chance to interact with Christian creatives who have thought deeply on this subject. I came prepared, having expressed in a previous essay my own understanding of the Bible's view of art and beauty, along with questions I was seeking to explore further. This new essay is a chance to articulate how this conference has clarified my thinking, along with its implications for my life.

Theological Clarifications

First, I've better understood how God is the source of all beauty. Art Azurdia's sermon on the vision of God's glory, portrayed in Revelation 19, rekindled a view of God as the source of all power, lacking in nothing and foolish to reduce in our thinking. In light of this vision, our own elevation of ourselves and our abilities is as pathetic as the attack of idol worshippers in Isaiah 44.  My idolatry is a self exaltation that is abhorrent in light of the excellence of our King.

A rewritten Christian Aesthetic Declaration would also expand on the effect that the fall has had on our nature. Prior to this event, humankind was united to God and thus at whole with itself. When this changed, what was once united is now shattered. The former wholeness of our mind, heart, spirit, and body, each working together to understand and serve God, was ripped apart, causing frustration and pain to this day. We see effects of this dichotomy in our debates between valuing the "head or the heart" in our worship of God. When we neglect the creative spirit, or when we refuse to engage the mind in thinking about God, our understanding of who God is will be damaged as a result. Christ is the New Adam (See 1 Corinthians 15:21-23), the very image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). He restores this wholeness that sin tore apart. By being united with Christ, we are being restored back to the whole man that God created us to be. By worshiping God in spirit and in truth, in creativity and in knowledge, in beauty and in thought, we better reflect the God who formed us in our image.

The value I placed on Christ's role in redemption and our creativity has also been expanded. Our Master's use of storytelling and imaginative smilies when teaching, combined with his exquisite intelligence and understanding, give us a clear picture of what this unity looks like in God. Jesus is also the Word of God. No better word has come to us and we should expect nothing more. As Christians, we are priests who point to Him. But like Aaron before the Hebrews, the people demand something else. Our tendency is to give in and offer our own art in replacement, like Aaron and his golden calf (Exodus 32). We must understand that as priests, anything that we divert people to instead of Christ will have no saving power. Our role is to simply exalt Him.

Although my Declaration discussed the infinite beauty of God's Creation, it did not place proper emphasis on the most beautiful of God's acts: His redemption. Aaron Ivey's talk on 'God as the Artist' had me wondering; do I prize God's redemption above all other forms of beauty? We, the redeemed, are in a unique position to honour and celebrate this exquisite beauty. Just as artists have yet to exhaust the complexity and beauty of the human body, so our art should find unending ways to explore  and enjoy this redemption, the greatest art of all. Furthermore, as Christians we have access to the source of all Beauty. Our lives are being transformed as part of the beauty of his redemption. Since our hearts are charged, our lives are a work of art, a beauty that will overflow into everything we do. Some days it can be hard to believe that this beauty is ever visible in our lives, but the best of art takes years to reveal itself and can be the hardest to recognize. Our Gardener's orchard will bear His fruit on His timing, not ours.

Finally, the discussion with Randy Alcorn on the nature of creativity in the New Heavens and the New Earth has me even more excited for our destination. In my Declaration I talked about how in Heaven we will create art for the glory of God without the constraint of sin, but I hadn't imagined what the lack of limitations would mean for our artistic creations. Many masters achieve their greatest masterpiece towards the late middle of their career, before the limitations of the aging body, mind, and eventually death hamper their work. Imagine what they could create as their understanding and craft grows as they go on further and further into eternity! Sin, and the effects of evil and wrong will be conquered, so the pettiness and lack of motives preventing open collaboration will be removed as well. This enjoyment of the new creation and our role in creating it will only increase our worship to its Source and Author.

Randy Alcorn also described how the new Jerusalem is brought "down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2, ESV). It is a new heaven, but also a redeemed earth. Much like Aslan's Country in C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle contains the good of England that can never be destroyed, it is easy to suppose that the best aspects of our current world will be redeemed and become part of the New Creation. This frees us from having to squeeze out any last drop of enjoyment of this current world before it all gets tossed aside. It also gives us hope that the good of our current creativity will be carried forward into the next. Our efforts at producing quality artwork will have an far reaching impact, going beyond our short lifespan or the life of our planet. (I think Tolkien's autobiographical short story, "Leaf By Niggle", hints at this idea. In the story, the painter's unachieved masterpiece gets little appreciation after its artist died, but in the afterlife, his work, while still being the work of Niggle, is transformed into something with far reaching impact.)

Personal Implications

It was illuminating to hear how the artists at the conference achieved balance in their creative processes. Bret Lott told us how he begins his morning writing session by praying Proverbs 16:3 ("Commit your work to the LORD and your plans will be established") and Psalm 90:17 ("Let the favour of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands"). During lunch, I asked Ekemini Uwan how she manages the incessant noise of her significant social media output. She told me that she begins each day with prayer, ignores Twitter on Sunday, and allots only specifics times for responding and posting.

As long as the church has existed, it has encouraged the spiritual disciplines. When I'm at work on something artistic I tend to invest my entire energy in it, barely leaving time to eat. At the root of this is a fear of failure. I don't want to rest from my work until I trust that I have left something of value. The discipline to take of taking regular time away from the craft in order to meet with God and serve other people is a way of trusting God, showing Him that your identity is not wrapped up in the success or completion of your work. And it is this vision of God's beauty that we gain from time in prayer and the Word that should, as Art Azurdia declared, "compel and control our creativity". He is the source of beauty. Let us take time to connect to Him.

This also applies to how we consume media. How do we avoid the subversive messages that creep under our skin through media, culture, and stories? The spiritual disciplines reshape our souls on a daily basis with a power greater than that which is in the world. Mike Cosper told us that "to become a Christian is to adopt a way of life that reorients you to the Kingdom of God." It means resisting passivity and making decisions that will alert us to the spiritual realities in our lives. Then our art creation and consumption can become a sort of spiritual discipline, a way of paying attention to the world and communing with God. The habits of creativity are also important, including community we keep ("have intelligent, good, honest people around you" directed Bret Lott) and how often we spend time away from our screens (Latifah Phillips encouraged us to seek the company of others and spending time with hobbies that involve the physical, such as gardening.)

This leads us into my questions about the role of the local church in a believing artist's life. Although I saw churches in Portland who are very intentional about how they display creativity and disciple the artist, they explained that this focus is an organic response to the makeup of their city and congregation. A locale that does not have such a high percentage of artists will naturally look quite different. But regardless, the focus of the church should be on "creating healthy Christians over healthy artists" ( in the words of Thomas Terry). As another speaker put it, "the church does not exist to serve artists. Rather, artists exist to serve the church."

Think of Jesus Christ, whose beauty and creative power is the root and cause of all our creativity. He came to earth in the humblest of all forms, taking the lowliest of lives and dying in the most humiliating way imaginable (See Mark 10:43-45 and Philippians 2:3-8). If we are to "have this mind among us", let us serve our churches - through art, if need be, but first through whatever need the church has, from the nursery to its janitorial closet.

Reflecting on encouraged me this week, as last Sunday I returned to my church home after being away for three weeks. I had spent most of my time in Portland observing churches with excellent music and who pay careful attention to their aesthetics. I was worried and slightly embarrassed to return to my humble church, with its sloppy approach to design and visuals and a music team in disarray. One of the most talented musicians in our church, who lead my band had just had moved out of town. My current music team was the lowliest and most awkward in the church. I realized that my attitude stepping into this new environment should be to serve with my gifts in wherever way is most needed by that congregation.

The other night, I told my former bandmate this decision over the phone. He agreed, but he also encouraged me to keep practicing so I could eventually serve the church by leading my own band. This leads me to the final lesson I learned about creating art at Canvas: create good art by working hard to develop your craft. Most artists who do this have a motive of self-glorification. As believers, we shun laziness by recognizing that we, of all people, know the Source of Beauty Himself and should reflect this beauty in our art.

My creativity is a gift given to me by my Creator. As a steward of this gift, I am to work at improving it, but I also need to recognize that this gift is not given to me to horde, or as a means to magnify myself. Worshiping myself and my gift will never bring me true lasting joy. Only worshiping the source of joy and gifts will secure that. I am also humbled by recognizing that none of us, not even artists of the highest genius, create out of nothing. We only mimic, copy, and rearrange existing stories, patterns, and designs. It's all been done before, and better, by the Fountainhead of all new things. He invites me to sing along, out of tune and incomplete, but being restored into the perfect image of His Son.

Art and Beauty: A Christan Aesthetic Declaration

 I've been occasionally posting work I did on last summer's Creativity and the Christian course. The following paper was one of the cornerstones of the project. It really helped me think through and articulate my views on one of my favourite topics: the role of art and beauty in the Christian's life. After I attended the Canvas conference, I wrote a follow up essay, which I hope to post soon. Enjoy!

Why is there so much beauty in this world? Why do we humans consistently seek it out, celebrate it, and create more of it, regardless of our context or station? "Creativity is the common currency of being a human being" said Ken Robinson, but it's also one of the most contentious. There are disagreements over what defines beauty, what kind of emphasis should be given to it, and a variety of efforts to either squelch its presence or encourage its fostering. And this is just in society at large. When we turn to the history of the church, we see art and beauty abused, banned, and stripped of its potential, but also playing a key role in responding to God's grace.

Hence there is a need to ask the question: what is a Christian philosophy towards art and beauty? Let's examine what the storyline of scripture says on this topic. We will then ask how these truths apply to our own lives and the lives of our churches. Finally, we shall discuss the implications for myself, along with the areas that I would like to develop further

Art and Beauty in the Storyline of Scripture

Since our world began with God, it is only proper that our thinking on these matters should likewise begin with Him. As the fountainhead of all goodness, "His attributes... have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made" (Romans 1:20, ESV). By examining His handiwork, it is clear that our God is a creative God. From the dawn of human history, scientists, painters, mathematicians, and storytellers have probed the depths of the beauty and intricate complexity of God's creation, and yet everyday is still bursting with further possibilities. Since God's character defines what is good, creativity is something worth pursuing.

Mankind is the pinnacle of all creation, alone distinguished by being made in the image of God. Unlike the animals, man's purpose is to be a representation of God. Since God is creative, we too are called to be creative, in obedience with God's blessing and command that Adam and Eve “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion" (Genesis 1:28, ESV). We create in order to glorify God. It was like He provided mankind with the principles of music, it's vast array of instruments, and the theme of His symphony, inviting us to create variations on it and take it somewhere new.

But bearing the image of God is not the only thing that defines humanity. The fall of Adam and Eve has permeated our blood in an almost equal way. The serpent seduced our ancestors with both the beauty of the fruit and with the lie that through it they too can become like God. ("So when the woman saw that the tree... was a delight to the eyes"; Genesis 3:6, ESV.) No longer content to simply image forth their Creator and give glory to him, they disbelieved their Maker's words and attempted to usurp His role as God. Instead of worshipping God, they wanted to be god, creating their own definitions of right and wrong.

The fall has corrupted our entire race, and the effects of it can be seen everyday in our own hearts. We distort the truth of our God to suit our own inclinations. We find our purpose not in imaging forth him, but from being consumed with our own glory. We view ourselves as God and orient our lives, our art, and our acts of creation around our desires. Instead of finding our satisfaction in God, we seek "our sense of acceptability, joy, significance, hope, and security" (Keller, Timothy J. Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012, 70) from anything else.

The Bible refers to these replacements of God in our lives as idols, and for most of early human history they took the form of art - representational images picturing pagan deities. In contrast, the true God revealed Himself to the Israelites through the medium of words. Man, distorted in his thinking, needs knowledge and understanding of who God is. While this was communicated through didactic writing (the Torah and a good portion of the New Testament), the majority of the Old Testament takes the form of memorable stories, histories both epic and ordinary, and poetry with striking imagery. While we are given information about the nature of God, but the imagination and creativity on display in these other genres of Scripture shows that God recognizes the value of imaginative mediums in revealing Himself.

When God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle where He was to reside, His instructions involved "almost every form of representational art that men have every known." (Francis A. Schaeffer, Art and the Bible: Two Essays Downers Grove, Illinois : Inter-Varsity Press, 2006, 20.) To craft it, God chose an artist named Bazalel and "filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze" (Exodus 31:3-4, ESV). Here again is proof that God places a high value in imagination, craftsmanship, and beauty. Yet God is not worshiped through beauty alone. The details on who God is and how he is to be worshiped are precise and specific. It requires careful thinking and exact actions. There are grave consequences when they are broken and the tendency of the Hebrews was to revert to worshiping through graven images. (They even worshiped that which God used for their redemption. See Hezekiah's smashing Moses's bronze serpent after the Hebrews began burning incense to it {2 King's 18:4}, or Gideon creating an ephod after God's intervention {Judges 8:22-28}, not to mention how quickly the nation fell into the sounding cultures's worship of images.)

These patterns of worship pointed towards something better: Christ, the very "image of the invisible God" by whom "all things were created" (Colossians 1:15-16, ESV). In his life on earth, he became the representative of God that we failed to be, untainted by sin and thus showing God's nature in ways that we could not. It is worth noting that Christ continued the biblical trend of using imaginative illustrations and stories in his teaching. We should also remember how he was described as having "no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2, NIV). (Compare this language to that used in Genesis 3:6 to describe the fall: "when she saw that the tree was good... and a delight to the eyes.") Yet through his appallingly ugly death on the cross, he reconciled "to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven" (Colossians 1:20, ESV). He is now the Lord of everything - our bodies, our world, our art - and through Him everything will be redeemed in a new heaven and a new earth. That which was darkest and most hideous has become the most beautiful.

Implications for the Believer and the Church

Although the story of the Bible finds its conclusion in the new creation, we are not yet there but still situated in a different era of redemption. Let us now examine how this scriptural framework impacts us today. How should followers of Christ interact with art that is created by those who are unredeemed? Yes, mankind is fallen and distorted in both thinking and worship (as described in Romans 1:18-32), but we are still created in the image of God. Should we not then be surprised to find truth, beauty, and goodness in the creativity of those whom He has made? "We can't help but cast off reflections of God's glory" (Mike Cosper, Stories We Tell: How Movies and TV Long for and Echo the Truth, Wheaton Illinois: Crossway Books, 2014, ebook edition, chapter 5). In man there is both goodness in being made in God's image and corruption from being scarred by the fall.  As C. S. Lewis put it so memorably, being descended from Adam is "both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth" (C. S. Lewis, The Complete Chronicles of Narnia, New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998, 284). 

So let's honour our Maker and our fellow men by appreciating their art. Use it to recognize the dignity of man and view it as expressions of man's nature and character (See Schaeffer, Art and the Bible, 53). Let it give you empathy and understanding for other humans, especially those different from you. Allow it to reveal the complexities of life and help you celebrate its possibilities. May it enhance your worship of God! But do all this with the awareness that the greater the art, the more powerful and subtle its message and "the more important it is to bring it and it's world view under the judgement of Christ and the Bible" (Ibid., 66). Although we can recognize the excellence of an artist's work without agreeing on his outlook of life, we must recognize that God has defined good and evil. All men are bound to His Word. Let us be wary of sin, but not forget that Christ has set us free.

What do the scriptures say to the artist who is a believer? We realize that Christ is Lord over every aspect of creation, so we do not need to cower from any aspect of it. Not only that, but because we know God is real, our understanding of the world is anchored in authority. This gives us a bold and joyful confidence that "Christ's insertion into history combined once and for all story and logic, imagination and reason" (Bret Lott, Letters and Life: On Being a Writer, on Being a Christian, Wheaton, Illinois : Crossway Books, 2013, 27). We can "recognize that we are frolicking in the sea of Christendom and not swimming upstream in either of the twin rivers of imagination or philosophy" (Ibid., 28). This gives us the joy and purpose to ask "what do we want to create next?"

So many artists in our world are driven to create art in order to find meaning and vindication. I think this is what the late German choreographer Pina Bausch was getting at  in her declaration "Dance, dance... otherwise we are lost!" (“Pina,” July 28, 2016, accessed August 4, 2016, https://www.criterion.com/films/28404-pina.) Through Christ, we can rest from having to prove ourselves. Our art is not our salvation. Both our validation and our vindication come from Jesus. We are freed from having to constantly create our own meaning. Instead of being a way to glorify ourselves, art becomes a means to worship Him, the source of all our creativity. In such worship is freedom and rest.

The Christian life is not free from temptations. They are unique to every calling and the artist is not exempt. Finding our value and worth from our art alone is not the only danger. There is also the tendency to elevate the importance of our role as artists over the roles of other believers who are less artistically inclined. This is where the local church, so essential in the storyline of scripture, plays a role.

What is the church's response to beauty and creativity? The church's calling is to disciple the nations (Matthew 31:18-20), which certainly includes artists. This involves encouragement, reminding artists of their value within the world and the kingdom of God. The truths of scripture should be applied to their hearts, killing idols and realigning their vision with the story of redemption. The church also humbles artists. It helps them realize that they are just one of the many types of people in the body of Christ, not to be elevated over  "the one who is not artistically bent but is serving the body in an equally important role" (Thomas J. Terry, personal conversation August 2015). It is in this context of fellowship that art can be returned to its proper place: doxology. Throughout the Scripture are commands to create art and use beauty to worship God.  The artist in the church is to do this with excellence, helping the congregation "sing to him a new song" (Psalm 33:3, see also Ephesians 5:19). In the church, under the framework of theology, we can be guided in using our creativity to know and enjoy God better.

The worship of the church gathered is a foretaste of heaven, something we do not yet experience but that we know is guaranteed. The New Heaven and New Earth described in the Bible is a physical world, where all of God's creation is restored in its proper relationship to Him. It is a place where God's glory is put on full display, including all of the goodness of artistic creation. (See “Yes, New Earth Will Have Movies!,” Christ and Pop Culture, April 30, 2015, accessed August 2, 2016, http://christandpopculture.com/yes-new-earth-will-have-movies-why-our-popular-culture-will-last-for-eternity.) Worship in art and song continues, now in the unveiled presence of our King (see Revelation 15:2-3). Revelation 21:24 describes how by the light of the glory of God "will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it." The goodness of our cultures has been purified and brought into God's presence as a tribute to Him.

Gone are sins like laziness that limit our work. Defeated are the tendencies towards idolatry and the worship of self. Removed are the frustrations and limitations of our mortality. Here is a world rich with endless possibilities to create art that exalts God, for here we see him with hearts untainted and minds set free. Our task is living worship; taking the New Creation into uncharted territory (See The Bible Project, “Animated Explanation of ‘Heaven & Earth,’” YouTube, May 19, 2014, accessed August 4, 2016, https://youtu.be/Zy2AQlK6C5k). Now at last begins "the Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before" (Lewis, The Complete Chronicles of Narnia, 524).

Implications for My Christian Life

Having traced how we are to view art and beauty in light of the Bible, let's examine some of the ways these truths apply to my own personal Christian life. The first the recognition that I am not the source of my creativity. When I realize that my creativity is a gift given to me by my Creator and my very best is only an imitation or variation of His masterwork, than I am less prone to covet the creative acts of others. It also prevents me from being stringent in my attitude as I pass on my gift to others, and from demanding recognition and success from my work. "A gift that cannot be given away ceases to be a gift." (Lewis Hyde, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World, 25th ed. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2007, xix. This work on the nature of gifts and creativity in the modern world has much to offer to the Christian on this topic.) My creativity was given to me. Now let it be passed on to the world, bearing fruit unloooked for and unbidden.

I constantly struggle in where I place my identity. My success in artistic creation affects how I am perceived by the world and how I view myself. When I struggle to find the right words or flounder in ability to communicate, my tendency is to get anxious over my supposed ability and question my role in society. Then when I do publish something, I start counting the page views and Facebook likes, as if that were a measure of my success before God. Myself and my art has become my god.

My need is quite simply to have Christ become my source of satisfaction. If my identity is found primarily in him, then every act of my own creation is way to worship him I have an audience of One. If I am caught up in his beauty, then I'd recognize that nothing else matters. (See “Don’t Write Just to Get Published,” The Gospel Coalition, August 2, 2016, accessed August 3, 2016, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-write-just-to-get-published.)

This cannot be done by my power alone. I need renewal in my thinking, renewal in my attitude, and even renewal in my imagination. Through the preaching, gathering, and worship of the local church, my heart is reoriented to the proper object of its love, renewed in its understanding of Who that love is, and reformed from the disordered loves that plague my soul. This process continues in one-on-one discipleship, time spent studying God's Word, and through the displace of being brought back to His reality through prayer.

The astonishing thing is that in light of the Gospel, I can find great joy in appreciating the works of culture. With the attitude described above, I can see God's beauty and goodness in new ways, thanks to the creativity of the human mind. I return the good gifts to the Giver (James 1:17), enjoying God and worshiping him through these reflections of Him and His handiwork.

Areas for Further Development

The scope of this discussion is vast. Artists and theologians with much greater experience and gifts than mine have spent their lives plumbing its depths. As mine continues to take shape, there will be new issues and implications to explore. For the next stage of this course and my journey, here are the questions I wish to examine further.

I would like to learn from churches who maintain a healthy balance between creativity and theology. Why are there "currently very few churches who cultivate a community of creativity?" (Humble Beast Video, “CANVAS - A Conversation with Thomas Terry,” YouTube, 2016, accessed August 2, 2016, https://youtu.be/H1_WqisCHas.) How can churches and pastors who fear or don't value aesthetics change their thinking and practice? What role does a local church play in discipling artists? How can a church worship God better through its aesthetics, whether that be architecture, interior design, typography, or music, without becoming seduced and sidetracked by their beauty?

How does this apply to evangelism? When should we be explicitly Christian in creating works of storytelling, cinema, or songwriting, and when should we be comfortable in the knowledge that while our art does not mention Christ by name, it does reflect the worldview of the Gospel?

I would also like to learn from artists who are faithful to both the integrity of their work and the call of Christ. How do they manage the struggle of finding their identity in Christ instead of their art? How do they bring their art under the discipleship of their church? How do they keep the Gospel of hope in their vision and thinking while they create art and interact with the art community? Thanks to the diversity and experience of the body of Christ, I trust that as I explore these questions I will be guided towards a better worship of God through my creativity.