Hey Makers,
Once a month, I host a gathering of fellow creatives. Because I live in Nashville, many people who come to the gathering are songwriters, and many of these songwriters tend to write in the “Christian” or “worship” genre.
However, a few songwriters in the group primarily write in the pop or folk genre. When they’re among this gathering of artists who share faith in Christ, I’ve noticed that those who aren’t creating “overtly” Christian art feel insecure about their creative work.
I’m pulling many thoughts for today’s newsletter from the book “Echoes of Eden” by Jerram Barrs. In the second chapter, Barrs accurately expresses the troubles I believe many Christian artist face:
First, art is considered by many in our churches to be unnecessary and unspiritual, even worldly. Therefore, Christians who desire to be artists are told, “Leave art to the pagans. Our Christian calling is to be spiritual and to bear witness to Christ.”
Second, the Christian who perseveres and enters the arts has to face all sorts of criticisms: the charge of hedonism, of worldliness, of being sinful or carnal. Artists are considered lazy, for art is not “real work.” The artist is thought to be in danger from the world. A young believer who persists in such a calling may be told, “If you have to be an artist, then at least use your art for evangelistic purposes. This can be your only justification for pursuing such a life.”
He then makes the point that art needs no justification because it is a gift from God.
But many Christian artists wrestle with the following questions.
If I want to glorify God and honor Him with my creative work, should I only create overtly Christian art? Can Christian artists do good creative work that pleases God even when the work is not obviously Christian?
What do we mean by “Christian art?”
It might be helpful to start with what we typically mean when we talk and think about making “Christian art.”
Barrs helpfully lays out four things we may mean:
- Art designed to be used in worship or devotion to God.
- Art with “Christian content.” (Bible stories, scripture verses, etc.)
- Didactic art created to teach spiritual or evangelistic lessons.
- Art produced by Christians.
There is a need and a place for art used in worship and art that teaches and reminds us of the truth of the Gospel. But these limited forms of expression aren’t necessarily what Christian artist should aim for as they seek to be faithful in their creative work.
Instead, if we want to create God-honoring creative work, we should aim at these four things.
1. Excellence
Developing competency, excellence, and quality is a way of honoring the gifts and opportunities God has given us and of loving others. In his book “Every Good Endeavor,” Tim Keller makes the point that a commitment to excellence is one of the most “Christian” things we can do in our work.
One danger of thinking of ourselves as “Christian” artists only because we create content with spiritual themes or purposes is that we begin to believe that our work should be judged by content alone, not by skill.
This doesn’t hold true for any other line of work. Most of us would choose the most skilled airline pilot over a less skilled pilot wearing a WWJD bracelet.
When it comes to judging the quality of art created by Christians, C.S. Lewis had this to say,
The rules for writing a good passion play or a good devotional lyric are simply the rules for writing tragedy or lyric in general: success in sacred literature depends on the same qualities of structure, suspense, variety, diction, and the like which secure success in secular literature….Boiling an egg is the same process whether you are a Christian or a Pagan. In the same way, literature written by Christians for Christians would have to avoid mendacity, cruelty, blasphemy, pornography, and the like, and it would aim at edification in so far as edification was proper to the kind of work in hand…it could succeed or fail only by the same excellences and the same faults as all literature; and its literary success or failure would never be the same thing as its obedience or disobedience to Christian principles.
No matter the content of your art, pursuing excellence is a part of what it means to be a faithful Christian artist.
2. Topics and subjects worthy of expression
…there are no secular topics. All creation is God’s and therefore is proper material for artistic expression…we may add that the world and human life in all its fallenness and brokenness is appropriate subject matter for the Christian artist, just as it is appropriate subject matter for the Word of God. We may add further that the hope of redemption from this state of brokenness is also fit material for the artist. - Jerram Barrs
…we may propose as a principle that the themes of all great art — whether produced by Christians or non-Christians — are the world and human life as they came from the hand of God; the world and human life as they now are subject to sorrow, sin and death; and the world and human life as we long for and look forward to their restoration. - Jerram Barrs
In case you didn’t read these super long quotes, Barrs is saying that everything true is worthy of artistic expression.
Good artistic expressions fall into one of three categories: creation, fall, and redemption. This is true for ALL art, not just art created by Christians. Why? Because creation, fall, and redemption are our truest realities.
Personally, I’m learning that it is okay (good even) to create art that represents the implications of the fall and human brokenness. Not every piece of art needs to be “safe,” “fun,” “positive,” “hopeful,” or “redemptive.”
3. The need for integrity of expression
To build from the last point, one of the bad things about modern “Christian” art is that it is full of sentimentality in a way that lacks honesty.
Christians should be truth-tellers, even if that truth is hard and painful.
Barrs mentions that many modern Christian biographies are examples of bad art because they glorify human lives and skirt around the parts of the person that are less than perfect.
In contrast, one thing that makes the Bible so reliable, trustworthy, and good art is that it accurately portrays the good, bad, and ugly of both its heroes and villains.
This principle of representing things as they are is a matter of obedience and honesty. Simple integrity constrains us to communicate faithfully and truthfully not only about the Lord himself and other people whose stories appear in the Bible, but also about our current human condition. Honest heart will delineate human shame as well as human glory, not because we wish to wallow in that shame, but because it represents the truth about who we always are as long as this life endures. - Barrs
While it’s good to represent the brokenness caused by the Fall honestly, a commitment to telling the truth should also lead to the making of art that celebrates all the good things God has made, art that resonates with hope and redemption, and art that delights in and worships God’s character.
When I wonder if I should create something, I ask myself, “Does what I want to make tell the truth?” It’s also been helpful for me to think through which category (Creation, Fall, Redemption) this artistic expression represents.
…the gospel worldview equips the artist…for a unique combination of optimism and realism about life. The gospel is more globally pessimistic about human nature than virtually any other view of things. There is no one class or group of people responsible for the world’s situation; we are all responsible. Each of us is capable of the worst kind of evil, and there is nothing we can do to change ourselves, or even see ourselves in our true light, without God’s help. And yet, on the basis of God’s salvation in Christ, the gospel allows us to be at the same time deeply optimistic, envisioning not simply heaven but perfectly renewed material creation. So artists shaped by the gospel cannot be characterized either by sentimentality or bitter hopelessness. - Timothy Keller
4. Art that serves and edifies
There is a need for everyone to work out in clear personal terms how their work serves the world. - Timothy Keller
Intent is important. Why are we creating this piece? Why are we creating at all?
As Christian artists, we need to have a firm grasp on how our work serves and edifies the world. Serving and edifying doesn’t always mean encouraging. We serve the world when our art tells the truth in a way that convicts, resonates, points to beauty, heals, expands, activates, and enlightens.
The nature of art involves self-expression, and all creations are representations of their creator. On one hand, our art is good in relation to how much of ourselves we put into the work. Detachment and echoes don’t make for good art. On the other hand, pure self-expression makes for bad art. Art and creativity are about connection and communication. To make good art, we need to have an eye on our audience.
As Christians, we also need to fight against doing any kind of work only for what we perceive we can gain from the work (money, prestige, fame, etc.). We want to delight in the work itself because it is one way to give, contribute, love, and add to others.
If you’re a Christian with a desire to create
To wrap this up, to be a faithful Christian artist, do all of your creations need to contain overtly Christian content to be consumed primarily by fellow Christians?
No.
Writing a pop song about heartache could be a faithful way to tell the truth about the implications of the Fall. Painting landscapes could be a faithful way to celebrate and highlight the beauty of God’s creation. Writing fantasy stories could be a faithful way to help the world see reality with new eyes.
If you are a Christian with a desire to create, my hope is that this newsletter will unleash fresh creativity and give you wisdom as you navigate what you’re going to make next.
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That's all folks
I don't have any of my normal "extra" things to share with you this week. I'm honestly doing good to get this newsletter post out to you this week.
I'm curious to hear from you, though; what new things are you making and working on right now?
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