Where art the church?
An island for the artist A problem exists. The dichotomy is intensely apparent. These testimonies merely scratch the surface of many believers’ experience with visual art in the church. Many feel out of place and unimportant if they desire something tangible, something beyond words. Visual art and media is an “extra.” They're on the bottom of the list when it comes to functions of the church in comparison to food pantries, missions trips or bible studies, but the divide is false.
The disregard of visual art and media in many local, protestant churches has conveyed to the congregation that it is a non-formative, unimportant expression of their identity as a believer divorcing the relationship of faith and creativity. This dichotomy is deeply affecting Christians in ways that are being overlooked and uncared for.
The two have history
It wasn’t always this way. For centuries, the early church flourished in the use of visual art as a way to symbolize and express its growing faith and body of believers. But the reformation put a stop to that. The Protestant reformation was a clear mark that created the ever growing dichotomy between the protestant church and visual art. John Calvin, Martin Luther
and other reformers in that century were concerned that the Catholic church had replaced visual images and icons with Scripture. The church was worshipping statues and idols instead of God. So, the reformers urged the church to get rid of the visual images.
The emphasis of the Reformation was on the relationship of the individual with God. Author and Pastor Terry Johnson in an article he penned about the reformation said “the Reformed argument against cultic or liturgical use of visual art begins with the second commandment. Calvin launches his discussion of the use of visible forms in worship in the Institutes with his polemic against idolatry in Book I and elaborates further in his exposition of the Ten Commandments in Book II.” Calvin believed that images and visual art led to idolatry, distracted from Scripture and that they implied the inadequacy of God’s self-revelation in words.
Seems simple
Not only did this shift create a divide among Catholics and Protestants, but it forced a wedge between visual art and the church-that it was not an essential part of worship in the setting of the church. At that point in history, Calvin’s harsh skepticism was understandable considering the Roman Catholic positions and practices, but that relationship has never been mended.
Phillip Ryken in Art For God’s Sake says, “if anything, things are even more difficult for Christian artists. Some churches do not consider art a serious way to serve God. Others deny that Christians in the arts have a legitimate calling. As a result, Christian artists often feel like they have to justify their existence. Rather than providing a community of support, some churches surround them with a climate of suspicion.”
I feel it, too
My heart has echoed this struggled for several years now. For so long, I have desired to use my desire to create, show and tell as ministry to the church, but I feel as if it has no place. I tell myself, it can’t be the fault of the church-they have never told me that. I can never remember a time when the church out right said, “your talents are useless or don’t belong here,” but it has-in what the church has not said. It is in their silence and indifference that the church has communicated to me exactly where it views and holds art in light of my faith. The church tells me where they stand on art every week when the pastor preaches from the pulpit and in the places the people gather. They’ve made it clear in two ways.
I’m Telling You
For anyone that has attended a Protestant church service, it is easy to observe that the Gospel is communicated almost always, only through words. The Preacher gets up, gives his sermon- maybe has a few illustrations and Powerpoint slides. There is an altar call, he prays and everyone goes home until next week. This exclusive use of transmissional communication over and over again is telling the congregation that words are the only way to experience the Gospel and learn about God. The manner in which the church is only communicating the Gospel through words, disregarding visual art and media as sufficient and formative way to express truth is harmful. It ushers people to only be consumers of the word, rather than doers of the Word. Through this form of communication, there is no tangible display or reaction to the words that the body of believers can take part in. This is where visual art and media should have a place! To be a visual call and invitation to participate in the active call of the Gospel. As James 1:22 says “doers of the world and not only hearers.”
Space Matters
Verbal communication is not completely at fault in this equation, because it’s also what the church isn’t saying. It is a proven fact that structures and visible forms of environment determine how an individual interacts with his or her environment. The church is no exception According to Space Syntax, an architecture firm that focuses on human-environmental behavior found that, “space connects or segregates; brings people into social and economic relationships or keeps them apart; helps people save time or consigns them to carbon-intensive lifestyles; Well designed and well-thought out spatial layouts produce safe and vibrant places and, in doing so, create enormous levels of social and environmental capital.” There is a direct relationship to the spaces of the church and what fills those spaces that communicates to the believer. White walls, cluttered walls, colorful walls,communicate. Amos Rapoport, an environmental behavior scientist studied what affects aspects of environment had on groups of people and how people are linked to their environment. He found that “environmental evaluation, is more a matter of overall affective response than of a detailed analysis of specific aspects, it is more a matter of latent than of manifest function, and it is largely affected by images and ideals… the point made is that the meaning of many environments is generated through personalizations. Through taking possession, completing it, changing it.” The spaces that the church gathers in are no special exception.
Maybe we’re afraid of it?
Kevin DeYoung, a senior pastor of University Reformed Church said, “Christians often struggle with art because it can be so ambiguous, so open to interpretation. It doesn’t traffic in propositions. It encourages us to think, but also to feel. It forms more than it informs. In this way, art can “teach” us about our God who is creative and mysterious.” Visual art and media are not easy subjects when you’ve been preached at your whole life and never seen art in the church done right.
Let’s paint a different picture
The first passages of the Bible define God as a creator-an artist! God, being all-powerful could have made the universe in any way that He pleased yet, he created it. Why should our desire to create and learn about God and His character through visual art and media not have a place in the church when it is clearly an expression of his nature? As Melissa Kercher so eloquently stated, “visual art and media is both a fully human and fully divine experience. It is an acknowledgement that something eternal and full of truth lies behind the temporal world in which we live. It focuses our eyes on the pain around us, the injustice in front of us, the joy abounding within us, and the pull we feel towards meaning and significance. Music moves us. Poetry connects us. Paintings shout at us. Dance energizes us. Art draws us back into the fold of humanity when we wander out full of pain, discouragement, and bitterness. It whispers, ‘You are not alone.’”
We Are Missing Out
I echo the questions of W. David O. Taylor in an article published in Christianity Today. “What if we saw the arts in worship as part of discipleship? What if we saw the arts as essential, rather than optional, to the Spirit's work of forming us in the image of Christ when we gather as a corporate body? What if a carefully crafted work of visual art enabled a congregation to see its mission in a radically new light? What if art in worship could yield a substantively formative experience?” What if the church actively took a role in communicating the Word of God and His nature can be seen in more than just a message? What would happen if those that were being overlooked in talents and passions were seen, heard and made to feel important. The church would collectively experience the Father in new ways. I believe that is biblical.
What the Bible Says About Visual Art
The Bible begins with God created. God breathed the stars and galaxies. At the sound of His word small creatures moved about and the oceans teamed with plankton and fish. Ephesians 2:10 says, “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Many different words could have been used here, but God specifically chose workmanship, defined as the art or skill of a workman. The way God made us was unique, in His image-creatively.
In Exodus 35:30-33 we see that Bezalel was given creative abilities and talents to work on the Tabernacle. “See the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.” God made Bezalel to be creative and to serve the church in his artistic capabilities. Visual art of the congregation belongs in churches.
While the Bible clearly states that images should not be worshipped, the Bible never says that visual art does not belong in the church. What God does consistently instruct His followers to do throughout the Bible is to use the talents and abilities He has created each one with for His glory and honor. “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of the elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:14-15). What good is a gift that cannot be utilized? Is visual art ever declared in the Bible as not being a talent and gift that God creates His people with? Again, no. The main guideline is “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24). Similar to the passage in Colassians, these guidelines are affirmed again in Ecclesiastes 9:10-11, “whatever you hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” Use your talents and workmanship for the Lord. God commands it of His followers
There is never a limitation in how we as believers can express our adoration and praise to Him, but that is not what the church is saying.
What the Church Could & Should Be Saying
Church, this isn't an attack. There are a lot of things we're getting right, but it's important to recognize when we'renot. There is no Biblical reason that visual art should be dismissed as unworthy or unimportant when it comes to the formation of our faith and the way that is portrayed in the church. Visual art as a role theologically, missionally and instructionally in the church. Words are not enough to communicate the vast character and majesty of who God is. There are ways visual art communicates to believers in ways that words never will. The Gospel is something to be experienced and not only consumed.
Theologically, visual art should be used as a way to bring deep truth to life. “At Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois, when a 16x40 foot banner portraying the resurrected Christ was raised at Easter in 2011, it was a way to affirm, as they often say, that "matter matters." Or, as Christians of the patristic period might put it, the banner was theology in visual form. The art became a way for the church to insist not only on the full humanity of Christ, but also on our own embodied humanity. To see this iconic image was a way to say, "Our sight matters, and it has a positive role to play in our worship. How we see this vividly colored, Middle Eastern-looking Christ, trampling the gates of hell, should inform how we live throughout the week." (Ryken, 2012). Words can express the truth and profound meaning in the theology, but the visual images that make those words a tangible reality can affect some people in far great ways than we could ever imagine. For the visual learners and creative minds that sit in our pews aching for a means to experience God in a way that He has uniquely created them to learn, is it forget them? Do they not matter? Church, please take notice of your brothers and sisters.
Missionally, what if the church was united in a vision that could be seen by the congregation and participated in collectively? “At First Baptist in Edmonton, Alberta, three banners hang high above and behind the pulpit. The one on the right represents an angelic being inflaming the city; former pastor Gary Nelson says its intent was to capture the church's commitment to the city. The congregation would be persistently reminded, by what they saw Sunday after Sunday, that God through his Spirit desires to bring life to the heart of the city, and that each member has a role to play in that work—a work that is grounded in the Lord's Supper, where bread is broken and wine is poured out for the sake of the world”(Ryken, 2012). There is something to be said about a visual out working of the mission of the church. It unites the congregation in one mindset and mission. It is important. It is needed. Church, please take notice of visual art can radically unite and change the church.
And finally: instructionally. Visual art can instruct believers in their faith. What about visual art that accompanies a sermon series or photography hung in our spaces of gathering that tell the truth of who God sees us to be despite what the world tells us? “At other times the visual arts instruct us in the teachings of Christian faith. In Indianapolis, Redeemer Presbyterian Church recently created an art installation whose intention was to accompany a sermon series during Advent. A key idea was that life springs forth from the Word of Light. Stacks of Bibles, paper-collage banners embedded with live plants, jasmine set in the windows, tall glass candles, pink lanterns, and encaustic (painted with hot wax) paper hovering fantastically over the stage communicated a visual dimension of this idea. The installation also contributed aesthetic beauty to the space—a delight in line, color, smell, and texture” (Ryken, 2012). Brothers and sisters, visual arts and media are important to the church in communicating who God has made us to be holistically.
Church, let’s stop communicating to the congregation that visual art and media are not important We need to actively participate, communicate and display the truth that God has created us to use our talents to glorify and honor Him-even as artists! Let’s strive to incorporate beautiful, well-thought out workings of the inner transformation that is possible only through the Gospel in our liturgies and services! Imagine the community that can be formed and the lives transformed. Church, it’s time to paint a different picture.