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Christianity Today, June, 2009 |

WRESTLING WITH ANGELS

Saying More Than We Can Say

Why the arts matter even during a recession.

Carolyn Arends | posted 6/22/2009 09:48AM

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But the arts do even more than help us believe in transformed realities: they kindle faith in unseen realities. My own sense of transcendence is nurtured primarily by beauty—in the created world (mountains, oceans, wildflowers) and in the world we help create (poems, songs, sculpture). By convincing us that there is something more than the material realm of atoms and synapses, the arts open a vista to belief in God.

And when we meet this God, our creativity becomes one of the ways we delight in him. The Message translation of Genesis says that we were created "reflecting God's nature." When we are lost in some endeavor—consumed by singing a song, dancing a jig, building a presentation, or telling a story—people say we are "in our glory." In truth, we are in God's glory, participating in the beauty overflowing from the Creator himself.

Those are the times we wind up saying more than we are even saying, and knowing more than we could know any other way.

Related Elsewhere:

More Christianity Todaycolumns by Carolyn Arends are available on our site.

Our economic crisis special section has more news and commentary on the recession and related issues, including:

Recession and Religiosity Redux | Do evangelical churches see more members during a recession? (January 2, 2009)

Recessions Are Good? | Many see moral uplift as a result of the slumping economy. (December 1, 2008)

God Is In Control During the Financial Crisis | God often uses adversity for his greatest blessings and the markets are his. By Charles Colson. (October 2, 2008)

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June 2009, Vol. 53, No. 6

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Alex Santxo

Posted: July 04, 2009 11:05 AM

I appreciate this article, as a designer I consider myself more of a visual problem solver than an artist. Either case, it requires creative thinking--an artist being more self-expressive. Heard someone say "Design is anything not created by God." So that leaves us. You see, God is the Intelligent Designer, He created you & I, the heavens & the oceans. Everything else we create i.e., art, music, literature, architecture, fashion, a logo, the art of crafting a sermon, whatever design discipline, you name it. Christians for God's glory. Call it pre-evangelism, tilling the soil for the message. We are being most like our Creator, the first five words of the Bible in Genesis, when we create. Lets not stop making art, it defines a culture. It doesn't require extravagant funding just willingness.

Sheri

Posted: June 30, 2009 7:31 PM

I heard you on Chris Fabry today as you spoke on this article that you wrote...stunning. As an artist I have so many of the same questions and struggles and almost guilty feeling. I also struggle with those "greater" issues and how I should be doing something on a more global scale. Your conversation with Chris today impacted me and I had a tremendous feeling of freedom to be who I am. Can't explain it...but seriously appreciate it!! Thanks!

Elizabeth

Posted: June 24, 2009 3:56 PM

Eloquent as always! The challenge is that art is made by artists, real people who need support and who often work at the margins. I would love to see a movement whereby local church communities became "patrons" of the arts like in the Renaissance. I have a number of gifted friends who left their artistic trades just because they could no longer afford to ply that trade -- a real loss to the Kingdom. And yes, art that glorifies God should start with our worship practices...

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