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ART AS A STYLE OF SERVICE
Derrel E. Emmerson
Art as Style of Service
They serve fully who serve well. It is one thing to plop a dollop of gruel in a hungry person's bowl. It is another to do it as if one were serving a king. Theology serves up the gruel of life. Art gives the service a royal touch, as Christ would give it.
Art as Witness
Art at it's best is a way testifying to inspiration. It speaks that there is somewhere beyond our normal range of perception to do the inspiring. It is a way of calling attention to the good, the true, and the beautiful. When it calls our attention to the sordid, it is still appealing to the higher conscience in us to do something about those things which mar our natural and social landscape.
Marriage of Theology and Art
The first effect of Art is to fire our imaginations and emotions to reflect upon the significance of our finite state. This is the first work of theology.
The second effect of Art leads to reflection upon the infinite, eternal and the worship of our creator. This is the second work of theology.
The third effect of Art is to emancipate refined human responses to make significant changes in the human condition in union with God. This is the practical work of theology.
The fourth effect of Art is to freshen the experience of all reality. This is the aspiration of theology for each generation.
Thinking Like an Artist
Everyone who says, "good", "beautiful" or "right on," reveals the artist in themselves.
Thinking like an artist is having a sense of quality and a vision about life. Without such thinking we perish. In so thinking we thrive.
Ultimate Artists
Since the Bible teaches that we will become worshippers all believers are destined to be artists. A worshipper is someone who sees the transcendent One through all things and then does something in response. What better definition is there of one who does art?
Attention All Artists!
Let us see Art as a fiery chariot to the heavens which is made by God's hands and described by the artist.
The Final Blessing
We need to keep one thing straight. Neither worship nor art is a service to God because God enjoys or needs them. They are a service to God because of what they do for His children. They enliven us. They cause us to contemplate heavenly graces. They bring us closer to Him and he is delighted in having us nearer to His heart.
Gifts?
That which clumsy hands tear from the earth
is appreciated,
is cherished,
evokes a paternal smile.
What if there were no crumpled dandelions?
Door to Somewhere
Humility goes beyond speculation.
It leads to investigation.
If I found a door upright in the middle of a field
I think I would wonder
who put it there and why.
I would lose sleep
I would speculate,
I would investigate,
and finding no answers,
be unsatisfied.
This is the lesson of Stonehenge,
the pyramids,
and Easter Island.
We know little of the works of men
except that they point upward into void
from which God spoke at Sinai,
and came down in Christ,
and struck us dumb outside the garden tomb.
Since time has a beginning,
and matter a maker,
the door in the middle of the field
opens somewhere from which all things come
and I wonder.
Primary Power of Art
The arts {1} have been interpreted by some serious Christians as counter spiritual. Yet, the arts deal with materiality as the medium to express transcendent values and human aspiration. The fact that some values and aspirations may be of a baser variety does not nullify the potential power of artistic expressions to raise our vision to the holy {2}. For the believing artist, this is the primary purpose of Art. Therefore, the believer should not vacate the field of the arts to the impious.
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{1} By art I mean all forms of artistic expression: i.e. the creation of images, drama, music, dance, story-telling, writing and poetry which express virtue, truth and beauty.
{2} (I simply mean by "the holy" that which does not come naturally but is completely other or God-like.)
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Biblical Artistic Expression
Not enough is made of the power of what we would consider the "artistic expression" of the Bible. It is generally assumed that because the Bible condemns the creation of human, animal or heavenly images that somehow God categorically condemned art forms. (Deut. 4:15-19) In fact, God condemned the creation of images for worship. It remained for Pharisees to define artistic expressions out of favor by their emphasis upon the power of words to communicate the Word.
Examples of that Biblical Artistic Expression
What do we mean by artistic expression of the Bible? To be specific, any image or form which advances the cognitive through firing the imagination and provoking emotional responses. For example, the imagery of Jesus' parables encourage us to think about those aspects of life, of heaven and the Godhead for which we have no vital definitions without them. Jesus' storytelling, similes, metaphors, and appeal to our imaginations first and the lead to refined speculations regarding the meaning of them.
Another insight into the importance of artistic vision is seen in the way the prophets relayed God's truth. Those truths were received by inspiration, perceived as visions, and often dramatically acted out. The power of their message was the artistry involved in the inspiration and communication of their words. Even the linguistically abstract believer must concede that the lyrical quality of prophetic verbal utterances is unsurpassed by our weighty theological tomes which at best can only interpret the significance of those lyrics.
Finally, but not definitively, while the Tabernacle and Temple of the Old Testament may reinforce the theological perceptions that God must be approached as holy, each was a dramatic stage. Their unique and symbolic architecture were reinforcements of the holy dramas which were reenacted on a daily basis all to the frequent accompaniment of music and dance. To the Pauline scholar, those dramas were absolutely defining to our theology of salvation and grace.
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The heavenly cannot be comprehended. It must be celebrated.
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