Christians and Art–Incompatible, Unrelated, or Inseparable?
I was born Amish. I still consider myself Amish in some ways. Some "art" today certainly does not deserve that label. Consider your own background and future as you read. What defines art?
Many Anabaptist Christians frown at art. Our solid German heritage generates impatience for those who “sit around all day doing nothing” We are taught that we must be working with our hands the thing which is good in order to earn our daily bread and provide for our family; after all, he who doesn’t provide for his own is worse than an unbeliever, the Bible says clearly. And the Bible doesn’t use the word art so why should we worry about it. Maybe if we’re feeling particularly gracious we’ll allow that a little bit of it probably won’t hurt, although it certainly isn’t necessary/useful on the road to heaven.
Recently I’ve been struck by the amount of people who stumble through life and don’t accomplish a thing. I’m scared when I think that this could be me.
Many of the things we do can be art. Art is anything good that takes effort and thought to create. Some art is definitely superior to other, whether in the eye of the beholder or in actuality could be argued. I don’t really care for (most) poetry, but I still think it is art. Someone else may not care for music but it is still art. It is impossible for someone to understand all art forms, there is no way a person can spend enough time with all of them.
God the creator formed people in his image. If we imagine that we can reflect the image of God by abstaining from evil, we are mistaken. We are created to create; if we fail to create, we fail to live.
Are the things I do worthy of my time and devotion? Do they display the nature of God?
