Who says matter, doesn't matter?

bad art
Originally uploaded by ericblauer.

"Christian artists don’t seem to be focused anymore on making great art. That’s our main problem, not what our message is, not what we are trying to communicate, not how we are breaking down these barriers, but the fact that we are failing to make good engaging art is our main problem…Our industry, the way it is set up, who the gatekeepers are, it doesn’t encourage making unique art…We have a radio genre that is on the whole pretty uninteresting, and it’s pretty bland artistically." -Derek Webb

As we continue to flesh out the visual and textual culture of our facility that our church meets at, I find these same critiques guiding our process. So many Christians continue to slam the arts through a false spiritual view that somehow matter doesn't matter.

The church isn't a building, it's a people but the place you meet says a whole lot about the type of people you are. Just as a home reflects the values, the character and the interests of the people living in it.

"Whenever Christians, and evangelicals in particular, have attempted to ‘reach the world' through the media – TV, film, publishing and so on – the thinking public gets the firm idea that, like soup in a bad restaurant, Christians' brains are better left unstirred." -P.G. Wodehouse Addicted to Mediocrity.

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and how we treat those temples matter. It is a reflection of our honor towards the One who indwells or uses that temple. On the same note, our facilities should reflect, embody and proclaim something about what we honor as a culture of people.

"Art historian and L' Abri theologian Hans Rookmaaker reminds us, "Jesus did not come to make us Christian, Jesus came to make us fully human." By this he meant that Jesus' purpose is to make us new creatures, who can once again reflect the image of God in all it's splendor--intellectually, spiritually, creatively, morally and relationally."

It amazes me how living in a poor economic neighborhood brings this issue out dramatically. So many people in my area...don't care about what things look like. The constant pull towards despair, negativity, destruction, poverty, hopelessness is reflected in the environment. You can hear the whisper in the wind that says "What's the point?"

But God has called us as care takers of this planet and the point is, all things are to glorify God...including your yard, your gut, your buildings bathrooms and the art you pick or dont pick to put on your walls.

Does God care about these things? Take a walk and look at His creation and you tell me if being in His creation tells you something about Him and what He values.

"We are missing the point of Genesis, where God, the Great Craftsmanlike Artist," looked at all He had made and said, "it is good." -Dick Staub