Why bother with art?

I’m sure we all have Japanese friends who engage in various kinds of creative activity and expression, whether professionally or as a hobby. If they are Christians, how can we encourage them to use their art for God’s glory? If they are not Christians, how can we point them to the Creator of all good things? As a “musicianary” here in Japan, these questions are important for me in thinking about my own ministry too.

One possible approach is to look at the way God created the world. Doing this prompts me to embrace a vision for art in ministry that stretches beyond the vital but specific areas of evangelism and church. It seems to me that art is actually integral to our collective work and witness in the world.

In looking at the pattern of God’s creative work in Genesis 1, there are a number of actions that get repeated (with variations) throughout the first six days. Each of these actions directly correspond to elements of human art-making.

1. Initiative

God initiates something new: “And God said”. The starting point is God’s purpose and plan, set in motion by the power of his word. This tells us of God’s sovereignty and transcendence, his power and design.

As God’s images and representatives, we are called to bring new things into being: ideas and possibilities, form and function. Artists are to think and operate with design, purpose, intent, and at least some measure of ability or skill.

2. Response

The materials respond to their Creator’s commands: “And there was . . . and it was so.” Of course in God’s case his materials do more than simply respond—they obey his command instantly and do what he desires without fail. It doesn’t always work out quite as neatly as that for us human artists! Often it seems to be the reverse; recalcitrant stone, notes not quite in tune, writer’s block, mistaken splashes of paint, lines that just won’t sit right. But our mistakes can open up unanticipated possibilities and twists. It’s OK to learn, to try, to fail so long as we retain a posture of thankfulness, humility, love, service, and worship.

As God’s image and representatives, we are called to do the work of bringing forth art, learning to understand and work with (or sometimes against) the grain of our chosen materials.

3. Differentiation

God differentiates his materials and sets up boundaries: “God separated” light and darkness, day and night. Waters above and waters below. Land and sea. Times and seasons. Plants and animals, distinct in their kinds. Male and female. Without boundaries we are left with formlessness and confusion.

God delights in the diversity of what he’s made. He deems it necessary to set up complementing contrasts. In doing this he creates countless possibilities for combinations, development, and newness. We’re invited to discover and meditate upon how his glory is revealed in all the myriad details.

As God’s image and representatives, we are called to rearrange and develop the potential hidden in everything he has made. The artist’s toolkit includes contrast, shades, dynamics, structure, parameters, layers, guidelines, the grain of materials, and surprises. Overturning expectations and providing a new way of seeing the world are among the functions of art.

4. Evaluation

God evaluates what he has done: “God saw . . . and it was good.” Good: beautiful, pure, functioning as designed, fitting to his nature as a good, holy, and loving God. He doesn’t just leave his work and wander off—he’s engaged with his creation, committed to it, caring for it, sovereign over it. God has made all things not just for his glory, but also for our benefit and delight. He is the ultimate measure of goodness.

As God’s image and representatives, we are called to evaluate our work. Traditionally the standards for art have been expressed as beauty, goodness, and truth—though these categories are highly nuanced and often very subjective. How can we evaluate art according to God’s perspective? It’s a big question. How about considering such categories as fit for purpose, blessing others, the artist’s motivation, delighting in God’s gifts, revealing the way things are, or pointing to something new or beyond?

I think it’s important to state that every individual work of art needn’t express hope or joy or a happy ending—truth must include pain, despair, and brokenness, and sometimes it is right to pause in those places. That’s why limiting our evaluation to just “beauty” is too simplistic.

5. Continuation

God sets things up to continue into the future: “And there was evening, and there was morning”. God’s faithfulness and his providential control of history echo in each new dawning day and also in the fruitfulness and generativity of plants, animals, and humans. It was fitting for God to make such a world, since from all eternity Father, Son, and Spirit ceaselessly overflow with abundant love for each other.

As God’s image and representatives, we are called to pray and think and act for a flourishing future. The art that I make—whether or not in the church—plays a role in contributing to the glory of God and to the growth of his kingdom on earth by impacting personal relationships and building a spiritual legacy.

As for the new creation, our individual and collective art-making, creativity in worship, exploration, and service to God our King will surely be unleashed in ways we can’t even begin to imagine now. Never forget that we are destined for new bodies—hands, eyes, ears, and all—with which we will serve our King without sin or frustration.

Gospel

This fivefold pattern describes not only God’s creative works, but it also dovetails with a basic presentation of the gospel:

1. Initiative: God’s sovereignty in and transcendence over his creation.
2. Response: man created in God’s image and tasked to have dominion over the world for his glory and for the blessing of mankind.
3. Differentiation: our holy God’s righteous law setting out boundaries of good and evil; man’s rebellion as transgression of God’s law.
4. Evaluation: our sin laid on the perfect Son of God; Christ’s righteousness given to us.
5. Continuity: the promise and guarantee of eternal life through faith in Jesus.

We can even apply this pattern to the death and resurrection:

1. Initiative: the Father sends the Son.
2. Response: the Son obeys.
3. Differentiation: Jesus’ body broken for sin.
4. Evaluation: the Father accepts his Son’s sacrifice.
5. Continuity: Jesus raised back to life.

This same pattern can be observed all around us. So the very nature of the artistic process can itself bear testimony not only to what God did in creation but also what he has done in Christ for our salvation.

Application to ministry in Japan

Let’s encourage Japanese Christian artists to think biblically about their art-making and to pursue their gifts. Let’s listen to artists without assumptions, to understand their motivation, their struggles and their questions.

Let’s spend time pondering why it is that God created such richness in Japanese nature and culture. Why has he put the creative urge in his creatures, including our Japanese friends? How can the artistic parallels of our salvation revitalise our calling to serve in Japan? Let’s meditate on the fact that he will restore all things in the new creation.

Let’s think about how the many incredible forms of Japanese artistry are divine gifts ripe for redemption and dedication to serving the King of Kings. How can we point others to our great artistic Creator who accomplished our wonderful salvation through the most surprising and extraordinary means?

Let’s be faithful in the small things when we make art of any kind. Let’s pray that our art will honour God and provide a refreshing stream, a wind of change, a word in season, or a window of opportunity for God’s Spirit to work in the hearts of those who don’t yet know him (or even those who do).

Conclusion

We can see that God is the original and ultimate artist, and our art can display God’s glory. It can reveal the truth of his goodness. It can intrigue and confound, confront and delight. It can show us the complexity of the human condition. It can be a mystery, a parable, a balm, a sword. It can help us to imagine and even enter into a different future. If art can be all these things and more, then is not the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the greatest artwork of all?

Art encapsulates and demonstrates the works of God in both creation and salvation. Art flows out of the nature of God, reflects his works, builds up his people, and demonstrates his kingdom.

* Note: by “the arts” I mean to include the widest spectrum of creative activity and expression, encompassing all forms of “high art” and “low art,” whether made by amateur dabblers or professional elites.