How Should Christians Approach Art?

"Some artists are so busy making their work say what they want it to that they neglect to say anything at all about it."--Me

Sincere apologies for my absence from this blog. I just recently completed a ton of materials for entry in the American Birding Associations Young Birder of the Year contest, so until now I've been neck deep in various projects. Unfortunately Blogger is being naughty and won't let me post any photos today. Once I can I'll put up some of my new artwork. For now, some thoughts on how Christians should approach art.

Believers understand the fact that God is creative (Genesis 1:1, “out of nothing…”), and since we are made in His image, man has the ability to be creative after Him. We are limited however. Our finiteness prohibits us from creating in the same way as our infinite God does, man can only look at what God has already done and imitate it through art. Christian artists with a Biblical worldview are in a unique position to impact the culture, which doesn’t see the world as God’s creation, if they self-consciously and consistently apply their worldview to their art. It really all comes down to worldview.

Everybody has a worldview whether they realize it or not, and those beliefs will inevitably show through in their art; in a way, artists don't paint the world, they paint their worldview. Allow me to explain by looking briefly at an artist we all recognize.

The Spanish painter whom we know by the name Picasso (but whose actual birth name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso) was born in Malaga Spain on October 25, 1881. He was a gifted young artist, but he was a pagan, and when he adopted a communist worldview he began to paint very different from everyone else, but in a style that was the natural outworking of his beliefs. Picasso did not recognize God as the supreme, sovereign, all-powerful Creator of the universe, and so for him the only authority that was left was himself and what he felt. He produced thousands of paintings, and enjoyed a successful career in the art world (by the world's standards) but because he had the wrong worldview he led an immoral life, and his work was usually chaotic, rebellious, and grotesque.

Picasso merely applied what he believed to his art, but since his beliefs denied God and His standards, his work is not beautiful, in fact it is downright ugly. The Bible tells us to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”, and this command trumps every tradition and practice that our culture tells us we must embrace if we want success. Be self-conscious! Know what you believe and be careful not to allow your paintings to say otherwise. If you're just trying to reach people where they are, you're not calling them to join you in something better, you're sitting there beside them right where they are. Don't surrender what you have to offer by conforming in order to please men, think about who gave you your gift and give praise to whom praise is due. Unless we view the world through the eyes of a Biblical worldview, we can’t fully appreciate its beauty and meaning, but if we say, “This is God’s hand,” then we will have the foundation upon which to create beautiful works of art to bring glory to Him