Creatives Catalyst

Ch 7 - Art and the Possiblity of Redemption

"Garden, Serpent and Sacrifice: Returning to primary sources"

Summary
God did not give up on our rebellion after the fall. He had a plan to reconcile humanity (and all creation) back to Himself and did so by sending his son Jesus to earth. This chapter discusses the implications and scope of Jesus' redemptive work and looks at why artists have a crucial role to play in reconciling the the area of arts back to Him!

Things that stuck out for me...
1."God sent his son to bring back to himself all things" (Col 1:15-17) God could be found in matter - flesh and blood and bone! Jesus demonstrated that to find holiness was not to walk away from all things earthy, but to walk among them.
Jesus' ministry was incarnational.

2.Sin can neither destroy nor become indissoluble with the created world - sin can only exist as a distortion of something that is inherently good.
"Prostitution does not eliminate the goodness of human sexuality; political tyranny cannot wipe out the divinely-ordained character of the state; the anarchy and subjectivism of modern art cannot obliterate the creational legitimacy of art itself" (p.59)

3.God has reconciled us to himself through Christ and also gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
"To 'reconcile' means to pull out of unrighteous forming hands whatever they are busy with and bring it back to the Lord. Where the cultural action is, its most current market place, that is the very place where the Holy Spirit must be called into forceful play." (p.61)

4. Art ought not to be be pronounced worldly, but claimed for Christ.
"In a society increasingly devoid of meaning, hope is a precious commodity. If redemption and hope are deep and genuine experiences in our own lives, the hints will be there. We we will take them with us whereever we go - and that includes our art." (p.63)

5. The purpose of Salvation includes the healing of all creation; Christians therefore as a body have no mandate to abandon any section of society.
"Light is intended for dark places. If we withdraw into the Christian ghetto the world will be darker, more tasteless and rotten for our absence..." (p.61)

Application
1. I was reminded of the significance and implications of Jesus' incarnation.
What would an 'incarnational' approach to doing ministry (in today's context) look like? What are the challenges you and I might face?

2. We (as followers of Jesus) have been given the commission to reconcile all things back to him - and it will take some hard work!
How are we going to bring about the message of reconciliation to our friends/ community/ workplace?

3. We need to boldly invite God's redeeming presence into the work we produce; to claim it for Christ!
How might our art serve as a vehicle to bring about that message of reconciliation?

And a final thought,
Where are those dark places in the 'arts' where light is desperately needed?
...Are we (the artists/designers) willing to go there?

Ch 6 - Art and a fallen world

Ch 5 - Art and a playful God

Ch 4 - Art and the Bible

Summary passage (big idea of chapter)

notable quotes

things that stuck out for me

Application

Ch 2 - Art and a quest for the spiritual

Hello

Ch 1 - Art in a Post-Modern Age

"Deconstructed, Disillusioned and Distrusted: Conflicting influences on the Christian artist"

Summary:
This chapter takes a look at the values and ideas that post-modernism has imparted on to our pluralist society that we are now living in - a society where it is accepted for all to pick and mix what we perceive to be true to create "my story" but not "The Story". But since everything is accepted, it gives us the chance to put out the Truth through our work and trust that, amongst all the fallible human stories, God's Truth will penetrate through.

Notable notes/quotes:

"The end of the second millenium has witnessed a seismic change in the world of the arts..." (p.4) namely, the arrival of TV and internet, meaning that "there are no national boundaries in this world - and no commitments either."
"alongside the technological revolution has come an equally revolutionary change in ideas."
"No part of the world could not be tamed, no problem was beyond the reach of scientific solutions, God was no longer needed. " (p.5)
Beneath modernism's dominant theme of optimism grew a minor theme of pessimism and cynicism.
"Faced with so many conflicting truth claims, the easiest response is to trust none of them." (p.7) It is common for the people of this post-modern world to assume that anyone making a truth claim is in the business of manipulation and abusing power (pessimism and cynicism reign).
"The whole world and its history is seen as a vast supermarket from which to pick information and theory according to taste. Even religion has become pick and mix" (p.9)
In a pick and mix society, our identity has become what we make it, shifting "easily from 'Who am I?' to 'What image shall I adopt today?'" (p.11). With this freedom to choose how we want to be seen, we may convince others but we may not convince ourselves. "We are in danger, not of creating an identity, but losing one." (p.11) We are in danger of replacing our God-given identity with one we have picked and mixed ourselves.
"in such a barren landscape people are thirsty for meaning and wide open to anything which offers genuine hope...In an age when bold statements of capital-T Truth are discounted, society turns to its poets and artists for the most truthful accounts of the human condition...people will listen to any number of stories on a human scale, especially those that come from the depths of experience." (p.15). This could give us the opportunity to create something that comes from our experiences as a God-created human. Overtly human, subtly Christian... so that on closer inspection, the Truth of our humanity can be seen.

Application:

"The values and ideas that will shape the third millennium are not yet in place. As we go into that millennium, Christian artists have an unparalleled opportunity to help set the agenda." (p.15)

How can we influence the next generation?

We have such an opportunity to "set the agenda" and reshape society through our work!

Preface, Forewords and Introduction