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?