My friend Amanda wrote an end-of-year post on selfishness, grocery store encounters, arts and entertainment, and cute babies. You should read it over there.
But over here, I would like to comment on arts and entertainment, because cute babies obviously need no words. (I’m gonna focus on music mainly, since that’s my spiel, but mention other forms of art as well.)
Here’s one of Amanda’s experiences:
One of the things I absolutely hate is when I get judged at church. And I don’t mean like ‘Hey, Amanda. I’ve noticed such and such sin in your life and I want to help you overcome it.’ I mean like … ‘You don’t listen to K-Love?’ ‘YOU DON’T LIKE CHRIS TOMLIN.’ And then just getting stared at. It happens all the time from so many people but I feel like it would be inappropriate to argue with them at the time it happens.
Amanda, THANK YOU for saying something, because it needs to be said. It’s a conversation we often leave un-had (Nope. Not a word.), because, yeah, we don’t want to start a war.
But then again, there’s something ugly about this kind of judgment that is at least as ugly as giving someone a Saint-Nick slap-in-the-face for doling out such judgment. Hmm…
Here’s my thoughts.God is the most creative, artistic guy ever. After all, He created creativity, and, uh, everything else (Genesis 1:1).
It’s weird to me sometimes how homogenous the church can get with its art.
But of all the places to be diverse, why not the Kingdom of God, made of all nations and tongues and peoples throughout all time? If anything, church should be the most artistically rich place ever. And oftentimes in our history, it actually has. Cool!
So why the homogeny? Groupthink? A need to belong? A human tendency to turn everything into a well-defined set of rules? I don’t know. But it’s just that we lack the self-control to listen to five songs in a row that have the exact same chord progression. It’s bigger than that.
(In that link above, bring up our roots, with the Sistine Chapel as one of many examples, because Christians have definitely had their waves of stunning creativity. I’d like to believe we’re on the brink of an artistic explosion up in the coming decade.)
I’m convinced that it’s an outright disgrace to God’s vastness — and our witness to creatives in the secular world — when we settle for boring art.
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy, exhorting him on leading in a church that was old enough that it had started accruing extra rules (and by extra I mean, tacked onto the simple truth of the gospel). He wrote:
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.” (1 Timothy 4:1-7, NIV, emphasis mine)
Anything that exists in the world — we can either worship that thing, or we can worship the God that put it there (1 Timothy 4:4-5). Letting our experience of art (music, film, baby watermelon pictures, etc.) interact with the “secular” realm can be (can be) a great way to recognize God’s creativity — which has been given to every human being inherently. Christian or not, we all are made in His image, and therefore we can’t help but be creative, even in our fallen state. But as Paul points out, this isn’t just an excuse to live however we want. We must use the word of God, the Scriptures, and have a conversation with Jesus about what is going to be the absolute best way to experience His invention of art and creativity (1 Corinthians 6:12).
If you are a Christian, though, you’ve chosen to make Jesus the Lord over everything, including your entertainment life. Like you said, Amanda, there’s nothing in the Bible that tells us what music to listen to. People have tried to make musical taste a moral, black-and-white issue for CENTURIES. But just like every other “gray” issue (like eating meat and such — 1 Corinthians 8:1-13), it comes back to the one God, our God, who created us and our friends, and to whom we belong.
Your art choices have to be a decision you make, alone, with God, apart from what people think. Whatever boundaries the two of you set with secular art consumption, awesome. Stick to those convictions. But you will need God’s grace not to judge people who have different boundaries, whether they’re on the stricter side or the looser side. Be careful — careful not to rely on your own carefulness. We rely on God’s transformative power to cleanse our attitudes. But He is faithful to do so.
If Chris Tomlin is your favorite artist,that’s great… as long as you made that decision because it allows you to enjoy and experience God’s character, and not because it makes you feel holier. Its Jesus’ job to sanctify you, not Chris Tomlin’s, or that other guy who sounds just like him. 🙂 You need to find your security in Jesus, not a “safe” choice in music. You’re not “safe” from self-righteousness even in a car full of K-LOVE.
(Now don’t freak out and throw out your radio to try to be a better person. Jesus is your righteousness. Him alone. And He’s enough for the both of you. You’re free. Galatians 5:1)
If you like Sigur Ros or Imagine Dragons, that’s great… as long as you made that decision in a way that allows you to enjoy and experience God’s character — and not because it makes you cooler or more valuable than everyone else. Your coolness comes from Jesus, and Him alone, not your choice in music.
(Now don’t ditch your God-given love for Scandinavian ambience or steampunk radioactivity. Just remember where your music taste came from in the first place. Proverbs 3:5-6. And don’t get a big head about it — God made every other person just as infinitely amazing as you are. Human beings are His genre of choice. We are all His song, and He delights in us all.)
Now if only we could convince Scot to take a bow to his guitar like Mr. Birgisson… (Source: consequenceofsound.net)
People around you will always have different convictions. And ALL of those people at some point will make entertainment choices either out of self-righteousness, or out of idolatry. We can’t change that. But we still have a responsibility to one another. We also must respect others’ convictions — and yes, even CHALLENGE other’s convictions — to make sure we’re not (as much as it’s in our power) leading them to ditch their first love. (Revelation 2:1-7)
It can be frustrating. But Amanda, I think you have the right idea in being willing to start the conversation. 🙂 Like Pastor Rick said today, accountability is crucial. We need each other, and we need the Spirit to help us judge each situation. We need people like you to stir the waters and remind us that we’re prone to settle. We need to talk about it, and keep talking about it. If we don’t watch our motives, we’ll fall from family into a formula, with Jesus nowhere in sight.
I want to follow Amanda’s lead and continue the conversation:
- How did you decide upon your entertainment convictions?
- Have you ever had a time when “Christian” entertainment caused you to “forget your first love?”
- Have you ever had an edifying experience with a song or film that might be considered “questionable?”
- Other thoughts about God and entertainment?
