on thesis introductions…
I don’t know how much of my thesis I will post verbatim as I write it but here’s at least a little preview of the first bit. Having never written something 40-50 pages long I’m not sure if 1 1/2 pages is long enough for an introduction and it’s certainly a little rough at points so I have no doubt it will change with revision. That said, I am curious as always to hear your thoughts on where I’m headed…
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Artistic mediums and styles are as varied as the people who identify themselves as artists. Artists also occupy a strange place simultaneously at the center of and standing outside predominant culture. We are the filter through which people understand the human experience. We are the voices helping establish, comment on and change our cultural and moral values. Artists have a curious position as progenitors of and hostages to culture. While the artists who enjoy the most commercial and popular success are usually those who affirm the predominant culture, it is often the artists who run counter to culture making the most exciting and interesting work.
Cultural norms, specifically cultural values, can be described as the commonly held truths of a group of people. As norms and values shift over time, these truths also shift—what may have been held as acceptable or unacceptable five or ten years ago may now be entirely permissible or a big faux pas. For Christian artists however, the source of ultimate Truth lies outside of culture. As we live and work in the prevailing popular culture, we are also called to be a source of light, a voice speaking the Truth we believe to that culture.
For nearly 1600 years from the time Constantine legitimized the Church to the early 20th century “Christian art” was nearly synonymous with popular culture. But in the last 100 years, the language of the culture of the Church and the language of the popular culture outside of the Church have grown increasingly divergent. Artists wanting to remain inside of the Church have found their work criticized for its piety by a popular culture that has increasingly marginalized the role of God. Conversely, the Church has criticized artists operating in the popular culture for the vulgarity of their art. It is a difficult tight rope Christian artists must walk between the sacrifice of their artistic integrity and the compromise of their faith. By placing these demands on them we hinder their ability to play the role God has for them in the Church and in culture.
In a broken and fallen world, Christian artists have a unique role to play as modern day prophets. Not unlike the prophets of the Old Testament, artists function as a vessel giving voice and form to God’s desire for relationship with humanity. Time and again in the Bible we see the relationship narrative, from God’s calling Israel to be a nation set apart as an example to all others to the Great Commission and Jesus commanding the disciples to preach the Good News to all nations. It is in this desire for relationship that we find the roots of justice and the nature of the Kingdom of God.
My goal here is to add to the existing discussion about the role of artists in the Church and greater society rather than attempt a definitive statement on what is art and what is not. Because artists more carefully walk the line of being in the world but not of the world we have a unique ability to speak God’s Truth both to the Church and to culture. By creating art that is true and genuine, art that draws people into a relationship, we invite our audience into the Kingdom of God. As Christians, our faith is grounded in the concept of justice. As artists, our work should be informed by our faith. As our art is then informed by our faith, it should reflect a justice-centered vision of the Kingdom of God.
