THE ART OF MINISTRY

Culture is what comes from the ‘cultivating’ and specifically to us, the recreation of materials into something new as a response to the cosmos, otherwise known as art. Long before there were canvases or pen and ink man was painting huge murals on cave walls and sitting around campfires retelling old stories that have led nascent societies to remember and ponder what is true of life and the eternal and how to respond. Art has led people to risk life and limb, chase after dreams and romance, or sink to the lowest depths of humanity (the telling of myth and story of the Third Reich). It principally reveals or shows truth and at its best calls for a deep and powerful response from its audience. In this way art ‘cultivates’ people affecting or transforming culture.

I believe there are many purposes for art that for our ministry we have barely scratched the surface of. Art most definitely can serve an entertainment function like comics in newspapers or movies like Dumb and Dumber and Ghostbusters. We create skits, I believe, for this purpose. There’s also the functional purpose of art demonstrated in advertisements/promotions or creation of educational resources and documentaries. Our conference and project promos and brochures along with many of our Bible studies and evangelistic tools I would place in the functional art category along with, to some extent, our musical worship. There’s also a transcendent purpose of art, something that’s been called ‘a response to the cosmos’ that lifts its hearers and viewers to something powerful and extraordinary (Barbara Nicolosi). The movie Passion or Starry Night by Van Gogh are works I’d put into this category along with what should be our musical corporate worship.

My experience in ministry with the evangelical community is that we tend to emphasize the second purpose of art, function, to the detriment of the other two and that this emphasis greatly narrows the room artists have in living out their calling within our ministry. It comes, I believe, from the constant desire for things to ‘work’ and a belief that if the art doesn’t fill some said function within our ministry it isn’t useful. This, I believe, contributes to a struggle of keeping artists with us. It amounts to us telling them their artistry only matters as far as it is useful and understandable to the lowest common denominator in our movement and fits nicely within our overall strategy. What we could do is risk unleashing them to explore where God will take them in their art. Who knows? It could unearth some incredible transcendent truths about God and the world that will lead to many reexamining their lives and turning to Christ.

If our art principally has served a functional purpose of education or promotion within our ministry I’ve wondered what effect this has had on our culture. Are we a people principally concerned with function, making things work? Are we obsessed with promotion? Do we place at a premium only what useful things we can learn from scripture or reading a book? Is that why we cried watching the Passion? In and of themselves none of these things are bad. They are quite good, actually, just not the complete swath of what it means to be human, let alone a disciple of Christ. There’s more to life and God than the useful. There’s romance, courageous heroism, painful sacrifice and simple fun. There’s what makes life worth living. I’m reminded of that wonderfully witty line from the terrifying film, The Shining: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” I wonder how much this sentiment is true for artists in Crusade, and by way of culture, the ministry as a whole. What would happen if we as a people were to patron the full purpose and potential of our artists’ talents, where might they lead us? One of the greatest if, indeed, the greatest resource we’ve had for spreading Christ on the Earth was in its inception essentially a collaborative art piece. (The Jesus Film) I’m sure there’s more that can happen if we as a movement opened up a little bit to the potential of art.

Peter Lively is our GPI media specialist working in the regional office and living in Westminster with his wife Alana and daughter Katie. Special thanks for sharing with us things you’ve been learning from God and others. Feel free to comment below or e-mail Peter directly.