Art for God’s Sake: A Call to Recover the Arts
I think the statement serves to encourage Christian artists to pursue their calling and also to encourage other artists to think Christianity in their arts. As we all pursue our callings in art, we should ask ourselves the following questions: What are God’s thoughts about the arts? Can we be Christians and, at the same time, be artists? What does art say about the beauty of God’s work? As Christians, we reject art because we perceive it to be devoid of God’s beauty and sacredness. Even Christian artists are struggling to be accepted by the church. But should this be the case?
Most art works are perceived to be a dishonor to God because they fail to reflect His character. Additionally, art can be perceived to be undermining the endeavors of the church to preach the gospel. Nevertheless, Ryken encourages us through the above statement that users can be both artists and Christians at the same time, and that we should not avoid the art because we perceive it as being short of God’s glory. He argues that because art has the power to touch human hearts and to shape cultures, we should as Christians embrace it and use it to communicate the Christian culture to the masses.
Instead of avoiding art, Ryken suggests that we should consult the bible to understand how well we can use art to express God’s glory, beauty, and sacredness. God’s creation is full of God’s beauty. Human art, therefore, should also exemplify the beauty of God’s work. As Christians, therefore, we should not be attracted to poor quality work. Instead, we should try and understand what the bible says about art and how we can use it to glorify God. Only when we have understood what the bible says about art will we be able to strike a balance between art and God’s work.