artist-friendly youth group, The

Group, Sep/Oct 2002 by Belknap, Bryan, Adams, Tim

How to reintroduce your teenagers to the arts, then challenge them to put their skills to use in your ministry

"Creativity is the natural result of spirituality."

That's a guiding principle at my LA. church, Mosaic.' Does it mean we believe every creative effort has God's fingerprints on it? What about all the foul lyrics, boundary-busting art exhibits, and shocking TV programs out there?

Well, whenever you or I attempt to create something out of nothing, we're mimicking what's at the core of God's nature. God created everything out of nothing. He spoke, and it was. It's impossible for God to create tainted beauty; it's impossible for us to create untainted beauty.

I spend a lot of my time creating new ways for youth leaders to use the popular media in their ministries. I know my best ideas always proceed directly out of my relationship with God. The more I focus on God, the more fresh and original my ideas. That's because God is the literal wellspring of creativity.

I think all art is rooted in a relationship with God.

Now, before you fire off an angry email(2) to me, hear me out. Everyone has a relationship with God. Some have a right relationship with him and craft art that glorifies his name. Many more have a broken and distant relationship with him, and that fuels the majority of popular artistic expression. For example, Eminem's confused, disjointed, and desperate pursuit of God fuels his latest CD.

The irony is that artistic expression sits on the throne of mainstream culture but ranks somewhere below Halloween on the church's priority list. Obviously, it wasn't always that way. the biblical call for artistic excellence

The church used to be ground zero for excellence in the arts. But long ago we decided to give up our seat at the artistic table-the world sat right down and made itself comfortable there. Ever since, we've largely confined our artistic expressions to producing cheap copies of what the mainstream culture produces and then delivering it to the Christian subculture a few years later.

This attitude diametrically opposes God's. In the Bible, the first person to receive the Spirit of God wasn't a king or a soldier or even Moses. No sir, that pillar of pristine spirituality was... Bezalel! Don't remember the VBS puppet show about him? Here's a recap:

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts-to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship."' (Exodus 31:1-5).

There you have it. The first "Spirit-filled" person was an artist. So why do we discourage Christians from excelling in artistic careers? In our cozy Christian subculture, our most successful artists include novelist Tim LaHaye, painter Thomas Kinkade, thespian Kirk Cameron, and whoever sculpts Precious Moments figurines.

Christian artists should be giants in their fields because they draw inspiration directly from the Creator, like past icons Tolkien, Handel, Browning, and Tolstoy. When they're exercising their gifts to the fullest, people who love God create things that convince and convict the world of God's love, reality, and desire for relationship. They don't settle for frightening or cajoling people into the kingdom. And they certainly don't bore people to death.

We need a new generation of artists who are not afraid to be... excellent. It's worship to offer our best to God. But right now we're not offering our best artistic expressions to God. Christians who excel in the arts can transform our culture in ways no televangelist ever will.

Today's Christian arts more closely mirror 20th-century Olympic basketball. I remember the days when the gold medal was actually up for grabs. Foreign countries gloated when they won Olympic victories over the best... U.S. college players.

But when the U.S. agreed to allow NBA pros to play in the Olympics, they brought the true standard of excellence to the games. And foreign players accepted the challenge to compete at a higher level. It took decades, but men from around the globe now claim roster spots in the NBA and on the All-Star team.

setting the bar higher

We need a new commitment to artistic excellence from Christians who are determined to claim a voice in the mainstream culture.

U2 embodies the goal. The Irish rock band's' artistic integrity has earned the world's respect. Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. have spent 20 years establishing their credibility on the world's stage, giving them a persuasive platform to promote their Christian worldview. Bono now leads a worldwide crusade for the Old Testament principle of "jubilee"'--working to convince firstworld countries to grant debt relief to destitute countries. He has access to the most powerful political (President Bush) and religious (the Pope) leaders in the world.

U2's bandmates could've settled for best-band status in Dublin, Europe, or even the Christian subculture, but they chose instead to challenge the ideals of a fallen world through their music (good thing they didn't listen to the people in their Bible study who encouraged them to disband early on).