A Heart for the Arts: Why I Care, Why God Cares, and Why We Should Care Part 2

A little bit of Pepper:

Genesis 1:27. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.” People are made in the image of God. It’s clear. It’s scripture. We know it to be true. The bible says we are made according to His “likeness”, as in we were created as reflections. God’s representation, in flesh. We were born to have a heart like the heart of God.

Every time I take a moment to look around, to look at the mountains, the ocean, trees, flowers, the sky; I find it impossible to believe that the ability to appreciate the things I see, is not a part of this inherited heart.

God appreciates beauty.

He created it.

He created.

When we create we are able to dive deeply into our hearts and produce something that is infinitely personal. We get the opportunity to make our own reflections. Our own representations made of paper, paint, music, photographs, choreography, written word, or dramatic art. When we create we get closer and closer to our God.

The Creator.

The Artist.

The arts are how we communicate. How we express ourselves. How we learn. How we interact. The arts are how we, as a culture and community, become enriched. How we learn to identify with or better understand those who are different from us. The arts are how we worship, express joy, celebrate, mourn, and explore. It’s how we learn about others, and how we learn about ourselves. And more than that, its how we can grow closer to our Father.

We are all artists. We all posses the desire to create something. To appreciate beauty. To express something.

I care about the arts, and we should all care about the arts, for this simple, honest, and irrefutable reason; God does.

A Heart for the Arts: Why I Care, Why God Cares, and Why We Should Care Part 1

A little bit of Salt:

In thinking about this, I jotted down a list of bullet points on a piece of paper—things I love about the arts. I thought I’d share:

Can transcend and bridge culture

Can be universally interpreted and understood

Can express beauty and joy

Can bring healing and freedom

Have the power to greatly touch and influence hearts and minds

Are an expression of cultural uniqueness and individuality

Can be brutally honest and raw

A form of worship

Provide an opening for the Holy Spirit

Can be a powerful communicator of truth

Form of prophesy

Exciting

World of Constant Discovery

Imaginative

Not afraid to ask and explore tough questions, and not afraid of not having an answer

Sparks Conversation

Can be used in many different forms to touch all cultures, all social classes, and all religions

Respected, valued, and celebrated

Define culture

Transform Culture

I’m sure we could all keep going. Feel free to add. To me, the connection between this list and my faith is not a tough one to make. Many of the things I wrote are also characteristics of God or characteristics of life with God. It makes sense, for God was the first creator and all artistic expression stems from his original creation. The first words of the Bible are “In the beginning God created.” We are all a work of art. If God created art, he must care about art. And if God cares about art, shouldn’t we, as people seeking after the heart of God care and have an interest in art?

I know this is all very basic. I have heard very in depth and wonderful explanations and talks addressing this topic. I have barely touched the surface. But too often I have heard Christians say or imply that the arts are not important, not valid, even sinful. It is a struggle. As an artist who loves the Lord and feels called by the Lord, it can hurt. Furthermore, it is frustrating, for it can limit the scope of artistic expression. I believe it is one of the reasons why there is so little obvious godly influence in the arts and entertainment world today. I believe God has great plans for the arts, but to start they need to be redeemed. Going back to the basics and digging in the Word is key. Uniting church and artist and church and art is key. Knowing God’s heart for the arts, why he loves the arts, and therefore why we should care, not just as artists but as an entire Christian community is essential.

So what about it? Why do you care about the arts? Why and how do you think God cares about the arts? Why should we as a Christian community care about the arts?

God. Creation. Art. Grab a Cuppa Joe and Let's Talk...

God. Creation. Art. How do they intertwine? How do they apply to the modern world? How have they worked in the past? What is their role in society? What is their purpose? How have they been neglected? How have they been exploited? What is our role as Christian artists and how do we translate it all into our everyday life?

These questions and more fascinate us. So, we thought it would be interesting to start a blog and see what kind of network and conversations would result.

Our names are Sherisa and Ali. We are followers of Christ with a passion to see God glorified through the arts. We are students at an arts college. Both of us have dance backgrounds. Ali is majoring in dance and Sherisa started as a theatre major but is now majoring in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management. We are not artistic experts, but we do have a yearning for knowledge, a love of deep conversations, and a burning desire to understand and see the arts as God sees them.

We want this blog to be a means of connecting with others who share a passion and an interest to see God’s power through the arts—in countless ways through multiple mediums using every discipline. We believe that through the arts hearts and lives can be touched in incredible ways. We want to find and create a network of people who can support each other as they follow the dreams God has placed on their hearts.

So, like we said, grab a cuppa Joe, and let’s start talking…