The Arts, Artists, and the Church
A picture can leave us awestruck. Words can make us cry. Music can stir our hearts and bodies. A story can make something more real to us than a mere description of facts. In short—art moves us.
Art makes us feel, makes us think, and can even make us change the way we act. This is how God made us, and I believe it is why He filled the Bible with art and artists. There is poetry in Adam’s ‘Bone of my bones…’ ode to Eve, The Psalms, and the Song of Solomon. The beautiful craftsmanship and construction of the Tabernacle was led by the first man to receive the indwelling of God’s Spirit. Prophets often act like performance artists, from Ezekiel enacting the siege of Jerusalem and lying on both of his sides to Agabus’ demonstration with Paul’s belt. God uses the Arts and artists throughout the Bible to help in His plan of redemption, to praise His name, to encourage the faithful, to call out sinners, and to give expression to hurts and longings. If God’s plan involved the Arts back then, it still will now! As Tim Keller observed, ‘The Church needs artists because without art we cannot reach the world.’
In his book Why Art Matters, the painter Alastair Gordon writes, ‘Today, just as in the past, art has the dual capacity to reveal the things of God and demonstrate the sinfulness of human beings.’ If the Arts and artists are a part of God’s plan of salvation and redemption, how should the Church, and we as Christians, be helping and encouraging artists in this? These questions and many others have been on my mind as I have felt God leading me to engage with the Arts more and explore my practice as a visual artist.
“True Joy” Quartych by Tim Cottrell: Inspired by the album and track "You Can't Steal My Joy" by UK Jazz band, Ezra Collective
Faith, Art, and Culture
I studied and currently work as a graphic designer. A number of years ago, God started me on a journey towards an artistic practice that seeks to explore and speak to the culture around me from my perspective as a Christian. Several organisations have helped me to work this out: for one, Morphe Arts, co-founded by Alastair Gordon, provides support and resources to early career Christian artists; also, Sputnik Faith & Arts, run out of the Catalyst Network, is a widespread community set up to help creatives working in the secular sphere to live out their faith with integrity.
The Sputnik Manifesto states:
Churches often see art as a nicety, little more than a bit of self-expression or escape. But the best art explores what it means to be a flesh-and-blood human, by digging into the depths of both suffering and joy: it inspires reflection, discovery and even life-change.
I and other artists in the Church are working towards this goal: to see the world around us through God’s eyes and find ways of communicating that to the society around us in a way that causes them to engage and respond. This endeavour takes time, effort, and skill: sometimes, it will mean working as part of a team, bringing light to something very secular. Often, it won’t be making us much or any money, and, a lot of the time, the outcome won’t look like traditional ‘evangelism’. We are still working for the glory of God and the good of His creation, and we need the support of our local Church community.
Empowering Christian Creatives
So how can the Church help artists and creatives to engage and enrich the world?
Endeavouring to understand what we are trying to do and the places this takes us to is a great start. To borrow again from Sputnik’s Manifesto, the Arts world can tend to be either marrowless, popular entertainment or elitist and cynical fine art. Navigating this world as a Christian needs spiritual wisdom, so informed prayer and wise counsel are invaluable.
Get to know us. Ask us what we are working on and why, even if you don’t think you will understand the details (I don’t understand much about boat building but still want to know how my friend’s work is going). Be for us. Let us ask the sometimes awkward questions. Let us go and scout the cultural landscape, enacting what American artist Makoto Fujimura calls ‘border stalking’ - bringing different things back to our ‘tribe’ (the Church) for consideration and evaluation.
We need to be anchored to the Cornerstone when asking the difficult questions that may unlock the cultures and societies around us. The solid and firm foundations of God’s faithfulness, found in the Church, will help us face the dangers. Without a community to return to who know and value the Lord, we may get lost in searching and asking, losing sight of the eternal Truth.
Creatives and artists also need each other—like-minded people who are on similar paths or a bit further down the road. My journey towards an artistic practice, and how that relates to my faith, has been made possible by the encouragement of others. Getting to know fellow artists and creatives through the work of ministries like Morphe and Sputnik has been invaluable. I’m sure there are others like me in the Relational Mission family, so let’s make space to get to know and support one another.
Our God is, among His many attributes, an Artist, and we are all bearers of His image.
You can explore more of Tim’s artwork on his website.
By Tim Cottrell
Tim Cottrell is a Graphic Designer and artist who lives and works in Norwich. He and his wife Joanna attend King’s Community Church and serve in their 18s to 30 ministry.