Below you’ll find the fourth set of notes from Worship & Arts Pastor Mike Cosper’s three breakout sessions from the Acts 29 Network’s recent LEAD conference in St. Louis:
Art For the Church
The relationship between the arts and the church has three dimensions:
- Art For the Church - the artist as servant of the ministry of the church
- Art From the Church - The artist as missionary/prophet/worker in residence in the broad world of the arts
- Art Facing the Church - The church responding and reacting to the broader world of the arts.
In Art For the Church, the role of the arts is as a servant of the liturgy - the ministries of word and prayer.
Getting Priorities Straight
Art will not save the world.
Words often fail, but words are the best, most accurate hope of communication we have as humans. A song - without a text - cannot tell the truth, cannot share the Gospel. A beautiful painting - even a crucifix, with out words - cannot share the Gospel. In the broad world of Art from the Church, artists need to put their gifts to work doing the most radical, fun, outlandish, confrontational stuff they can imagine. In the Church, they need to be servants of the ministry of Word and Prayer.
Washing Feet
Michael Card, in “Scribbling in the Sand” has a wonderful paradigm for artists in the church - we are to use our gifts to wash the church’s feet.
- The urgent need for humility as artists
- Where art from the church is as broad as the creative world, art for the church is fundamentally about serving others and serving the ministry of word and prayer.
- This paradigm of service runs directly contrary to the Art World, who says that the artists’ role is to disrupt, offend, shock, and sacrifice everything for the sake of their vision.
- The need for pastoral artists
- Theologian-artists
§ Shai Linne
§ Makoto Fujimura
§ The poetry of Eugene Peterson and The Message
§ What plans are in place in our churches to equip artists to use their gifts in service of the liturgy?
Music’s unique role
One thing we have to look at when we talk about art for the church is music. By itself, music is terrible at telling the truth. Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a very beautiful piece of music, but it doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t tell truth. But with songs - music and text married - one of the most abstract of the arts is married to one of the most concrete truth-telling things God has given us.
It’s been said that the Christian faith is a sung faith. I think we take for granted the importance that song has played in the life of God’s people - both Israel and the Church.
Consider this:
- The command to sing occurs more than 100 times in the Psalms, and much more beyond that book.
- The Largest book of the Bible is the Psalms. I often cringe when I hear the Psalms referred to as the great “prayer” book of the Bible - not because those chapters lack in any ability to guide us in prayer, but because first and foremost, the Psalms are songs.
- Genesis 4:21 takes time to mention the invention of musical instruments - we don’t get to know who made the wheel or invented tic-tac-toe, but we know who invented the harp and flute.
- Musicians were an integral part of the life of Israel - in the temple, in the kings court, and even in the armies, at one time leading the troops into battle singing “Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 20:20)
- Throughout history, revival has been accompanied by songwriting movements. This is true from the monastic renewals in the Middle Ages to the Great Awakening in America, to the Jesus People movement in the ‘70’s.
- John Wesley is supposed to have said that while he knew that his parishioners wouldn’t leave his church quoting his sermon, they would leave singing Charles Wesley’s songs.
- God himself sings! “… He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
- Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm, depicting Christ’s suffering on the cross and his ultimate victory over Satan, sin and death. In it, we see Jesus stand before the great assembly - the whole world, singing praises for God’s faithfulness. Our savior is a singing savior, leading us in worship through song.
Why do we sing?
1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â We sing out of thankfulness for the peace and unity we have in the Gospel.
2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â We sing in response to the Bible’s command to sing.
3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â We sing following the example of Israel, the Church, God the Father, and our Singing Savior.
What’s standing in the way of people singing?
- Tempos? Keys? Poor leadership? Sin? Fear of Man? Unsingable Songs?
What do we sing?
- Reggie Kidd’s “Back, Bubba, and the Blues Brothers”
- Bach -excellence and history (A Mighty Fortress is Our God)
- Bubba -folk music and tradition (Amazing Grace)
- The Blues Brothers - the contemporary and innovative (Passion, emerging songwriters, etc.)
- Theologically-Driven worship
- Principles from scripture
§ Are we expressing the range of the Psalms
o   Principles from Historic Liturgy
§ The historic liturgies are Gospel-Centered, Trinitarian, and balanced emotionally
o   Principles from the Hymnal
§ Great hymnals are “deep and wide”
- Deep in that they are full of hymns that dig deep in the Scriptures and teach a rich Christology.
- Wide in that they have a range of depths, emotional expressions, and concepts at their disposal. In other words, they can go deep, but they don’t have to all the time. They can be simple (but not simplistic) too.
continued next Friday here on sojournmusic.com
EXPLORE PART ONE OF THIS SERIES: “A THEOLOGY OF CREATIVITYâ€
EXPLORE PART TWO OF THIS SERIES: “BEAUTY, CULTURE, CONTEXTUALIZATIONâ€
EXPLORE PART THREE OF THIS SERIES: “THE DIVERSITY OF CREATION”
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