Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Christian Views on Culture
There is a rift growing in the Christian world today that seems to penetrate even the closest youth groups and churches. The rift is between two views of engaging popular culture . The traditional and more common model of engagement is called condemnation. Condemnation is the automatic removal of all “secular” art from culture, leaving only the Christian art. Discernment is the model of engagement that seems to be newer and less common among most Christian groups. To discern is to engage all art, regardless of the religion or message of the artist. The second method allows an art engager to take in much more of the beauty of God’s creation as well as allowing him or her to fully grasp the fallen nature of creation. These are the ways that a cultural discerner will have a better relationship with God and a better connection to the world in order to redeem it. A Christian in the world we live in today that simply condemns all art not created by a Christian misses out on a good ninety percent of art. Art is created by humans, because God made us with that specific capability to create it. Under no circumstances should Christians stay in their comfort zones and miss out on most art created because of trivial issues.