Written by: Mark Steele on September 13, 2013

Two powerful images I remember growing up in the church were the painting Christ our Pilot and the Navigator Wheel tool that taught four principles to live a Christian life. These images helped me to rely on guidance from the Bible and the life of Jesus as to how to live my life. As I have reflected on the images in the church growing up, I agree with David Morgan that images help to form culture. In David Morgan’s The Sacred Gaze, a study of images, he asserts that gazing at images can help create perceptions and beliefs that create behavior in a culture or setting (Morgan 2005, p.3).

As a young pastor fresh out of Seminary, I saw this concept at work in a new concept church I worked in during the 1980s. The church was called Calvary Community and it was meeting in a warehouse. The senior pastor, Larry DeWitt had sold the old church building and rented a warehouse to give the church a new look and purpose. Larry knew the impact images made so he had four banners made with separate logos  to explain the purpose of the church. He used the Acts 2 passage that explains what the first church did: they worshiped together, they learned together, they met each other’s needs and they evangelized by sharing the Christian message to others. Each of these banners reflected the meaning of these acts as Celebrate (worship), Cultivate (learning and growing in faith), Care (meeting each other’s needs) and Communicate (communicate the Christian message to others). It was a very effective way to use images to communicate the purpose of the church and to communicate what behavior was appropriate for that culture.

Since then, I have been an executive in business for over 20 years. The same principles through image that work in the church also work in business. For example, a powerful mission statement tied to an effective logo can inspire team members to positive behaviors in the work culture. American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW) is a faith based organization that has used this principle well. ABHOW’’s mission statement is “American Baptist Homes of the West, as an expression of Christian mission, seeks to enhance the independence, well-being and security of older people through the provision of housing, health care and supportive services.” ABHOW’’s logo has a series of homes pictured with a cross. The mission statement is simple enough to remember and guides the Corporate Office in all the decisions it make s on behalf of meeting the needs of older adults. The logo and mission statement inspired me to work for this company 13 years ago.

David Morgan in his book, The Sacred Gaze,  has done a good job articulating the important connections between images, principles and behavior within cultures.

David Morgan, The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice. Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 2005.

About the Author

Mark Steele