{"id":16948,"date":"2018-03-08T15:27:42","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T23:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=16948"},"modified":"2018-03-09T10:59:32","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T18:59:32","slug":"the-flagrant-waste-of-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-flagrant-waste-of-beauty\/","title":{"rendered":"The flagrant waste of beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>One of the most profound and surprising days of my life was a day in 2008 which I spent touring the Vatican Museums with art historian Elizabeth Lev<\/a>. Walking through the museums, she offered compelling insights and thoughtful interpretations of the frescos, adornments, murals, tapestries, mosaics, and statuary flagrantly littered throughout the sacred spaces of the Vatican. Where once I would have walked by, blithely ignorant of the meaning and the beauty present, she opened the windows of my spirit to appreciate the nuances of colour, placement, and figures selected for each masterpiece. It\u00a0became a religious experience that ended up in worship.<\/p>\n

I grew up in a Baptist church, a new modern structure, where the grey, flecked (industrial-quality) carpet warmly and appropriately coordinated with bright fuchsia-cushioned pews, blank walls, and with a plain wooden cross of smooth, engineered white oak the only adornment of the sanctuary. Its inoffensive blandness was designed to allow middle-class congregants to stay in their heads and rationalize their relationship with Jesus,\u00a0where the train of conversion was pulled by fact and the emotions were appended as the caboose.\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Max Weber\u2019s classic The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/em> exposes the historical framework that leads most evangelical worship spaces to be warehouses or theatres today, devoid of art and beauty, and the tendency of reducing faith to a personal transaction of becoming born again. In stripping churches of art, the Reformers tossed the baby out with the bathwater.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis\u00a0worldly Protestant asceticism \u2026 acted powerfully against the spontaneous enjoyment of possessions; it restricted consumption, especially of luxuries\u2026 [It was] not a struggle against the rational acquisition, but against the irrational use of wealth. But this irrational use was exemplified in the outward forms of luxury which their code condemned as idolatry of the flesh\u2026 On the other hand, they approved the rational and utilitarian uses of wealth which were willed by God for the needs of the individual and the community.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

This phrase \u201cthe rational and utilitarian uses of wealth\u201d makes me catch my breath. This is the philanthropy world I am in. High net worth Christian donors today are heavy on securing a ROI on their donation investments: souls saved, wells dug, programs launched, classes sponsored.\u00a0 And I hear the voices of my past far too readily: we need to save the world, reach the lost, and expand the kingdom.<\/p>\n

This utilitarian viewpoint is not common just within Protestant circles. Wallace Davis, a reviewer of Weber, cites Felix Rachfahl as a critic of Weber\u2019s thesis, who stated that streams within Catholicism also embraced asceticism, even more severe than Protestant expressions. He states, \u201cRachfahl considered Weber’s notion of “inner-worldly asceticism” misleading \u2026 [He] insisted that precisely such a life-style was also demanded of Catholic laity and was not at all unique to the Protestant sects. Furthermore, he noted that such a notion has little to do with the Catholic conception of asceticism, the essence of which, he argued, is the rejection of the world\u2026. Such forms of world-renouncing asceticism constituted a particular type of piety explicitly rejected by Protestantism, which demanded instead that a general Christian ethic permeate all aspects of an individual’s life.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

While Catholicism surely has an ascetic stream, the point is that the ancient streams of Christianity lived with these various tensions, and in general, created a culture where an appreciation for art and mystery was allowed to thrive and lead to worship. Unfortunately, when art is divorced from the Creator, it becomes a shadow that turns on itself and expresses itself in ways that reduce its ability to point to God. Gregory Wolfe, founder of Image Journal<\/em>,<\/a> a Seattle-based arts and faith movement, states, \u201cArt lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship. It severed an umbilical cord and now lives its own sterile life, generating and degenerating itself.\u201d[3]<\/a> This is the problem with much art that is generated today, which again contributes to how alienated it is from the church.<\/p>\n

My wife and I are currently renovating a 170-year old Maritime house which is turning out to be a significant project, as one should expect. Our dream is that it will become a welcoming environment for guests who will experience true hospitality and grace while staying with us. During my writing of this article, we had a conference call with our contractor who jumped on a proposal from my wife to push out the kitchen window and insert a built-in window bench with bookshelves at either end, something we hadn\u2019t planned for but is definitely an add-on. It\u2019s an unnecessary frill as the original plan for just a flat window was fine. Cost-conscious, I objected to the expanding dream. I hung up, and continued writing, then stopped in my tracks. Here I was being utilitarian and graceless, when the proposed enhancement would add that extra layer of beauty to our home. Plus, it was my wife\u2019s idea. And it was International Women\u2019s Day. Repenting, I quickly sent a text message supporting the upgrade.<\/p>\n

Just as the apparent wasting of the ointment in the alabaster jar when poured on the feet of Jesus, the beauty and mystery of art can lead us into worship. There\u2019s not much about art that is utilitarian or practical, and money given to the arts has no real tangible outcome. However, as we push against the Protestant ethic, and make room for the arts, we recover missing depths of beauty embedded in the world which leads to worship.<\/p>\n

I’d like you to experience just a taste of Elizabeth Lev\u2019s sparkle as she explores the Sistine Chapel as I mentioned in the opening paragraph. Take a moment to watch this TED talk and be inspired, as I was.<\/p>\n