{"id":19624,"date":"2018-10-18T21:51:56","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T04:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=19624"},"modified":"2018-10-18T21:51:56","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T04:51:56","slug":"ummmm-you-got-idols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/ummmm-you-got-idols\/","title":{"rendered":"Ummmm…You got idols!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cChristians already recognized that while images could be useful in promoting appropriate worship, they were also dangerous. Not only were there the biblical warnings about idolatry, but there were also pagan and political connotations that needed to be avoided[1]<\/a>.\u201d What a thought-provoking book on a topic I can honestly say I have never read a book on; the issue of art and Christianity. As a prophesied artist and poet, I have found much delight in using my gifts to glorify God; though more my writing than my artwork. For this reason however, I was very intrigued by the compulsion of Dyrness to impress the Protestant Christian value toward embracing the arts as a means of projecting their own spiritual connection with God. At the same time, I kept hearing those bells of warning that I believe he repeatedly eluded to, which has also made me uneasy many of times as I have seen overly ornate pieces of artwork hanging in various church buildings. For the sake of this reading, rather than referencing a number of outside sources, I would rather demonstrate the scriptures that were taught to me that led to such warning signs. However, in so doing, I should first state, I am not against artwork of a Christian nature\u2026entirely; but when you are shown scripture the way I have been taught it, there is always going to exist hesitation.<\/p>\n

As Dyrness mentioned, the primary stumbling block to some Christians in regard to the arts, is that of idolatry. The Old Testament is full of warnings and punishments that are brought to the children of Israel because of their worship of idols and images. \u201cI will pronounce My judgments on them concerning their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hand\u201d (Jeremiah 1:16); \u201cTheir land has also been filled with idols; they worship the work of their hands, that which their fingers have made,\u201d (Isaiah 2:8). Over and over God voices His anger and frustration with an idolatrous nation. Scripture shows His repeated rebukes regarding their idols of clay and wood, and the punishments that they received as a result; after all, how can we forget the story of a golden calf fashioned in order to worship\u2026and how can we forget how God made them drink that gold as a punishment? We were raised that even a cross that hung around your neck or a giant cross hanging in the front of the church building were not symbols of faith, but rather graven images that serve as idols to those who do not obey. I will never forget the mission trip I made to Mexico, which led me into a small Catholic church in the middle of a poverty stricken city, only to find that it was equipped with security cameras and alarms to protect the golden crosses and overly ornate Christian artwork hanging on the wall. It was not the artwork that bothered me as much as the significance given to the artwork rather than the homeless and hungry that I had walked past to get into the church building in the first place.<\/p>\n

However, the offence was not just in regard to carved or crafted idols. In Daniel 3:5, it reads that the people were commanded, \u201cthat at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.\u201d Aside from the normal debate over the legality of musical instruments, was also the question of whether music had the form of idolatry for those who became consumed by it. Ironically, 3 of my 4 children are fantastic musicians, and here I am, the preacher of a non-instrumental church. When my youngest son started high school, he came into my office one day with tears in his eyes, obviously distraught over something. Upon asking him what was wrong, he asked, \u201cAm I going to get you fired?\u201d I was puzzled of course, but then he said, \u201cBecause I like to play the tuba. I don\u2019t want to get you fired.\u201d Even at that age, he had learned a certain seriousness that was placed upon the art of music. (Just to answer the question\u2026I didn\u2019t get fired, and he still plays the tuba).<\/p>\n

Even paintings have provoked aggressive responses though, because it creates the discussion of artist prerogative and expressionism and that of biblical accuracy. Does an artist have the right to bring themselves into the artwork, if they are truly trying to represent Christianity? Furthermore, is it fair to limit the creativity of an artist by telling them that they are limited to only depict that which is specifically stated in Scripture? About 6 years ago, I purchased 8 banners to line the walls of the auditorium where we worship; to be completely honest, I nearly held my breath the entire service on the first Sunday I displayed them. Though I chose simple scenic images with accurate scriptural references, I know how aggressively some members view artwork in the sanctuary.<\/p>\n

So where do you draw the line? How do you determine if something is a violation or simply artwork that is intended to glorify God rather than to offend Him? I shared this story in Hong Kong with a few people, but one Christmas, my grandmother presented the entire family with a gift; when I unwrapped mine, I found that she had translated the entire bible\u2026Old and New Testament\u2026into poetic verse; that\u2019s right, Genesis to Revelation in one incredible poem. So how am I supposed to view that gift?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Grandma perverted the gospel for her own pleasure and delight<\/li>\n
  2. Grandma loved the Word so much, that she showed how it touched her by reflecting that joy into loving words of poetry<\/li>\n
  3. Put it on the shelf and let it gather dust like all the other books<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Well, before I answer that question, I have to ask myself why I have written so many of my own religious poems through the years. Dyrness wrote, \u201cBecause of the historical relationship between Christianity and the arts\u2026the involvement of Christian artists in the church is necessarily fraught with tensions[2]<\/a>.\u201d This tells me that sometimes the best way to answer this question is cautiously. I believe there is a lot of artwork hanging in churches today that probably constitutes idolatry; and idolatry is wrong. In the same manner however, there are also many fantastic pieces of art that are expressions of love and connection to God, and as such, deserve to be seen in that manner. If anything, scripture is intended to be a guide to help us determine the difference between what is good and acceptable to God, and what is evil and offensive. Matthew 15:8 reads, \u201cThese people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.\u201d Therefore, the most important thing we must do is to make sure that our hearts are seeking to please God rather than ourselves\u2026in all things.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Dyrness, William A.. Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. P 32.<\/p>\n

    [1]<\/a>Dyrness, William A.. Visual Faith (Engaging Culture): Art, Theology, and Worship in Dialogue. Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. P 32.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    [2]<\/a>Ibid, 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cChristians already recognized that while images could be useful in promoting appropriate worship, they were also dangerous. Not only were there the biblical warnings about idolatry, but there were also pagan and political connotations that needed to be avoided[1].\u201d What a thought-provoking book on a topic I can honestly say I have never read a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[1373,1031,289],"class_list":["post-19624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action-mystery-thriller","tag-arts-and-christianity","tag-dminglp8","tag-dyrness","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19624"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19634,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19624\/revisions\/19634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}