Eric from On the Wittenberg Trail has been writing a series of good posts that deal with issues relating to the vocation of the Christian in the arts.  Here’s an excerpt from some comments he has on Michael Horton’s book, Putting Amazing Back Into Grace.

Dr. Horton then addresses the subject of Christian vocation more specifically. He writes: “Each Christian, whatever his or her calling, serves God, and that person’s calling… is a ministry to the community on God’s behalf“ (emphasis added). He then addresses artistic vocations, concluding with these thoughts. “Painting, singing, playing an instrument, composing, writing, directing, acting, sculpting — these activities are callings which require no evangelistic justification“(emphasis added).

It is all too easy to see that doctors and nurses, firemen and policemen, even sanitation workers and milkmaids (one of Martin Luther’s favorite examples) minister to the community on God’s behalf — not by “evangelizing their workplaces,” but by simply serving others in their secular roles. We have more trouble with this concept when the vocation is artistic. Perhaps this is due to the fact that we recognize art as a medium for communication, and if what the artist communicates is not “explicitly Christian,” what good is his work for the kingdom of God? Yet, according to Dr. Horton, the effect of the Reformation was precisely the opposite. At a time when artists relied almost exclusively on ecclesiastical commissions for their daily bread, the Reformation invited artists to give expression to more universal themes and ideals.

Christians sometimes seem to be averse in principle to entertainment, and the arts can have a diversionary quality. We sometimes feel guilty spending time and money for no other purpose than to share a laugh with friends or a roomful of movie-watchers or enjoy a ball game. There are certainly times when an artist does nothing but entertain, and that does not mean he has failed in his vocation — on the contrary, in doing so he he has fulfilled it.

If the person called to a secular (non-ecclesiastical) vocation must do his work in a manner that is somehow “explicitly Christian” in order to bring glory to God in his work, then the Reformation doctrine of Christian vocation is dead. If we affirm this truth, but then make exceptions for authors, painters, musicians, and movie producers (among others), then we are all still slaves to what the Reformers called “monkery.”

In another post, Another note on SAICFF, Eric talks about Christians making films and trying to find their “evangelistic justification” for their films’ existence by taking a political issue and twisting it into a theological one.  As he rightly observes:  “This is not merely a good way to make bad movies.  It is a boring way to present perverse theology.”  Read the whole thing!

So remember, folks:  This blog may deal with liturgical and ecclesiastical arts in specific, which has a particular function in the life of the church– but let it never be said that a Christian must deal in “preachy” art only, especially for the sake of attempting to justify their vocation!

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