The Gospel of the Artist

This blog is inspired by a presentation from Christopher Slatoff, an accomplished sculptor, on the perspective of the gospels through the eyes of an artist.

The gospel of the artist is an extremely important view of the gospel that I feel is just as marginalized as those who view the gospel through the lens of their gender, cultural, economical, or geographical backgrounds. I say this not to diminish or devalue the importance of those views, but rather to put a perspective on how the body of Christ views those who choose to reveal the Gospel through creative expression. The reason for writing this is not simply because I am a performance artist myself, but because I was so impacted by Mr. Slatoff's presentation and thus felt the need to speak, hoping that somehow my words will allow those who have yet to experience the chance to truly receive the revelation of Christ through art an opportunity to do so.

I see Mr. Slatoff's sculpture every time I'm on campus, yet I see something different every time. Once, I was walking out of class (I don't even really remember where I was going exactly) and as I passed the sculpture, I saw something that struck me to the core: I saw fear in the face of Jesus. I was so taken back that I stopped in my tracks. Surely I must be wrong; Jesus wasn't afraid of anything; He's Jesus! Every lesson of Jesus' fearless journey to the cross that I've ever heard came to my remembrance and I felt condemned for even thinking that Jesus could feel that way. But then I remembered Jesus at Gethsemane. How much He prayed "not my will but thy will."  Wait...Jesus had a will? He struggled with laying his down too? It was then that I realized why I saw what I saw: I was afraid. I was scared of going through the death process of letting what I thought I knew go. Yet here was Jesus, sharing my pain and achieving what I never thought I could do in and of my own power. Here was the good news in front of me, clear as day. Not only did Jesus understand where I was, not only did He know the way out, He was the way out! It was in that moment that Jesus met me in my fearful place with the good news. It was the gospel that I needed to hear, and it was done through art.

I wonder how many people pass by this piece of art and simply admire it for it's incredible level of artistic skill. I wonder how many people simply look at this work as someone who took their gift of art and only used it to honor God. It often amazes me how quick we are to limit the voice of creative expression. "Aw, that's nice, they're using their gift for God's glory." Again, I'm not saying this isn't the case, but how often do we simply use this one-sided mindset and rob ourselves of the gospel that is being presented to us through this expression? Artists don't make pieces to present to God for his approval. When an artist makes something, sings something, writes something, they are speaking to whoever will read or listen or see it. They are telling a story, usually their own. In the case of the sculpture, Mr. Slatoff is sharing his view of the gospel. He is speaking; preaching even! Shall we negate the truths being spoken simply because he is not behind a pulpit? God forbid!

In our New Testament: Gospels class (where the presentation was given) we learn that the gospels weren't written to simply satisfy our quest for a historical Jesus, but to express a truth about Him, to create a picture of who Jesus really is so that we might believe. John makes this evident at the end of his gospel when he states:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name  (John 20: 30-31)

 To me, looking at the gospels is almost like looking at an incredible piece of art. When you look at a piece of art, (take the sculpture for example) it is obvious that there are clear, evident things happening within that piece (no one is going to walk up to the piece and say, 'look, someone shot Jesus'). Likewise, there are clear threads and events that are evident within the four gospels. However, there are also glimpses we get of art that are unique to every individual, based on their own experiences and perspectives. For me, it is also the same with the Gospels. Each gospel presents something different about Jesus and contributes a different piece to the puzzle (as illustrated in the blog "Eternal Rantings of a Sleepless Mind"). Through their gospels, we get a different glimpse of Jesus. It is when these pictures are placed together that we get a true feel for the depth of the gospel and a different light is shined on who Jesus truly is, the fulfillment of the promise to the people of Israel, and the redemption of the world.

Furthermore, I would like to argue that the church's blindness to the tremendous value of the gospel though creative expression only robs us of our chance to relate to God in the same way that we first encounter him; as Creator. In the beginning, God created... it is our obsession with our own intellect that steers us from the richness of art and it's ability to reveal God to us. If we are not stripping it of it's value in our education, our churches, or our concept of it being "purely entertainment," we are demonizing it, making it something far from God and thus a sin. I encourage schools and churches for embracing the arts as means of ministry and only hope that it can be viewed in a way that captures all of our senses, our learning abilities, and our hearts; leaving us completely open to receive what God has for us.

I would also like to add that the concept of revealing God's word through art speaks to the Gospel of John that states, "and the word became flesh and lived among us..." (John 1:14). It amazes me just how much of God's word I can see expressed in Mr. Slatoff's sculpture.

My hope is that we are able to allow the body of Christ the opportunity to experience God through creative means and likewise allow those with creative gifts to feel no shame in expressing them. That the church might be able to see God in a new way; meeting him in the beginning and walking in the image and likeness he had in mind for us when he stated, "Let there be light."