A Christian Duty to Create
The Christian’s artistic role.
From the start of western society, Judeo-Christian morals were dominant in the culture. However, as empiricism began to pervade the culture, the secular world essentially moved Christianity and morality out of the mainstream conversation. In her eye-opening book Saving Leonardo, Nancy Pearcey gives an account of how David Hume spread his philosophy that since truth can only be gained from what we observe with our senses, morality could also only be determined by one’s senses. In other words, something is morally right if it pleases what we feel, taste, or see, immoral if it does not. This resulted in the widespread acceptance of morals as individual choice rather than universal truth; what pleased one person did not always please another. The prevailing worldview began to change. Pearcey asserts, “Artistic styles develop originally as vehicles for expressing particular worldviews.” And so, just as religion was pushed out of the truth conversation, it was also pushed from mainstream creative works.
Of course, Christian content was never completely abandoned, and some works do break into the mainstream realm. One classic example is author C.S. Lewis. From Mere Christianity, a widely popular exposition of the Christian faith, to the Chronicles of Narnia, a fantasy series whose first three installments have been made into movies, Lewis’ works are definitely a part of our culture. He did not push his talent into one religious box, but instead demonstrated his ability through multiple genres.
Unfortunately, more recently there was a disappointing trend for Christians to create works within a box stuffed with caricatured situations and messages so conspicuous they just come off as cheesy. It’s important for Christians to make excellent, entertaining, meaningful content — not just half-hearted or cookie cutter creations. Sometimes it may include a clear message of the gospel, sometimes allegory, and sometimes just good clean fun.
If the only enjoyable content Christians have to choose from is laced with a secular worldview, that worldview will seep silently into our minds and we will end up with a skewed view of reality. On the other hand, if the world has more captivating content with a correct worldview to choose from, they might begin to open up to God’s truth.
A true worldview is necessary if we want to be effective witnesses of God’s truth and love. Christians with a passion for writing, art, dance, music, and other creative outlets need to use their gifts and put their work out into the world to keep truth and Christian values in the conversation. Being a Christian does not mean you are stuck in one genre or in one box from now on, but that you should use your talent to its full potential. As Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” Stay focused on God’s Word, use your God-given creativity, and show your work to the world.
