One of the upsides to my recent surgery (hey, I’m trying to think positively, aliright!) has been that I’ve been flat on my back for a couple of days. In between pain-pill fogs, I’ve been able to catch up on a bit of reading; not nearly what I had hoped, but good nonetheless. On Monday I finished Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and yesterday Imagine: A Vision For Christians in the Arts by Steve Turner.

Reading Turner’s book was an interesting experience. It was interesting because I agreed with so much of what he has to say, but also because he articulated some of the very points that I have been struggling through, particularly reading Eyes Wide Open by William Romanowski.

Over a series of posts, I have wrestled through many of the issues that Turner so clearly communicates. I often try to limit the amount of material quoted in a single post, but since I’ve struggled to communicate much of what Tuner communicates much more clearly, I simply want to give some quotes from his book, interspersed with the few and far between thoughts that I have.

Turner begins by name-dropping his time spent at L’Abri, which I’m sure I would do as well. Regardless, Turner notes that one of the issues he was confronted with while in Switzerland was that, instead of categorizing “all culture as either Christian or non-Christian, spiritual or fleshly,” he was encouraged to “look at works individually.” Turner elaborates that the true criteria for culture became, “Rather than asking, Is this artist saved? ask, Is this piece of work technically excellent? Is it a valid expression of the artist’s view of the world? Are form and content well integrated? Is truth communicated?”

This is a far cry from the “sacred/secular” distinction most of us are taught to bring to bear on culture. Yet, Turner laments that it is not only average Christians who are unprepared to think about the arts, it is also often the “Christian” artists themselves. Turner notes that “By making truth the sole criterion, Christians had often diminished the importance of human endeavor in the arts, and in doing this had deprived themselves of a wealth of cultural experience.” The result, too often is that “Because the work that bore the name Christian was often poor in quality and naive in understanding, Christianity by implication seemed insipid and uninspiring.”

Picking up on themes I’ve wrestled with, Turner laments that “One of the great hindrances to the development of biblically informed mainstream art has been the perception that Christians should make “Christian art” and that “Christian art” is always explicitly religious.” He concludes that “Christian art” in this sense, is usually either an aid to worship or a means of evangelism.” Turner notes that “CCM” (Contemporary Christian Music) is “the only musical category recognized by the record industry that is defined entirely by lyrical content.” The Blues, Country, Jazz, Rock, Classical, all other musical styles are just that: musical styles while CCM is alone concerned with the message.
Countering this traditional approach, Turner argues, “I don’t believe every artist who is a Christian should produce art that is a paraphrased sermon.” In fact, Turner argues, when “Christians think of the arts as something that can be used to win the world to Christ, they create an unrealistic expectation of the arts and put unfair pressure on artists.”

The result of the move towards art as progaganda is, as Turner notes, that “Christian songwriters are encouraged to ignore the ordinary things of life because they don’t provide the opportunity to witness. The result is that many have no grounds upon which to relate to “Christian music” because “Christian music” isn’t actually about real-life and we end up losing the very witnessign opportunity we so treasured.

In response to all of this, Turner notes that “C.S. Lewis once said that he believed in God like he believed in the sun: “Not because I can see Him, but because by Him I can see evrything else.” Turner concludes that “It is possible to create work saturated with gospel insights without spelling out the plan of salvation just as it is possible to demonstrate the joys of a loving marriage without showing off your wedding photographs.” Summarizing here, Turner quotes T. Bone Burnett, who in an interview with the L.A. Weekly said, “If Jesus is the Light of the World, there are two kinds of songs you can write. You can write songs about the light, or you can write songs about what you can see from the light.”

Finally suggesting a way to reconcile both the intake and creation of the arts (particularly music), Turner offers a “five circle” approach. He says, “In my set of circles, the outer ring is made up of art that doesn’t suggest any obvious worldview.” Turner continues, “The next circle contains work that is an expression of our Christian faith because it dignifies human life and introduces a sense of awe.” Moving on, Turner argues that “The third ring contains those things that carry an imprint of clear Bible teaching but which we know are not uniquely Christian.” He says that the “fourth circle in gets closer to the heart of the Gospel,” and “It is in the center circle that unique Christian gospel lies.”

One of the underlying assumptions behind Turner’s “circles” is that artists will be given opportunity more than a single song to lay out the material. In other words, it takes considerable material to most powerfully connect with the human experience at an artistic and instrinsic level and move into the Gospel. The move towards marketing, even within Christian circles means that everything must be packed into one song, which is unrealistic for anyone.

Though there is much more to consider in Turner’s book, I simply wanted to throw some of these things out for your consideration before I have to take another pain pill! More than anything, I’m comforted to read material like Turner’s, not because I agree with it, but because it is a reminder that the Gospel truly is for all of life, including our imaginations and creativity. We are stewards and we ought to invest well. May we heed the the concerns of Turner, Romanowski and others, so that we may truly “soar beyond the stars.”

• Read Imagine: A Vision For Christians in the Arts by Steve Turner.
• Read Eyes Wide Open: Looking For God in Popular Culture by William Romanowski.
• Read my post Who Says What’s Christian Music?
• Read my post Ark Culture.
• Read my post The Decreasing Discernment of the Dollar.