On Being a Christian Artist?

 Several years ago , a friend was listening to some music of mine powering ... or should I say thundering out of the mighty woofers of my Bose System. If you like music , it is pure joy having a good system which translates media to sound waves. Any way , before I digress, my friend is an unbeliever and we were talking about our musical tastes and I mentioned that the artist he was listening to and liking was a " Christian Artist". It was an innocent remark but I was taken a little aback at how a friendly conversation had promptly turned semi-confrontational and semi-hostile. Semi-Hostile being defined as no punches were ever thrown. "What do you mean by a " Christian Artist" he roared as I felt the hairs on the back of my neck raise as I felt the first verbal punch of a philosophical jab. Its amazing how you can be relaxed one minute and then all the synapses of your brain are put on high alert. Well, I said , it has to do with World View. The artist has a view of what qualifies as good and bad from , dare I say , a biblical perspective. And in essence , there is a creative spark in them that ultimately wants to glorify God above all else. That's essentially it ...I said.

 "Does that make it better?" he said.

"So much of it sounds light weight" he criticized.

 Well , I said... Welcome to the fallen world! So much of " secular " music sounds light weight and frankly , neither Christian nor Secular music is immune. THAT seemed to satisfy him , but it seemed that the fact that he had actually liked what I had played for him bothered him. That was the end of the conversation and we all had desert.

 That memory hauntedly came back as I read Manuel Luz'  insightful book called " Imagine That .... Discovering Your Unique Role as a Christian Artist ". As I started to read this book , I felt that Manuel had tapped into something really relevant to all artists. He was telling the truth of what lies beneath the motives of our art making. He was in a unique position to illustrate his points as he was an accomplished musician who had performed and recorded music for a living with almost 50 albums to his credit. And frankly , he admitted falling into all the Vanity pitfalls that await the artist trying to " make it" in the marketplace of other artists competing for attention and glory and fame.

 What you will read in this absorbingly well written and thoroughly thought out book on being an artist is not a theoretical treatise or overly intellectual account of what Art is. Heck... there are enough of those all ready written. In fact, some writers go out of their way to sound profound and erudite.But rather, Manuel , with a BS in aeronautical engineering and an MBA in management , plainly writes a guide for artists who want a deeper understanding of the challenges that await the artist and some good advice from a man who has made his share of mistakes and is man enough to expose himself and his shortfalls.

 One example will give you a sampling of his heart. He mentions that whenever he listened to other musicians that he had 3 criteria to judge them...
1. I am better than them
2. They are as good as me
3. With some practice I can be as good as them

 Although for a time this satisfied his ego, he realized that this exercise proved fruitless and self defeating.

 My favorite chapter is " The Calling of the Artist". In it he has a parable of the possibility that is worth the price of the book. With out giving too much away , it speaks of the importance of community and the role of the artist to be a part of and not separate of. We get into trouble when we think we are so special and different.

 Manuel and I have been believers about the same time and frankly so much of his mistakes have been also committed by me. I felt that I could have written this book although Manuel is leaps ahead in the writing department. By being transparent, Manuel has given us an account that is far more readable than Francis Shaeffer's book on Art and the Bible. He is one of the few artists that addresses what I have been saying about Art. Art is so much more than Beauty. If you have read Oscar Wilde's book " The Picture of Dorian Gray " you will know what I mean. In fact , GK Chesterton had a marvelous insight about the Christian worldview . The christian he says is the most pessimistic and the most optimistic person at once. This paradox is forever inbedded in the psyche of the Believer. One should be free to tell the awful truth , warts and all , but one should be just as quick to share the Good News and the story of redemption. Both are present. Life is paradoxical without being self negating. It is the grand mystery woven into the fabric of this thing called being human. Saints and sinners we. How can our Art produce anything different?

Imagine That  by Manuel Luz. Moody Publishers

ISBN-978-0-8024-2450-1

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Next upcoming posts ..... On Speaking in front of a Crowd  and a review of Oscar Wilde's " The Picture of Dorian Gray"