Art and Culture for His Glory

I had a nice surprise in my mailbox last week, the Sept. ’07 issue of the Christ-Community-Music (CCM) magazine.

In the editorial on page 4, Jay Swartzendruber shared his thoughts on his pastor’s sermon entitled “A Christian World View of Culture and the Arts.” His pastor, Scott Roley, stated, “. . . we are called as Image Bearers of God to reveal the good, true and beautiful image of the One Triune God throughout creation. . . filling the earth with God’s glory. If this is not the Biblical foundation for art, and all other callings in culture, what is?” The pastor continues, “. . . the word Christian is never used in the Bible as an adjective to describe something. ‘Christian’ is a person, not a descriptive word. . . a follower of Jesus, not the qualifier of a noun!”
Finally, he states, “. . . the Gospel-driven artist is actually called to create . . . Coram Deo (all unto the Lord). . . . praise to God as it fulfills the chief end for us all, ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

After reading this, I realized this is part of teaching I was provided on art and culture at Tabor College as I was earning my Christian Ministry degree. It has opened my mind to the possibilities for enjoying art and culture much more. I am excited about what the Lord will be showing me in the future on how art and culture can be used for His glory (even though I am not an artistic type of person).