(What follows is taken from some writing I did else where... but I think fits well here too.)
An artist creates out of their world view. What choice would one have but to operate our of their world view. All of life is connected and thus an artist speaks about all of life. Some artists spend too much time trying to explain what category they fit in. The artist creates art. It may be done well or not so well, for instance in music, it either sounds good or it doesn't.
It's my understanding that at one time harps were used lead armies into battle, these days people tend to think of harp music as soft music played by a woman in long flowing gown. Any kind of music can be created on the harp, but people who play harp are often stifled by people telling them they can only play certain types or styles of music and should dress in a certain manor when playing 'harp' music. It's not 'harp' music, it's 'music' played on a harp.
A Christian who is an artist creates out of their world view. Lives are not divided into a spiritual side, a social side, a this or that side... it's all one. When did we ever get so segmented? God is God of all of our life. He knows no bounds where He must stay in or outside of.
God created us to have an abundant life. It may not be what we might think of as an abundant life, but it's what God thinks is an abundant life. God made the whole of man, let us not divide it into parts and then raise or lower the importance of those parts. The Scriptures say the whole body is important.
In our efforts to segment things we often like to use the word 'Christian' as an adjective. The Bible doesn't divide music in to sacred and secular, and neither should we. Nether is art is utilitarian. Songs may be used to teach, encourage, celebrate, worship, just as people have different jobs. One person may work in retail, one may work with computers, one may clean, one maybe a policeman, etc... but a persons job is not who they are. Art is either good or it's not.
Some like to say 'Christian' music, but what would a 'Christian' plumber do that would be different than 'a plumber'? Would a 'Christian' restaurant serve 'Christian' food? Would a 'Christian' phone company provide 'Christian' phone service? As opposed to non-Christian phone service? The Christian who cooks should make food, the Christian who has a phone company should provide phone service, the plumber who is a Christian should do plumbing..a Christian who is a painter should paint. hopefully all of them will do it well.
When I want to find an musician to listen to, I don't necessarily look for jazz, rock, folk, blues, worldbeat, hip-hop, or other devision. I want to hear good music, Bela Fleck plays a banjo, but he plays a lot of different types of music. I'm sure there were people who told him if he was going to play banjo music, he should play blue-grass music... I'm glad he didn't stick with playing just blue-grass music. (nothing wrong with blue-grass)
People are some times asked 'What caused you to merge your faith and music'.... I'd like to know why people try to separate them to begin with. I suppose if they work in a CD store where they need to put the music in the 'right' bin... as in, folk, blues, jazz, worldbeat, rock, etc.... but then most people don't work in a CD store and the way the industry is going, fewer and fewer people work there. Let's stop the division.
An artist creates out of their world view. What choice would one have but to operate our of their world view. All of life is connected and thus an artist speaks about all of life. Some artists spend too much time trying to explain what category they fit in. The artist creates art. It may be done well or not so well, for instance in music, it either sounds good or it doesn't.
It's my understanding that at one time harps were used lead armies into battle, these days people tend to think of harp music as soft music played by a woman in long flowing gown. Any kind of music can be created on the harp, but people who play harp are often stifled by people telling them they can only play certain types or styles of music and should dress in a certain manor when playing 'harp' music. It's not 'harp' music, it's 'music' played on a harp.
A Christian who is an artist creates out of their world view. Lives are not divided into a spiritual side, a social side, a this or that side... it's all one. When did we ever get so segmented? God is God of all of our life. He knows no bounds where He must stay in or outside of.
God created us to have an abundant life. It may not be what we might think of as an abundant life, but it's what God thinks is an abundant life. God made the whole of man, let us not divide it into parts and then raise or lower the importance of those parts. The Scriptures say the whole body is important.
In our efforts to segment things we often like to use the word 'Christian' as an adjective. The Bible doesn't divide music in to sacred and secular, and neither should we. Nether is art is utilitarian. Songs may be used to teach, encourage, celebrate, worship, just as people have different jobs. One person may work in retail, one may work with computers, one may clean, one maybe a policeman, etc... but a persons job is not who they are. Art is either good or it's not.
Some like to say 'Christian' music, but what would a 'Christian' plumber do that would be different than 'a plumber'? Would a 'Christian' restaurant serve 'Christian' food? Would a 'Christian' phone company provide 'Christian' phone service? As opposed to non-Christian phone service? The Christian who cooks should make food, the Christian who has a phone company should provide phone service, the plumber who is a Christian should do plumbing..a Christian who is a painter should paint. hopefully all of them will do it well.
When I want to find an musician to listen to, I don't necessarily look for jazz, rock, folk, blues, worldbeat, hip-hop, or other devision. I want to hear good music, Bela Fleck plays a banjo, but he plays a lot of different types of music. I'm sure there were people who told him if he was going to play banjo music, he should play blue-grass music... I'm glad he didn't stick with playing just blue-grass music. (nothing wrong with blue-grass)
People are some times asked 'What caused you to merge your faith and music'.... I'd like to know why people try to separate them to begin with. I suppose if they work in a CD store where they need to put the music in the 'right' bin... as in, folk, blues, jazz, worldbeat, rock, etc.... but then most people don't work in a CD store and the way the industry is going, fewer and fewer people work there. Let's stop the division.
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