Evangelicals and Art

My friend Tony Hudson posted a link to this article from the Huffington Post on his Facebook account a number of days ago.  After having read it, I can only say that I don't disagree.  You can read the article for yourself at the link below:

Huffington Post

Coming from a family of musicians and artist, it has often troubled me that much of what is considered "good" within the Evangelical world is just not that "good" when one looks with artistically discerning eyes.  

Although the article focuses mainly on the relationship between mainstream Evangelical Christianity and art, I think that the same observations that inform this article with regards to art also have implications for other major areas of concern for the church.  Firstly, and related to art in a sense, is our sense of diversity within Evangelicalism.  Secondly, I think there are major implications for missions, a thought that I will address further on Monday in my usual Missional Monday spot.
 Following on from the observation that Evangelicalism tends to create "its own subcultures that often (though not always) prize the neat, tidy and redemptive over the realities of life," I would add that it also packages and markets this subculture in ways that are very worldly.  And some of the same things that are problematic about such marketing are even more troubling for the church.  We tend to find a very highly refined (neat and tidy), highly produced, homogonized product that is marketed and sold to the subculture.  Why is it that when I travel to Chile, or when I visit Quebec I am singing the same Chris Tomlin songs (albeit in translation) or hearing the same Casting Crowns tunes?  Surely, the Latino and Quebecois cultures have proven that they are quite capable of producing meaningful and important contributions to music or art.  Does this reflect the diversity that is represented in Revelation 5?

You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because You were slaughtered,
and You redeemed people
for God by Your blood
from every tribe and language
and people and nation.
¹⁰ You made them a kingdom
and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.

 Until we come to a place where we recognize the importance of such diversity, I think that we will struggle to be as diverse as we can be, or at the very least, continue to see a segregation within the larger church.  I believe this to be one of the great challenges created by an overly homogonized and commercialized industry created to try to serve the needs of the Evangelical community.  

Are we continuing to marginalize art and artists while at the same time marginalizing the diverse groups that are meant to make up the church? 

On Monday I will look further at some thoughts about our missional mandate.