“What Role Does Art Play in the Christian Life?” - Leigh McLeroy

As Andy Crouch said in a previous video, "For Christians, everything matters." This is because we believe in a God who is invested in every aspect of His creation, and values the unique gifts He has given each of us. Some people are gifted as teachers, pastors, or ministers—and of course that's great. But there are other gifts, too.

An artist's job isn't the same thing as a pastor's job; a painting or a poem doesn't have to be a sermon. We can learn through both teaching and through art, and both are able to convey the goodness of God and the beauty of His creation—but they do it in different ways, and speak to different parts of our brains. It's important that we cultivate the creativity in ourselves that makes us receptive to beauty, and that we support the artists in our communities who remind us of it. Theirs is a high (and usually not highly paid!) calling, too.

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TRANSCRIPT: Years and years ago, centuries ago, the church was the training ground for artists. Artists apprenticed in the church; they told Biblical stories through their art. Then, as time has gone on it seems like art and faith have diverged in a sense, and now, I'm seeing them come a little bit closer together with believing artists who aren't doing shlocky stuff, but who are really trying to convey beauty. Not in a hard handed didactic way, but just in a way that opens up the heart and says, "look at this, it's beautiful, because God's the author of everything that's good and true and beautiful."

I think art matters a great deal … it's another way for us to tell our story. It's another way to communicate. It's another way to invite people in.

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