Being a Christian artist has to be one of the most conflicting professions out there. Not because there is anything contradictory about being an art maker of faith. But mostly because of the way that church appears to view art makers.
It appears to me that Christians view all professions as equal and valid except the arts. I feel as if the only way a Christian is deemed valuable, is if they enable themselves to be used. Meaning their practice is perceived as valid if they work without compensation. To the contrary, my mechanic goes to my church, and I pay him. I don’t get a discount or anything of the sort. And I don’t feel that I deserve special treatment just because we both attend the same church. In similar regard, my barber goes to my church. And I also pay him. I pay him well.
But there is something about being a Christian artist that is not perceived in the same regard. I have been out of work for months. And while that is not the churches fault, nor there responsibility to employ me……….I still am consistently asked to do free design work, for Christians. And in many ways that’s fine. I welcome the opportunity to help others, with a glad heart. I am pleased to use what meager volume of talent I may or may not have. But at the end of the day there appears to be a clear delineation. Art is perceived to have lesser ontological value as other trades.
Throughout history Christians were always intrinsically intertwined with the perpetuation of art and culture making. Somewhere in the demise of the anti-intellectual movement, art was cast aside and perceived as nonsense; and or somehow secondary. Why did this shift occur? And if this is to change, our perception of image making must change. And I hope that one day the church will rally around art not merely in theory, but in practice. It seems to me that art and aesthetics have become increasingly popularized in mainstream culture. But this popularity is rooted mostly in perception than in practice. Perhaps one day a church will realize that they could live with one less paid pastor, in order to facilitate the fostering of arts in the kingdom.
