The arts remain vital to the reflective and expressive life of the church.If the church is `missional’ then it is concerned with cultural engagement….at many levels. A church without….or a church that marginalizes and/or devalues the arts is less than what it was intended and designed to be.Ongoing debates about our liberty in the arts, or about the factors by which we determine artistic value are important (still) but…….. there are some things that should a: be obvious b: kick the conversation up a notch.
The arts and cultures of `the nations’ will be part of a future `kingdom of God’…..this organic link between an early, overarching `Cultural mandate’ and the idea of a `restoration of culture/s’ to their true purpose is a thread traceable in the writings of Missionary Samuel Zwemer/ Fuller’s Dr Mouw (and others) and I would think (would serve)as an apologetic or discursive lubricant among those peoples/cultures who feel that their rich legacy is being eclipsed by a market driven globalism.
Not only cultural restoration , but cultural exchange is an important factor. some will seek to communicate their deepest values and concerns via contextually appropriate/relevant means and media. Others will look to the phenomenon of cultural exchange as a form of hospitality, the creation of a `third space’ that in turn will facilitate other exchanges…conversations.
Social media is being used to radicalize and energize movements towards large scale change in some parts of the world. I am already aware of discussions 9in public media) about the role(s) of the arts during `regime change’……are we part of that conversation? What kind of cultural legacy do the newly democratized already represent? what does cultural exchange with them look like?
Innovation thinking in both the `for profit’ sector and the human/social services sector recognizes the value of `artistic and creative thinking’ in a: (assisting)increasing market share/bottom line and b:bringing `design driven solutions’ to bear upon social and development concerns. If the MFA is the new MBA (as Daniel Pink/Hilary Austen and others argue) then where are we in this conversation? Are we acknowledging the arts and their potential contribution to addressing broad array of issues/concerns in front of the church? This goes way beyond `Do we evangelize with or through art or do we just make good art to God’s glory’…or ` missionary `culture’ supplanting ethnic cultures (valuable questions….but things are moving fast..!)