In a Systematic Theology class, I was struck by something the theologian Leonardo Boff wrote in relation to past practices of Christian missions. I paraphrase: when missionaries entered into an indigenous culture to proselytize, more often than not they would try and supplant all forms of the indigenous identity – “sacred” and “secular” expression – thinking that these were not of God. And more often than not, these same missionaries replaced indigenous identity with Western identity erasing all former forms of indigenous expression. Boff argued against this practice saying that these missionaries failed to recognize that the Holy Spirit might have gone before them to prepare these people to hear the Good News of Christ. That inherent in some of the indigenous cultural expressions were moments of grace, beauty, and an awareness of the immense power of God and his creation.
How do we apply Boff’s critique of previous missions practices to how we practices or view cultural expressions today, particularly through the arts?
More specifically, is it possible that the Holy Spirit has prepared the way for us? Could God be in the mix? Or the paint? Or the celluloid? Is God speaking to and through people outside the church and/or Christian faith? Or is entertaining these thoughts just a slippery slope into the world of polytheism or pantheism where God is whatever we want God to be?
Do we dismiss a piece of art because it expresses something that we find offensive and miss the profound? And how does one go about vetting an experience with a work of art that touches on what we feel is something Other? Is it too difficult to get past the offensive to see that as Christians we have a connecting point at which to begin dialogue about the God we worship?