Artist vs. Artistry

Have you ever admired a painting or seen a movie or heard a song that you absolutely loved and then, when you later found out the artist/director/actor/singer had a moral flaw, your opinion of their art was somehow changed. I must admit, I have done this. But why?

Art is art. It’s a beautiful thing. God Himself is an artist. Look around you…art is everywhere. It’s in the flowers on a hillside that no human will ever explore, it’s in the colors of the sea life deep in the ocean, it’s in the galaxies that no human eye will ever see. Why did He create these things? Because they bring Him pleasure. That’s the purpose of art…to bring us pleasure.

People are people. We are all flawed. If you’re basing your approval of art on the artist’s degree of moral excellence, then please don’t ever watch any of the videos I’ve directed or produced. I am a flawed man. I have to bow before the Creator of the universe each day and thank Him that He is so merciful. If moral excellence is your guideline for appreciating art, you’ll never be able to watch any movies, listen to any music or admire any paintings…we are ALL flawed.

You should be able to separate the art from the artist. I’m just going to be honest here…many Christians have a real problem with this. We wind up living our lives in vacuums. We don’t watch the movies that non-believers watch or listen to the same music or go to the same plays. In John 17 Jesus prays, “The world hated them because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world. I am not praying that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one…As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”

That’s right, you’ve heard it before - we are not of the world, but we are in the world. And music, TV and movies are the language of our world today. If we don’t know how to speak their language, how are we expecting to reach those we are sent to reach?

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m not advocating that this is a free pass for you to go and watch any movie you want or listen to any music regardless of its content. You have to be on guard about what you allow into your heart. After all…garbage in garbage out!

But instead of being so negatively focused on the art of flawed people, perhaps we should be praying for the artists who need to find Christ. And then, just maybe, once these artists realize their need for a Savior, they’ll offer up their talents as gifts for His glory and not their own.