Lust, art, beauty, and habituation
Well, I obviously haven't posted in a good long while, semester has been pretty busy and I've spent the semester in much more of a learning position than in a position to expound any ideas to others. However, I'm missing church this morning due to a very annoying illness that is keeping me glued to the couch right now.
That being said, I was watching some TV mega-church this morning (out of sheer morbid curiosity) and the pastor was talking about lust. One of the things he said was that there are two painters in the human mind. One is of the devil, painting elicit images to make you stumble, the other is of the Holy Spirit, trying to paint good images to keep you from sin.
Now, aside from the obvious "cheesiness" factor of this image, it is somewhat helpful. However, it is also flawed in a very important way that is telling of the way Evangelicals tend to try to fight lust. The problem with the metaphor is on the end of the Holy Spirit. The main problem is what he is actually doing is extremely unclear, and his role seems to only be in response to the role of the devil. It seems like the Holy Spirit should be painting images and working to perfect the believer whether Satan is doing work or not. It is the Devil who works to pervert the work of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, the lack of clarity as to what the Holy Spirit is exactly doing is very problematic. We know that the Devil has to be fed with images to work. Can the Holy Spirit be fed as well or does he simply work ex nihilo (out of nothing)? The answer is that Christians have traditionaly recognized this battle of images in the mind, and they have battled the work of the devil to pervert beauty and encourage an improper relationship to it in the human being, by producing art to habituated the Christian towards the Good. Beauty is an indescribably powerful force. This is because of the inherent goodness in beauty due to its relationship to God as the most beautiful of all beings and the fount of all beautiful things.
Trying to combat lust by merely putting filters on your computer, blocking channels, or even by tried and true disciplines such as reading Scripture and fasting will be insufficient. Beauty cannot be ignored. Beauty has to be used to fight perverted beauty. Art is vital to the Christian spiritual battle. The believer should fill themselves with images of Christ, Mary, the apostles and other saints, biblical scenes, and any other image of beauty that is portrayed rightly. Landscapes and nature scenes are another great subject because they clearly reflect the beauty of God's creation and his divine attributes can be seen throughout his creation.
Christian art if vital to the church. The lack of Christian art in evangelical churches stands out starkly when one thinks about the problem lust poses in our culture. Christians need to pay attention to art. Christians should become educated about art, they should foster the sort of community that produces good art, they should patronize talented Christian artists, and most importantly, Christian artists should step up and work to make good work that reflects God's beauty.
Remember, the images you take in shape your thought life and, as a result, your whole soul. We must be proactive in the battle for our thoughtlives. Consume good art. Use beauty the way it was meant to be used, to draw us towards the good.
Lord God, have mercy on us. Amen.
That being said, I was watching some TV mega-church this morning (out of sheer morbid curiosity) and the pastor was talking about lust. One of the things he said was that there are two painters in the human mind. One is of the devil, painting elicit images to make you stumble, the other is of the Holy Spirit, trying to paint good images to keep you from sin.
Now, aside from the obvious "cheesiness" factor of this image, it is somewhat helpful. However, it is also flawed in a very important way that is telling of the way Evangelicals tend to try to fight lust. The problem with the metaphor is on the end of the Holy Spirit. The main problem is what he is actually doing is extremely unclear, and his role seems to only be in response to the role of the devil. It seems like the Holy Spirit should be painting images and working to perfect the believer whether Satan is doing work or not. It is the Devil who works to pervert the work of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, the lack of clarity as to what the Holy Spirit is exactly doing is very problematic. We know that the Devil has to be fed with images to work. Can the Holy Spirit be fed as well or does he simply work ex nihilo (out of nothing)? The answer is that Christians have traditionaly recognized this battle of images in the mind, and they have battled the work of the devil to pervert beauty and encourage an improper relationship to it in the human being, by producing art to habituated the Christian towards the Good. Beauty is an indescribably powerful force. This is because of the inherent goodness in beauty due to its relationship to God as the most beautiful of all beings and the fount of all beautiful things.
Trying to combat lust by merely putting filters on your computer, blocking channels, or even by tried and true disciplines such as reading Scripture and fasting will be insufficient. Beauty cannot be ignored. Beauty has to be used to fight perverted beauty. Art is vital to the Christian spiritual battle. The believer should fill themselves with images of Christ, Mary, the apostles and other saints, biblical scenes, and any other image of beauty that is portrayed rightly. Landscapes and nature scenes are another great subject because they clearly reflect the beauty of God's creation and his divine attributes can be seen throughout his creation.
Christian art if vital to the church. The lack of Christian art in evangelical churches stands out starkly when one thinks about the problem lust poses in our culture. Christians need to pay attention to art. Christians should become educated about art, they should foster the sort of community that produces good art, they should patronize talented Christian artists, and most importantly, Christian artists should step up and work to make good work that reflects God's beauty.
Remember, the images you take in shape your thought life and, as a result, your whole soul. We must be proactive in the battle for our thoughtlives. Consume good art. Use beauty the way it was meant to be used, to draw us towards the good.
Lord God, have mercy on us. Amen.
2 Comments:
"...they should patronize talented Christian artists..."
:P
interesting post...after time, one begins to crave TRUE beauty---as you mentioned, the beauty of a landscape or the virtuous beauty of the Virgin Mary.
thanks for the perspective
Post a Comment
<< Home