This arena is helpful to know that other people see this as an issue, and it encourages me that there may be a part of the Christian audience that would be interested in the fiction I prefer to write as opposed to what currently is sold today.

Secret Lattes last blog post..What Gospel Were You Sold? (Part 1, Fire Insurance)

One of the reasons that many of those critical of the quality of quote-unquote Christian art don’t offer a lot of good examples of what they’d like to see is simply this: there are not a lot of contemporary examples of believers creating overtly Christian art that is worthwhile.

Sure, I could point to the compositions of Handel or Bach, but those are hardly contemporary to our culture. Sure, I could point out the music of Havalina Rail Co. or Starflyer 59 as examples of Christian art that is approaching excellence, but neither band is really all that overt in their expressions of their Christianity. I could point to Larry Norman or Keith Green, but while each was pretty overtly dedicated to Christ in their music, I’m not sure we could consider their music to be excellent.

The point is, just because one doesn’t see any great examples of What Should Be, that doesn’t negate the opinion that there is a lot of What Shouldn’t Be.

p.s. When you quote Proverbs there, you’re equivocating. The obtaining and keeping of truth discussed in that passage has nothing to do with the topic of the commodification of the gospel to which I was speaking.

The Danes last blog post..20080528

And for the record, I am trying to produce “works of excellence,” and have been for quite some time.

I hope my post did not make it seem like I took the hard work of Christian artists for granted. I know, from personal experience, that creating works of art is incredibly time consuming, stressful, costly, and often thankless. I want to encourage Christians to make good art, and I have.

But just because I encourage believers to make good art, and I myself try to produce good art, and I am thankful that there are believers working and risking to create things for God’s glory, does not mean that I cannot challenge the Church to make better art.

When told to support a “Christian” film in the mainstream, my first thought is, “Great, it’s probably some bland story with one-dimensional characters, cheesy acting/music, with writing and concepts no higher than the level of a 5-year-old.” If that is the case, then I really do not want to “vote with my dollars” as this would encourage more of the same. Until truly talented Christians are encouraged to produce realistic, intellectual stories with excellence, I’m afraid I’ll run the other way than vote at all.

Secret Lattes last blog post..What Gospel Were You Sold? (Part 1, Fire Insurance)

I’m actually more familiar with the phrase “vote with your fork,” attributed to Michael Pollan. The problems with this approach are similar to the problems with Christians engaging with the media by dollar-voting. Merely choosing to consume or not consume something doesn’t necessarily send the message you want it to send. People started voting with their forks and buying organic, and now we have organic produce traveling thousands of miles in gas-guzzling trucks to suburban grocery stores. (Of course, Pollan says to buy local anyway, but people don’t always pay attention.) The Passion of the Christ did well in theaters, but it’s clear that Hollywood producers are still flailing around trying to figure out what that means so that they can capitalize on it. A “vote” of consumption or non-consumption doesn’t inherently send a message, much as we’d like to think that it does.

The truth of the gospel does not need media embellishment or support in order to find its successes; and contrarily, it may even be the case that media oversaturation with gospel-like content diminishes the effectiveness of our Christian witness (even while increasing Christian mindshare).

Incidentally, the pro-life movement is a good example of Christian mindshare. While there are certainly those who are not in favour of abortion who are not Christians, the Christian right has been so successful in their media barrage that the movement is now hopelessly intertwined with the Christian faith, so much so that when one thinks Pro-Life they likewise think Evangelical Christian (for the most part). This marketing move on the part of Christians has possibly made it even more unlikely for non-believers to convert to the Pro-Life Movement (because what non-believer wants to be confused with an Evangelical Christian?).

*note: I can’t speak for other cultures within Christendom. I know, shocker, huh?

The Danes last blog post..20080528