I was twenty-four and I knew everything. I had a diploma from a university where I’d studied music composition.
I moved to Nashville to save the Christian music industry – starting as an unpaid intern wearing a tie, making copies at a music publishing company. But someday, I thought, I’ll ditch this suit, and get paid to write better music than what’s on the radio.
“It’s not art,” I’d preach.
Art was god.
Then, one day I saw Joel Lindsey in his writing room down the hall from my office, reading a piece of paper and sniffling. It was fan mail sent to him by someone who loved those radio songs. God had used a song Joel had written to comfort the letter writer – to partially mend what was broken inside her.
It’s a mistake to appraise the value of a created thing on the basis of my ability to appreciate it rather than God’s ability to use it.
“Art” is a moving target, with a relative definition at best. “…the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”
Significance?
Ultimate significance – Christian significance – isn’t found in chord progressions, simplistic or complex. Or production techniques, vocal timbre or range, instrumentation, rhyme scheme or metaphor. Ultimate value is measured in the secret spaces of the heart and mind, and across the span of eternity, by the Creator of us all.
How immature and unloving to turn love of “art” – however we define it in this culture and generation – into disrespect and disdain for one another. Or an entire industry. God, forgive me.
If only we could read everyone’s fan mail.
Jason says:
It’s amazing how often when we grow older we discover how much we didn’t know in our younger days.
Amanda says:
That’s a good word. And my toes hurt.
Mela Kamin says:
“It’s a mistake to appraise the value of a created thing on the basis of my ability to appreciate it rather than God’s ability to use it.” – spot on. I’ve been guilty of judging others’ music too & I know some might scoff at mine, and everytime I think I’m wasting my time, I go back to comments at shows, emails, texts, fb or twitter comments I receive and keep making music, not because I think someone needs to hear it, but because I learn something in the writing of it – and if it’s only for me to hear that truth over and over, I’m ok with that. If I get an opportunity to share it with someone else – even better.
Katie says:
What a great reminder, Shaun!
Katie
Melissa Fitzpatrick says:
Profound. Just wrote this down and posted it on my desk: “It’s a mistake to appraise the value of a created thing on the basis of my ability to appreciate it rather than God’s ability to use it.”
Tim Smith says:
“It’s a mistake to appraise the value of a created thing on the basis of my ability to appreciate it rather than God’s ability to use it.” Really good thought. What you prompted me to think about is that we’re all ‘created things’: it’s a mistake to appraise the value of another person on the basis of my ability to appreciate them, rather than God’s ability to use them.
Speak Of Marriage says:
What a revelatory piece. I’ve got to get over my own feelings of appreciation; certain personal “likes” may cloud my vision of God’s purpose and Will. Safe to say that the cross wasn’t as appealing as it was necessary.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Karen says:
“It’s a mistake to appraise the value of a created thing on the basis of my ability to appreciate it rather than God’s ability to use it.”…this applies to SO many different things! THANKS!
Refusing to Tiptoe says:
“Ultimate value is measured in the secret spaces of the heart and mind, and across the span of eternity, by the Creator of us all.”
What a reminder — our value is measured by our Creator. Thank you.
Cristal
Gabe Taviano says:
Been working at a Christian radio station for the past two years. I’ve definitely noticed that the style or types of music that I appreciate most might are great and all, but that doesn’t make my tape the one to be measured by.
God uses lots of art, media and music to strike a cord in the soul of someone else when I don’t even feel anything. I guess that’s what makes Him God, the creative One.
Great post Shaun! The older we get, it’s kind of crazy how more open our hearts and minds can become.
Kelli says:
This is really good. Really, really good…
Angie says:
That’s a good reminder. . .thanks!
Javis Sneed says:
Great post! Much needed perspective.
DonaldSouthey says:
retweeted !
Thomas Dalke says:
The beauty of a thing, or more importantly a person, is never lost on God. Our circumstances, abilities, societal standing or anything else, whether little or much, never diminishes what we mean to Him, and thus our inherent dignity we have because of Him. For He not only loves us, He understands us, and has given us all the ability (and the liberty) to conceive in our imaginations, and to create through our lives, innumerable good things in our reflecting His likeness and or experiencing Him in our lives. And this again is something that may be consciously or unconsciously done by believer and unbeliever alike. Nonetheless until ones comes to faith in Christ their experience of God and their ability to create (and or interpret beauty apart from sin) may be tainted by their separated state from Him. That is why pornographic or pedophile pictures can be justified in the minds of some as being “art”. Or music that promotes violence towards police or other groups of people can so easily find an audience. Or music videos that promote and ultimately proliferate sexually illicit behaviour amongst young people exist. It’s truly wise and humble to be accepting of the uniqueness and diversity in which we as people created in the image of God express ourselves. On the other hand you must not be naive, nor lacking discernment when you do so. The world is still a broken place and its values and those things which expound or reflect those broken values are to be judged by believers.
Bart says:
Thank you for your words of wisedom.
Jerry says:
“Art” is a moving target, with a relative definition at best. “ That I will put in my pocket.
eric says:
Well said! I always got this feeling, even if I couldn’t express it so eloquently, whenever witty insults are thrown at the likes of Chris Tomlin.
Christin @ Joyful Mothering says:
Touche’. My husband and I have commented frequently on the “quality” of Christian music on the radio. And of course, different music will speak to different people who have different backgrounds and different experiences.
Wow. Yea. God, forgive me.
Thank you for bringing this to light, Shaun.
And for the record? All is Grace is my favorite. 🙂 Blessings.
Michael Gungor says:
Hey Shaun, thanks for finding your way to my blog. I just responded to your comment on there, and I thought I’d post it here as well. I just read your take on this, and I appreciate the heart in which you allow your own subjectivity to be seen, being slow to judge the heart of another from their art. To that extend I totally agree with you.
However, in my opinion, art is simply the ordering of God’s good creation. It’s like any other human endeavor. It’s tapping into the infinite potential that already is present in the world and arranging, tuning, sculpting, color correcting…etc until the raw potential becomes something new and beautiful. To me, calling something “art” is not an adjective of qualitative value, it’s just a noun.
Where I disagree with you is that art is a noun that we have no right to add an adjective to. Pornography is art. It’s the purposeful ordering of creation into something that dehumanizes for the purpose of personal pleasure. I think it’s ok to say that it is bad art.
There is art that opens up the heart, and there is art that closes it. There is art that recognizes the sacredness of humanity, and there is art that defames it. Certainly, one must recognize that this statement of value is a subjective experience. What else would it be? But just trying to play nice and pretend that everything in the world is good and rosy doesn’t really do any good for anybody in the long run. Kindness, yes. Humility, yes. Dishonesty, no.
Shaun Groves says:
Agreed, Michael.
But what you call the “canned” sound of Christian pop music on the radio (and your perception that it is “dishonest”) is hardly analogous to the pornographic nature of some photography and film. One is morally “bad”, violating Law and not meeting God’s expectations, while the other is “bad” only in the sense that it violates our senses and fails to meet our expectations ; ). Apples and oranges eh?
I love your music, sir. Awed by your inventiveness. Grateful for your passion. Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation.
Thomas Dalke says:
Great post except pornography is not art. It’s either exploitation or seduction but it is not art. If it is then teach it schools, show it to your children, but when the fallout occurs (and trust me there is horrible fallout) don’t be perplexed. I’ve know a pastor who struggled with an addiction to pornography for years that started when he was a child; of a father who because of his causal use of pornography crossed a line and had an extra marital affair; eventually ruining his marriage, himself, and bringing great despair to his children who loved and adored him. Of young men who became enslaved to sin through it. If pornography is art and reflective of creative “genius” then I’d rather be ignorant Jesus warns: “woe to the world because of inducements to sin” (Please read Matt. 18:6-9).
Chris Morris says:
If the art made by the church reflects immaturity, we should be concerned about the state of the church, not its art per se. God can still use it, of course.
Thomas Dalke says:
Art can be the means by which great beauty, joy and ultimately good comes into the world; expressing and conveying the human experience or enlightening and enriching through the God indwelt human genius. Conversely it can be a medium by which sin, debauchery and folly find a refuge. Art and culture then in many ways is a reflection of the values, and the state of any society and culture, at any given time. What it expounds and upholds; and ultimately what its audience cherishes and applauds as art, is always revelling.
shayne says:
Shaun,
I read Gungor’s post. And while I agree with your comment, I think by and large the point he was trying to make was about honesty.
Yes, God can use a song that perhaps isn’t felt 100% by the artist. But wow…how much greater would it be if more artists wrote and sang as honestly as they could? And I want to say, this isn’t just in “Christian” music either. I was reading an article today about how R&B music has declined from a genre known for beautiful love songs and romance to a bunch of superficial crap.
When I was a young whippersnapper (many moons ago) trying to come out of the world and separate myself…it was really difficult to let go of the music. “Christian” music just did nothing for me.
I thought to myself…”God is the Alpha and Omega…the most powerful Being in existence…and this namby pamby music is all He gets?”
I was a bit befuddled by it. I didn’t get artists who were always in love with Jesus and didn’t seem to have problems. I guess that’s the thing right there. Back then, Christian artists didn’t seem real to me because they never wrote about problems or reality. I thought something was wrong with me because man, I struggled a lot (who’m I kidding? I still struggle a lot) with sin. Nobody else seemed to struggle with it.
Maybe that’s just my hang-up, but hey, there it is. So I get what Gungor is trying to say.
Sorry it took me so long to type out that last sentence.
Shaun Groves says:
Shayne, I didn’t write this post in response to Michael’s post. They just happened to be similar.
I somewhat get what he’s trying to say too. Though he wast specific enough for me to be certain. I’m not sure what he was saying is at all what you’re saying. His issue doesn’t seem to be with lyrics that deny the difficulty of following Jesus. His issue is with an unspecified general “dishonesty” he perceives in the bulk of Christian music.
Jessica says:
Okay, for me it’s bible study methods. I disdain some of them. If I could italics the crap out of the word “disdain” right there, I would.
I don’t know how many times I’ve walked out of a “canned” workbook bible study and thought, “That was the dumbest thing I’ve ever sat through in my entire life.” And then a woman will walk up and tell me how much the study is touching her.
Ahem. To each his edifying own. Some things aren’t wrong, they’re just different.