Refractions #2

Recently, while reading Mako Fujimura's Refractions again, I came across another great section in which he wrestled with the question of art education, failed works, and the like. On page 88 he writes:

"I have learned from scripture to pay attention to works in my life of which I am not proud. They speak to teach me. I have learned that what the ancients called 'repentance' is a journey of coming home to a place where all of our wretched works rest, but also where our wretchedness is overcome by light. This reality can powerfully alter how we view our lives and our art. Even our wretchedness cannot confine us, ultimately, or keep us from reaching across boundaries of cultures. But indeed our wretched state may be what draws us together."

Thoughts stir in my mind and heart as I read this.

What if we included in Artisan's corporate gathering a time of confession that had to do with 'bringing to the light works of which we are not proud'? Perhaps this could even stand as an overall metaphor for a regular time of confession. Maybe a general prayer of confession could be written to help us name these things -- in a way that doesn't trivialize sin, but also helps us recognize the fact that 'ALL have sinned and fallen short of God's glory', and therefore our true humanity.

Maybe at some point we could even display or share about actual art works 'of which we are not proud', submitting them to the community to see how they might be 'redeemed', or even to discover the beauty latent within them. Obviously this metaphor shouldn't be taken TOO far, however. This is not about celebrating our shameful deeds. Rather, the point is in actively turning from these things, bringing them to light, so that they can be doused in the grace of God and transformed into an authentically new creation.

I also thought about the overall need there will be in Artisan to accompany creativity with hospitality. They NEED to go together at all times. With all my heart, I long to blow open the boxes that confine us in corporate worship. At the same time, though, we need to take care not to overwhelm people to the point that they are held back from participating due to a lack of understanding, fear of the unknown, or whatever. I realize that what we do in Artisan will simply not appeal to some people. And we need to be OK with that. But what must always be available is an accounting of why we do what we do in our gatherings. In some way, people need to be able to access an explanation of our creative actions in worship. Perhaps a little handout that briefly outlines the structure of our gatherings and some of the rationale behind why we engage these actions the way we do. A big reason for this is that we don't want to spend all of our gathering time giving context to what we're doing. We just want to engage it freely! But because I expect people who join us for a gathering will frequently encounter 'difference', there will be a need for something that does most of this work for us.

Ideas? Thoughts?

Vision / Mission / Values (a work in progress)

Preamble

What follows are my current (best) attempt to articulate what it is we will seek to give ourselves to in starting this new faith community. Please note that these are not 'in stone'. I hope that these statements will continue to be shaped by the community itself as we engage in life together, showing by our actions as well as words what it is we truly value. On the other hand, in posting these statements we DO want to establish with ever-greater clarity what it is that will be important to us, and, by implication, things that will NOT be important. I welcome your comments and feedback. And if anyone can think up some symbolic/iconic way to depict the Shared Values *other than* "Directions", I'm all ears. That way we won't have to rip off Rob Bell's ideas :).

Vision (If we were faithful to our calling as a community of Christ-followers, what would be the result?)

A city inspired and transformed by the story of Jesus.

Mission (What will we do to fulfill our calling?)

We seek to participate as ‘co-artisans’ in God’s mission of renewing downtown Vancouver by creatively living among and loving people, inviting them to be embraced by and center their lives on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

SHARED VALUES as Directions*

backward

Rooted in the historic Christian faith, grounded in the life-changing, redemptive story of Jesus Christ as told in the Bible:

- Incarnation

- Life, death and resurrection

- New creation

forward

Journeying in faith as human beings enveloped by the grace of the Living God. We are all ‘works in progress’ as we seek to know and follow Jesus.

inward

Being attentive to the health and care of our souls - the trajectory of our lives in communion with God - through spiritual practices and developing gifts of the Spirit.

withward

Committed to growing in loving one another, intentional about collaboration in life and mission.

outward

Utilizing our gifts to participate in serving our local and global communities: faithfully working to fulfill God's mission in the world.

upward

Gathering regularly as Christ's broken and beautiful body to respond to God through creative, holistic and deep worship, in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit.

(*adapted from Mars Hill Bible Church)

Refractions #1

I'm slowly reading a great book by the founder of the International Arts Movement (or IAM), Makoto Fujimura. It's called Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture and, alongside Mako's stirring, provocative writing can be found samples of his award-winning art, as well as works by other artists. I had a chance to meet Mako briefly this past February when we went to New York City for the annual IAM Encounter.

This morning I read a section that was too good NOT to quote here. I've headed this post "Refractions #1" because I fully expect to quote Fujimura's work more than just once in this context!

On pp.69-70 he writes:

"Art is an inherently hopeful act, an act that echoes the creativity of the Creator. Every time an architect imagines a new building, an artist envisions the first stroke of a brush on a white canvas, a poet seeks a resonant sound in words, or a choreographer weaves a pause in layers of movements, that act is done in hope; the creator reaches out in hope to call the world into that creation. And what if the creator reaches out to the Creator, the source and origin of creativity? Would not God be delighted? Even if no one else sees that offering, God alone can see. The treasures to be stored up in heaven (Matthew 6:20) can be our creative act done in faith. The Bible tells us the story of this creative God, who treasures his creatures, even as fallen and as desperate as we are. Jesus calls God "our Father in Heaven" (Matthew 6:9), and we are called God's children (Romans 8). The Bible tells us that God rejoices in our acts of creativity, just as any loving father would dote on his child's wild drawings.

"Of course, we may twist that impulse and create art that does not reflect the Creator's genuine love. Everything we do, whether Christian or not, is tainted in some way by our brokenness, misplaced ambitions, and false devotions. We create edifices of selfish ego and frantically work to protect that idol...

"Despite our fallen nature, God desires to reflect goodness, beauty, and truth in us. God desires to refract his perfect light via the broken, prismatic shards of our lives. Art and creativity will end up being delivered back to the Creator's hands in that pure light. God's judgment of our works will then 'reveal with fire' to 'test the quality of each [person's] work' (1 Corinthians 3:13). God will even work via our imperfect works and will purify them to God's good purposes. Therefore, every day in my studio I endeavor to invite this holy fire into my life and work, rather than to evade the light."

***

I wholly embrace Mako's belief that "art is an inherently hopeful act". My prayer is that Artisan will become a community that holds "unswervingly to the hope we profess" (Hebrews 10:23) -- one that expresses this hope boldly and imaginatively through its collective life and work, despite the imperfection through which the light of God is refracted.

Do the arts matter?

A friend of mine, singer/songwriter Carolyn Arends just wrote a great article for Christianity Today, called Saying More Than We Can Say. The subtitle is "Why the arts matter even during a recession". You all should read it.

Here's a wee excerpt to whet your appetite:

But the arts do even more than help us believe in transformed realities: they kindle faith in unseen realities. My own sense of transcendence is nurtured primarily by beauty—in the created world (mountains, oceans, wildflowers) and in the world we help create (poems, songs, sculpture). By convincing us that there is something more than the material realm of atoms and synapses, the arts open a vista to belief in God.

How we got our name

Months ago, a colleague and I were discussing God-oriented names that had to do with action. I asked myself, 'What is the most important, central, compelling verb in terms of my understanding of who God is and what God does?' Because of how I’m wired, I was drawn to notions of creation, restoration and the arts. Two scriptures sprang to mind. One was Rev 21:5, where Jesus, ‘the one sitting on the throne,’ says 'Look, I am making everything new!' The other was Colossians 1:19-20, where Paul writes: 'For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself.'

Restoring everything that has been broken is how I like to think of God’s primary mission in the world -- the mission we, too, are invited to participate in. I began to look for names having to do with making new, redemption, renewal, the creativity and artistry of God, things like that. Eventually ARTISAN hit us, and it just seemed to fit.

An artisan is defined as 'someone who does skilled work with their hands; a craftsperson.' In short, one way to understand God is as the Supreme Artist, constantly 'making things new' and 'reconciling all things to himself' through Jesus Christ. And as his church, we are 'co-artisans'; called to participate alongside him in creatively living and proclaiming the news of redemption in our city. The meaning of ARTISAN is summed up well in Ephesians 2:10: 'We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.' Praise God for his faithful inspiration!

Is Artisan only for artists?

This is a really good question. It's one I've wrestled with a lot in coming up with a name for our church (see post from June 19). I have deeply wanted our name to speak something about who we are, and yet at the same time not be cryptic, exclusive, pretentious...all that stuff. A tricky balance. Here are some initial attempts at an answer...

My first response to that question is NO, Artisan is not only for artists. It is a community of people who believe that our very lives are our most important work of art. Everyone has a life, therefore everyone is welcome! We believe God calls us to live lives that -- like good art -- are not only inviting, inspirational and attractive to others, but also characterized by grace, openness, vulnerability and trust. Lives that tell an alternative story to the dominant ones we hear in our culture. (Even a cursory glance at the language and life of Jesus will provide concrete examples of what I'm talking about: the way he used parable & story, the idea of an upside-down kingdom, "You've heard it said...but I tell you..." -- that kind of thing.)

A second response, which falls on the heels of the first, is that we ALL create, whether we think of ourselves as being creative or not. Here's a great quote from Andy Crouch's Culture Making: "...every human being who has acquired a rudimentary facility with language has uttered a completely original sentence: a combination of words that no one else has created. Creativity is not something just for 'creatives'--we all have given being to some sentence the world had never heard before, and may never hear again. In all likelihood, unless we are stuck in a dull job and have dull friends, we have done so this very day." (p.104)

Third, while Artisan is open to all, we DO want to be intentional about creating a safe place for artistic and creative people. Artists often live on the margins of society, whether that be the church or the wider culture. The reasons why are many and complex, but a lot of them stem from one 'not getting' the other, and neither trying very hard to overcome such misunderstandings. By intentionally entering into a Christ community with artists (and people who love both them and their art), we seek to bring down these barriers of alienation and to continue inspiring people to create out of a common Story. In so doing, our hope is to participate with the Triune God as 'co-artisans', working to 're-make' the city of Vancouver so that it more closely resembles the image of God we were all created in.

Finally, having said all of the above, I FULLY realize that while this can sound good, the true test of whether Artisan will be "not just for artists" will be in the way we share life together. We will need to work to make sure everyone feels welcome and included, even though they may not perceive themselves -- initially -- as creative people.