Page 11 - Empowering Missional Artists - Jim Mills.pdf

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forms of gospel-communication such as through film and dance, banners and sculptor,

ambient music and architectural design.” (Taylor 2007) Some emerging churches are opening up

to painting and sculpture during the worship gathering. Society in general is listening more with

its’ eyes and searching through its’ senses. On a positive note, many church staffs now include

pastors for the arts who are specialist in visual and sensory communication forms. They are

aesthetic enthusiasts attune to the times and thinking outside the box to reach those who have

put God in a box.

Aesthetic in English means the “study of the fundamentals of art and creativity.” (Hoehn

2003, 1) “The word comes from the Greek aesthesis or “perception by the senses.”(Ibid) An

artist then, for the purposes of this essay, is a skillful cultural sensory communicator. Also, for

this essay the words, art and artist, will be used in the broadest sense possible, referring to all

visual, performing, literary, media, and sensory forms of communication. And an artist, is a

creative communicator employing his or her developed skill in order to articulate their life’s

perspectives, their direct and indirect messages, meaning and meaningfulness, values,

worldview, concerns, considerations, challenges, and even their frustrations and questions are

valid.

The church and society are in need of a new parade of Postmodern visionaries. Of

course, God’s postmodern visionaries certainly are not only the creative artists, though artists are

a superlative fit for the postmodern mindset, however they potentially can be a effective catalyst

to disseminating God’s truth, goodness and beauty more than apologetic discourse. Isaiah 59:19

declares, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a

standard against him.” So God, in the midst of the torrential flood of postmodernism, is raising

up a counter-movement who understand this and who possess a vision to effectively engage this

cultural climate with His truth. The arts are their tools, and the nature of their work is subversive.

It is not about a head-on attack. In fact, it is not about attacking at all. It is about

participating dialoguing, disseminating, and articulating. The etymology of the noun subversive is