Feb 02 2010
Fujimura Quote: Art and Worship
This is a beautiful quote from an interview of Makoto Fujimura given by Stewart Lundy, regarding art and worship. Complete interview found here!
{He was asked:
How can a particular work of art be “untwisted” for the glory of God? What is an example of “bad” art? Or is the term “bad” art a bad way of phrasing it, since all art, if actually art, is good art?
Hezekiah’s snake is a good example (see II Kings 18:4). By having the right understanding of our trust of God, which Isaiah the prophet proclaimed to Hezekiah, and only by surrendering to trust God did Hezekiah begin to see the proper perspective to untwist the misuse of Mose’s snake.
Only when the King trusted God did he see the need to reform worship and correct the misuse of the object which Moses created to heal people under God’s guidance. Proper worship is central to our understanding of reality, the arts, and it affects everyone, Christians and non-Christians. Culture is affected by how we worship God (Bill Dyrness makes this point in many of his books).
Thoughtful stuff.
It is truly appalling how prone to idolatry the human heart always trends.
Thanks!