“How should an artist begin to do his work as an artist? I would insist that he begin his work as an artist by setting out to make a work of art.” (Francis Schaeffer, 1912-1984)
Do you have God-given talents? Use them! I remember talking with Drew Maust, who is with Wycliffe Bible Translators, a while back on Bible translation. I asked him why do YOU do Bible translation, of all things? He is a gifted linguist, a sharp mind, and a follower of Jesus. What that basically comes down to is what he said to me in response: “This is what I was made for.” God as our Creator made us uniquely creative in many ways. In culture, we have culture-makers. Artists are culture-makers. Musicians are culture-makers. Scientists are culture-makers. Authors are culture-makers. Theologians are culture-makers. And the list goes on and on.
Because God made you, you are made in the image of God. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). The ways in which you bear the image of God are where you, as a person, create, reason, live in community, work, and rule in ways that point to the Creator. God is the best gift-giver. He is the best culture-creator. He does the best work. He is in perfect community with himself within the Trinity. In every way, God is big “C” Creator. As for people, we are uniquely gifted as little “c” under-creators. This is evident in what is said in Genesis 1-2, for example, “Be fruitful and multiply,” and “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” One Old Testament scholar, John Sailhamer, believes the mandate of Genesis 2:15 is simply, “Worship and obey,” which sounds very similar to the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s answer to the question: “What is the chief end of man?” Answer: “To glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
In view of the present subject, Genesis 2:15 then links worship and obedience with what we were created to actually do, and that isn’t completely lost in the Fall. Indeed the Fall was terrible, and we continue to see its pervasive effects on community, culture, the arts, the sciences, everyday life, and everything else. Without Christ as our Savior, we would be without hope and without God in the world. However, the Fall did not destroy the image of God that we carry. It effaced it, damaged it. But it is still there; and, therefore, every human being can still create, work, live in community, and make culture that points to the Creator who made us. The Fall distorts, damages, and hinders culture-making. And as fallen creatures, much of what is made in culture is in opposition to God; but I must make this point: Genesis 3:1-7 does not completely destroy Genesis 2:15 and the rest. And our imperfection even now does not either. This isn’t a question of whether the world is lost and unreconciled to God. Instead, it’s a question of whether human beings, as God’s image-bearers, can point to their Creator.
With that said, Christians are uniquely being restored by God’s re-creative work in total salvation. “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) What we need to learn is to hold this verse, and the pre-Fall verses as well, in view of a Romans 7 humility. And in that, we should discerningly and faithfully determine in what ways we as Christians can be culture-creators who point the world to the Creator. Every human being is uniquely gifted and bears the image of God. Yes. And Christians are regenerate image-bearers, and uniquely gifted. As Christians, then, we should be engaged in the best culture-making! We should, in whatever we do as God’s regenerate image bearers, point the world to the Creator! Why? Because God cares about culture: the arts, the sciences, the academy, politics, “everyday” theology, community. He cares about high culture and popular culture alike, because they are part of the world God has made.
You may be incredibly gifted musically. Use your gifts! You may be imaginative with a gift for writing. Use your gifts! You may have a sharp brain, being gifted to work through complex issues and interpreting meaning in arguments. Use your gifts! Work on your gifts. Learn to use them even better. Do what you were made to do (like Drew Maust) to the best of your ability as God’s image bearers. Create culture, including popular culture, in a way that is creative, reasonable, workable, and that foreshadows our community together as a re-created people in Christ on a new heavens and earth.
Does that mean that you, as Christians, must make culture in a way that points the world to their Creator? Yes! Does that mean that you, for example, as a musician must only write hymns? No, although hymns are nice. Does that mean that you, for example, as an artist, must paint nativity scenes? No, that’s not it. What it means is that you were put here in the world as an image-bearer of God; now, as one who knows and follows Jesus, do what you were created to do. As a created being made by the Creator of all things, point to him in whatever you do.
In our next post, we will turn to consider what it means to live in the world while not becoming polluted by those things in the world which are in opposition to God. It will require some exegesis, so come ready!
