Sunday, November 20, 2011

A Question about Beauty

Here is a question (in blue text) I received about the subject of beauty…
In Short: What is the scriptural/ biblical stance on the role or value of material beauty (or things of beauty)?

More meat: I suppose beauty in general but more specifically creating things of beauty. Gen 35:30-35 Importance of ornament/artistic design/ craftsmanship for Tabernacle. Idea of God-giftedness in this.

Significance to me: I really like beautiful things and find myself drawn to and inspired by beauty. A job I’ve been semi-considering is Interior Design aka making a home more beautiful. Is this a worthwhile use of my gifts/talents/abilities for the Lord? Part of me feels like it is a frivolous pursuit yet beauty wouldn’t exist if God had not created it. So what is God’s intended design for beauty? How does God value beauty?

I’ve also been reading Os Guinness’ The Call. Side note: a really great book you should read if you haven’t already. There he talks about primary calling as followers of Christ (being by God, to God, for God) and secondary calling (“considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere and in everything should think, speak and act entirely for him”). These two taken equally (harder said than done) may make my above question somewhat unimportant. At the heart of the question I’m still trying to understand (though I believe it) that being a full-time, foreign missionary or a pastor are not the only two viable, nor even superior professions of a Christian.

What does it look like to daily live out the gospel as a_____ ? (decorator, marketing /HR professional, associate camp director- that one’s for you, etc) What a huge question with many varying pathologies. Made more complex when verbal gospel proclamation doesn’t fall under your written job description.

And my response:

In Short: All material beauty is a gift from God. All material things that are beautiful are beautiful because they reflect a beautiful Creator. (James 1:17 ; Psalm 27:4)

More meat: The Greek philosophers referred to three transcendentals: the good, the true, the beautiful. The idea is that these are the three things that are above all other things, and in a way they are one thing, yet distinct. If something is good, then it must also be true and beautiful. If something is true, then it must also be good and beautiful. If something is beautiful, then it must also be good and true. I think this is a rather fine way of looking at things. St. Augustine made the point that God is the good, the true, and the beautiful. St. Anselm argued that God is the greatest conceivable being. Combine the two ideas and we come to the idea that God is that being which is the most true, most good, and most beautiful.

It would take a whole slew of biblical texts to make this point, but I believe it is evident throughout Scripture. Perhaps, especially, in the Psalms. Read a couple of Psalms of praise and you certainly get the idea. Though, someone might also argue that it is most evident in redemption. For if redemption is true, then it is most certainly a good and beautiful thing.

So, God is beautiful. It is also evident that He delights making beautiful things. He has also made us in His image. This is why people are beautiful and also why we find delight in beautiful things. God did not make a world without beauty and He did not make us without the ability to appreciate it. The ability to appreciate beauty is a gift given to us. I have never once seen Abby pause during her rock-fetching escapades at canteen to take in and absorb the beauty of the setting sun. It is a gift given to man and a gift that ought to point us to God (Romans 1, Psalm 19).

We are meant to appreciate and make beautiful things. Yes, I agree that this is evident in the building of the Tabernacle. It is also evident in the building of the Temple. It is evident in the fact that David was a musician and a careful poet. Jeremiah’s Lamentations is 5 chapters of meticulous craftsmanship. Each line is carefully metered and the whole lamentation works through the Hebrew alphabet. It is beautiful. There are a number of beautiful things to which we could point.

Beauty is a gift. The ability to appreciate beauty is a gift. And the ability to craft beautiful things is a gift.

Significance for you:

I really like beautiful things and find myself drawn to and inspired by beauty.

I’m glad you recognize that. I think that everyone is drawn to beautiful things, but most people do not realize it and thus rarely take the time to appreciate beauty. Consequently, they can sometimes miss out on the inspiration of beauty. I say sometimes, because beauty often cuts through the intellect to the soul, so it does not always require contemplation.

A job I’ve been semi-considering is Interior Design aka making a home more beautiful. Is this a worthwhile use of my gifts/talents/abilities for the Lord?

I think it can be. As Christians, we ought to understand better than anyone else what beauty is. And we should also see the missiological significance of beauty. Beauty is a means of evangelism. And I don’t mean that we make beautiful tracts or ornate crosses. I mean that anything beautiful points to the fact that beauty is in the world and beauty in the world can only be explained by the presence of an active and good and true God.

Also, Colossians 3:17. Our lives are meant to be lives lived out as worship to God. All our actions ought to be done for God’s glory. I think that can be done in Interior Design by having an attitude of “Lord, thank you for beauty and the opportunity to bring beautiful things into this place and accent the beauty of this home/building. May it point those who see it to You.”

Part of me feels like it is a frivolous pursuit yet beauty wouldn’t exist if God had not created it. So what is God’s intended design for beauty? How does God value beauty?

I think the two questions here go away if you alter one thing in your view of beauty. God did not create beauty just like he did not create good. He is good. He is beauty. All things that are good are good because they come from Him, they flow from and reflect his goodness. Likewise, all beautiful things flow from Him. The question is like asking “What is God’s intended design for His nature? How does God value His nature?” His nature is what makes Him God. Being beautiful and the source of all beauty is an aspect of the essence of God.

I’ve also been reading Os Guinness’ The Call. Side note: a really great book you should read if you haven’t already.

I have not read it, but I’ll add it to the wishlist…

There he talks about primary calling as followers of Christ (being by God, to God, for God) and secondary calling (“considering who God is as sovereign, is that everyone, everywhere and in everything should think, speak and act entirely for him”). These two taken equally (harder said than done) may make my above question somewhat unimportant. At the heart of the question I’m still trying to understand (though I believe it) that being a full-time, foreign missionary or a pastor are not the only two viable, nor even superior professions of a Christian.

I do not think these things make the question less important. Instead, I think they emphasize why it is possible for Interior Design to be a calling that glorifies God. It is because anything that does not go against the nature of God can be done as an act of worship to God. In Luke 3, Jesus did not tell soldiers to quit being soldiers, he told them to be good soldiers. The high calling I see in Scripture is to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. This means worship God with the whole of your life and love and care for others, which carries with it the implication of sharing the Gospel. But there is no statement that your life can only fulfill that if you are a missionary or pastor.

What does it look like to daily live out the gospel as a ? (decorator, marketing /HR professional, associate camp director- that one’s for you, etc) What a huge question with many varying pathologies. Made more complex when verbal gospel proclamation doesn’t fall under your written job description.

I think you daily live out the Gospel in whatever you do by:

- Thanking God for the opportunity to do it

- Thanking Him for the ability to do it

- Working hard to do it well

- Appreciating the good and beauty that is in it

- Using that good and beauty to point to the God who made a good and beautiful world

- Recognizing that the toil and frustrations that may occur in that work are a consequence of man’s rebellion causing turmoil in the created order and that things are not the way they are meant to be

- Thanking God that Christ came to bring redemption and “Make all things new again.”

- Looking for ways to carry forward that redemption in a world in which we are still waiting for Christ to make all things right

- Eagerly anticipating the day when there is a new creation in which we can work and play for eternity in perfect worship of the ever-present God without the effects of sin

- Looking for ways to share all of this with people that do not yet understand the Gospel

Significance for me: Summed up here – http://takeandreadtakeandread.blogspot.com/2010/03/beauty-or-bear-swamp-unique-pines.html

I hope this helps. Here are a few other things to consider and work through:

1) There has been the debate in the Church throughout the ages of whether or not it is right to spend money on making beautiful sanctuaries when that money could be given to the poor. One side says that beauty is a gift even to the poor and it points to the Gospel. The other side says that the money could be better spent on feeding the poor and funding ministry to the poor. To which can be countered that beauty feeds the soul and does minister to the poor. This debate has resulted in extravagant places of worship (consider the many beautiful cathedrals), but also in people instead choosing to send the money elsewhere. I think you could point to the rich, young ruler and make the case that we ought to sell all our possessions and give them to poor. But then again that command to sell everything was a specific command given to a specific person. One could also point to the extravagance of the Tabernacle and Temple. But again, the point could be made that those structures served a specific purpose. My thought on the debate is that if you feel the Lord has called you to use your money for beautiful things, then do that and do it with the intent of glorifying God and not man. If you feel God has called you to give your money away, then do that with the intent of glorifying God and not yourself for your sacrifice.

2) In a typical Interior Design role you would probably be working with a large number of people concerned only with the material. You would need to be prepared for that, but I think there is a real ministry opportunity there.

I’ll leave you with a quote from Augustine’s Confessions (one of my top three favorite books): “If the things of this world delight you, praise God for them but turn your love away from them and give it to their Maker, so that in the things that please you, you may not displease him… The good things which you love are all from God, but they are good and sweet only as long as they are used to do his will. They will rightly turn bitter if God is spurned and the things that come from him are wrongly loved.”

- Luke

1 comment:

Harrison said...

Wow, this is good stuff. I could ramble on it all day since I am attempting, at least at the moment, (cough) to be one of the two non-superior roles of jesus-follower. I think it helps to know how you could proclaim the gospel in any profession by first getting involved in long term ministry of some kind. you see how it’s done there, and then simply have the guts to do it in a secular work environment. start a bible study, do a community outreach group, have a movie night – start something, and that will do the trick.

as for the interior design thing, I think yes, it can definitely be a good sense of calling as long as the rooms your are designing are pointing to something greater than themselves. to have some christian art, or some verses around the room, or something tasteful that shows your passion for the gospel that saved your life, can be an amazing witness to someone. i felt this recently at a missionary’s home here in africa where they had maps of african countries nicely framed, african art, and crosses around their home. the atmosphere was so welcoming that i definitely felt blessed by it, to know that there are places where god is even out here in the dusty backcountry. and i think it is also a great witness to non christians.

great food for thought.