think: christians in the arts

I picked up a book this week, imagine. by Steve Turner, that I found thought provoking. Behold a series of quotes. Agree, disagree but read on.

Chapter 1 : THE VISION

*No one ever told me that it would be wrong for a Christian to become a an actor or a songwriter, a novelist or a dancer. It was implied. There were no role models. I can remember a well-known actress and a British pop singer getting saved, but then they gave up their careers "for the Lord." Their testimony was obviously more highly valued than their talent. Like drunkenness and promiscuity, involvement in the arts was something best spoken of in the past tense. pg 15

*When Christians did on rare occasions employ the arts it was as "outreach." The arts, we were told, could be "used." They could be "effective tools for evangelism." Thus we had movies with tissue thin characters and threadbare plots that moved inexorably toward climactic conversions. We had singer-songwriters with a beat to capture attention and a "message" to be given in the lyric. We even had Christian novels that coated the gospel in the candy of fiction.
Instinctively I felt that this was not right. I didn't yet have the theology to back it up, just a gut feeling that Christians could, and should, be involved in all areas of culture. [emphasis mine] pg 19

*I resented ever being described as a "Christian poet" because the label was too confining. I believed that Christians should be writing poetry infused with godly perception rather than poetry about religion. pg 20

* The Christian artist will often be an irritant, disturbing the anthropocentric view of the world that fallen nature naturally gravitates toward. Just as people think they have removed God from the consideration of a particular question, the Christian annoyingly puts Him back on the agenda the same way. And when God is back on the agenda, people are forced to deal with him, even if only to try to marginalize Him again. pg 22