I read a fascinating article by Mike Parker titled “Warning: Contains Explicit Lyrics.” He laments the lack of “good art” in the Church. The church used to set the standard. The Sistine Chapel, the Last Supper, and Handel’s Messiah were the epitome of art. Derek Webb says, “During the Renaissance, Christian artists were on the cutting edge. The rest of culture looked to the church to see what was good art.”

Webb says we’ve “lost the skill to determine what is beautiful.” I think most Christians don’t even have a category for beauty. It’s too subjective. It’s too right-brain. Our left-brain approach to God limits our appreciation of God and makes us into half-brained disciples. Webb says, “If a believer is making art that is not explicit, that is really hard to categorize, he gets criticized for it.” I think he’s got a point.

Here’s what really gets my goat. I think God is the creator of beauty. He is the Great Impressionist. He is The Artist. And the world is beating us at our own game! Webb says, “It is not because we are Christians that the world won’t listen to us. It is because we make bad art.” I don’t fully agree with that statement. I think some people are opposed to good art produced by Christians because of the message. But I do think we need to compete in the marketplace of art just like we need to compete in the marketplace of ideas.

As children of the Creator, no one should have a greater appreciation for beauty than us.