The Ministry of the Arts

By Todd Farley

A friend once asked me how the performing arts worked in the church.  It is a question I have heard time and time again both from those in the church and those outside of the faith. Throughout my 25 years of ministry I have watched churches struggle with the question. Unfortunately, some answer, "The arts don't work in the church." There have even been churches that reject the artist along with the arts. Thankfully, and more commonly, the church has found an answer in more isolated applications of the arts such as in youth mission trips and special occasions like Christmas and Easter. These events have helped the artistic type find expression in the local church. In the last decade we have also seen increasing utilization of the arts for illustrating the sermon. These are wonderful uses of the arts.  However, there are more answers—deeper answers.  I'd like to explore scripture to address this question anew.

During the end of the seventh century before Christ, the children of Israel were carried away into "Babylonian Captivity." Prior to this the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah had called for their repentance, but the children of Israel closed their ears to the prophets' words. They stopped listening to the voice of God. Instead, they chose to listen to the popular lie: "All is fine, God will deliver." The problem was that God was not going to deliver them from captivity but rather into it. Even as captives they would not listen, so God stopped speaking—in words—and started acting a mime. The prophet Ezekiel was carried off to live as a captive by the rivers of Babylon. In Ezekiel 3:26 we discover the prophet is made mute by God: the people would not listen so he was not going to speak; only by a miracle could he speak the words "Thus saith the Lord." He was a silent prophet, a new breed of minister; one who would act out and live out the "Word of the Lord." And act it out he did (chapters 4-7). The prophet Ezekiel acted out in mime the prophetic "Word of the Lord" to those who could not and would not hear. Read how the army camped around Jerusalem in chapter 4.  See the description of the enemy’s scare-tactics and machines of war. Read the script of Ezekiel's mime and discover the iron wall of sin that stood between the besieged Jerusalem and God's help.

What is amazing about this particular account is that it does not stand alone. Ezekiel mimes over 25 prophecies—mimes presented as the "Word of the Lord”—many times with literally no "words,” just actions. He is not alone! Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ahijah, Elisha, Hosea and the New Testament prophet Agabus all acted out—mimed—their prophecies! Hosea writes about God using this form of dramatic proclamation: "I have also spoken to you by the prophets and I have multiplied visions for you and have appealed to you through parables acted out by the prophets" (Hosea 12:10 AMP).

Scripture supports the use of the dramatic arts such as mime as a form of "prophetic ministry," not only that which is done by our zealous youth, for example, but by our leaders and ordained ministers of the Gospel—our Ezekiels of today. Our world has similarly closed its ears to our prophets of the Gospel and become an MTV nation, listening to the false prophets of this culture. Perhaps we too need a silent prophet who would show God's Word and reveal what will not be heard.

In the golden age of Israel’s history King David ruled on the throne. God's presence was manifest in Zion; Israel was winning its wars. Things were looking good. Then, David "sinned" with Bathsheba.  She became with child.  David tried to cover up his sin by bringing her husband home from the war. However, Uriah, her husband, would not go in to be with his wife so the wrongness of her pregnancy was revealed.  David plotted Uriah's death and sent a message to his general, Joab, to place Uriah in the front of the battle and abandon him there to die.  The message was successfully delivered by the hand of Uriah.  How heartless of the King.  Uriah died, and Bathsheba was left a widow with no chance of remarriage. David then stepped up his plot and married Bathsheba. Now instead of being a villain David would be seen as a redeeming hero who honors his fallen soldiers by taking care of their survivors.

If you were a prophet in those days, you could not easily rebuke David; his sin was too well concealed. It would be your word against his, and false prophets were stoned to death.

So, God sent a prophet, Nathan by name. Nathan's prophecy is recorded in II Samuel 12.  It is a most unconventional prophecy—a fictitious story about a rich man and a man with a lamb. Amazingly, David listens and relates to the story and the characters involved, unaware that it all is just a story. David is so moved that he gets downright angry, or more literally, "red in the face." He curses the evil character in the story with the sword and other kingly judgments. Nathan listens to David's judgment and says, "You are that man." The story rewrites itself in the mind of David; he sees his own actions paralleling those of the evil character in the story. He sees the truth; he is confronted by it and his own judgment. David repents. God used a fictitious story to by-pass David’s intellect, stir his emotions, and touch his spirit with a Truth beyond fiction.

Perhaps we need dramas, movies, and stories that similarly confront our congregations and the world in which we live. Then perhaps, as Aristotle said, we will see ourselves "mirrored" in the media and be called to virtues we have traded for vices. Remember, the work of a prophet prompted David’s repentance.  It was not merely the work of an entertainer. Where are the artistic ministers today?

Some might find it amazing to realize that God uses the arts throughout scripture. Consider the brazen serpent used in the process of healing the children of Israel of their rebellious hearts, the poison of the snakes, or the symbolism used by Daniel and in John's Revelation. Consider Jesus, the greatest of them all, and his use of parables. Consider the fact that our faith's greatest testimony is not spoken but enacted in the Lord's Table and in Baptism. We cannot deny it; our God is dramatic and creative—indeed, he is the Creator. Our churches should see the arts as more than just a passing summer activity or a creative way to illustrate of a sermon. Could not the arts function as proclamation as does the sermon? This probably will not happen until there is a new generation of artists: not ministering artists but rather artistic ministers. Then we will see David and Miriam dance without fear, Ezekiel mime, Nathan dramatize, Bezaleel sculpt, John envision and Jesus tell stories once again in our local churches.