To speak of the Christian church valuing art, and good art at that, would be to garner laughs from many. Artists who also call themselves Christians walk a tightrope of faith. On one hand, they struggle to preserve their passion for creativity, which is in constant danger of being extinguished by Evangelicalism. On the other hand is the slippery slope of having freedom to develop that passion, but finding that the only opportunity to do so is in a church that is doctrinally so far from the truth that it is certainly less than Christian.

The Evangelical response to criticism about its “art” is often to excuse the mediocrity rather than to face up to it. The rationale for the cookie-cutter, low-level of craftsmanship in contemporary Christian music is that since it is being performed in the name of Jesus, it is fine if the quality is poor. And so, instead of Christians leading the way in quality of the craftsmanship in music, writing, film and painting, we settle for the mistaken consolation, which is really no consolation at all. We claim that it’s fine to be mediocre or even downright bad because we are Christians and God will approve anyway. Truly artistic people know the fallacy of this attitude.

Another ramification of the loss of the Christian mind, which results in the inability to understand the Biblical view of art and beauty, is demonstrated in a problem best called Evangelical Correctness, or EC. The failure to keep pace with the intellectual heritage that belongs to Christianity has meant that Christians, especially Evangelicals, resort to formulaic approaches to having a relationship with God. And in turn, slogans, clichés and buzzwords emerge in a lingo that substitutes for real conversation among Evangelicals. This is not something unique to Evangelicals. American society is guilty of the same thing in such a way that there is no longer any substantive public discourse on issues that really matter; instead, there is just ranting and raving in what Os Guinness calls a “Talk Show Nation.”

As it relates to Evangelicals, however, EC is a convenient way to avoid actually thinking.

One danger of Evangelical Correctness is that artistic Christians get victimized. Artists by nature see reality a bit differently and think in typically non-formulaic ways. The modernist construct of the 7 Habits of the Highly Effective Church, and the 5 Steps to a Perfect Marriage, and the 3 Keys to Happy Kids, and so on, deny the complexity of reality. Life is much more complicated and mysterious and uncertain than Modernism acknowledges. Furthermore, artists get victimized when Evangelical Correctness punishes them for their artwork.

In 1997, Christian bookstores pulled the album Slow Dark Train by Vigilantes of Love from their shelves because of the song “Love Cocoon,” which has erotic language. Few people were interested in the reasoning and explanation behind the song, and showed a tremendous shortsightedness considering the erotic language of The Song of Solomon in the Old Testament. In defense of the song, Bill Mallonee noted that “Love Cocoon” mentions the love between a husband and wife, and celebrates the beauty of man and woman united sexually as a testimony to God’s relationship with the church as explained in Ephesians Chapter 5. At a Christian music festival during the summer of 1997, organizers told Mallonee not to play the song during its set. The band played the song anyway, and has never been invited back.

“To me it points out the false chasm that exists between sacred and secular music,” Mallonee said about the incident years later. “Here’s ‘Love Cocoon,’ a mildly bawdy ode to monogamous bliss lived out in the light of God’s gift of marriage versus all the other drivel that comes out of ‘Contemporary Christian Music’ (some of it theologically questionable), and we get denied access. No question, LC was racy stuff, but kids are gonna learn it from where? Kid Rock or VOL? You pick.”

Related Links:
Slow Dark Train by Vigilantes of Love

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James Cordrey is a writer living near Philadelphia who loves a good cup of tea and a conversation.