March 23, 2011

Over at Wesdraws.com there’s another interesting conversation happening. (It seems as though Wes is determined to keep me updating by compelling me to answer his questions!)

Recently, Dan Haseltin of Jars of Clay fame wrote an article discussing whether or not offensive art can be Christian. It’s really an interesting read and you should check it out here.

This article led Wes to ask a slightly different question: Should Christianity art offend?

It’s probably one of the largest discussions I’ve seen at the site, having over 70 responses as of this writing. The topics have ranged from what is offensive, to the question of why nudity is wrong and violence is ok, and the point of ‘showing it all’, being “real” or just “trying to be cool”.

It’s clearly a heated topic with a variety of opinions, and it really got me thinking.

Should Christian Art offend? Should Christian anything offend? Are we allowed to be offensive, or are we called to be perfect paragons of light, shining only peace and love while never skating on the edge of unruliness or offensiveness?

As always, when faced with such questions, I feel compelled to turn to the Word and the Man that I believe in. The Man who IS the Word in fact. Jesus.

And so I have to ask, was Jesus ever offensive? And you know what? I think He was. Several occasions come to mind where I believe He most likely offended people. I remember reading when Jesus called people hypocrites, Herod a fox, and even when He turned down a disciple for not giving up everything immediately to follow Him.

But one occasion especially comes to mind: Matthew 21. Let me quote the verses for you.

12 Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

Whoah. Jesus walked into a temple and kicked people out. He turned over their tables and chairs. He called them little more than a den of thieves. And these were the guys working in the Temple! That would be akin to me walking into my church, knocking over the Secretary’s desk and then kicking her out.

I’m pretty sure the money changers were offended. But Jesus had a very real point to make that day. (And it’s a good one, but I’ll save that for another post)

These people were doing something very wrong, and doing so in the Temple no less. And Jesus was going to say the truth, no matter how forcefully it needed to be said, no matter how offensive it might come to those who needed to hear it.

Jesus wasn’t going to let the fear of offense dilute the power of truth. And we shouldn’t either as Christians.

There is a fine line to walk. Jesus didn’t turn over those tables and chairs for the sake of the point. He turned over the tables and chairs as He made the point. He didn’t offend to tell the truth. He told the truth even if it offended. And there’s a large difference.

Allow me to put it this way. Imagine you know two people for ten years. One who cursed and swore every other word of every sentence. And one who never once uttered an expletive. If on the tenth anniversary of meeting these two individuals both spoke an expletive would you react to the first? Would you react to the second?

I would hazard a guess that to the first it would be business as usual. But to the second you might do a spit take. Because it was so out of character and place it took you by surprise.

When it comes to offense we must ask ourselves why we are doing what we are doing. To glorify God first? Or to grab attention in the hopes that it might eventually glorify God.

If you offend for the sake of offending just to elevate your message, you only dilute it.

But if you dilute your message for the sake of not offending you have done equal harm to your words.

Should Christian Art (or anything) offend? Yes if necessary. Just not by default. Not as a go to tool. But should it avoid offending at all costs? No. Christianity is about God first and the world second. Not the other way around. It is better to offend with truth than to make peace with a lie.