Notes from Q: The Canvas of Culture

No doubt many of you have heard about the :April 25-27 conference simply known as Q. Led by Relevate founder, Gabe Lyons, the event was a two-and-a-half day opportunity for six hundred leaders, thinkers, and pastors to stick their mouths over an informational fire hose filled with fluid substances of media, culture, and social and environmental concern – and turn the nozzle on full blast. Nearly thirty speakers expressed their thoughts on culture, the church, the future, the gospel and the future of the church, gospel, and culture. It was a powerful event, connecting like-minded people from around the world for 72 hours and then sending them back to their respective communities, marketplaces, and ministries. As Lyons stated, most everyone in attendance was capable of giving his or her own eighteen minute lecture (the time constraint for most speakers). Throughout the 2.5 days, many of the speakers gave their metaphorical dissections of what they considered culture to be, or to be like.

Such was the case with Andy Crouch. After a brilliant, four generation synopsis of the church’s abdication of its cultural role, Andy showed the audience a famous painting by Rembrandt, entitled “Artiest in Zijn Studio” (shown above). The masterpiece reveals the painter standing just off and to the left of his painting, perhaps settling back and observing what was recently finished. Andy reminisced about the discussion he had had over the painting with his daughter. As he inquired what the painter might be doing, his daughter looked at him and said, “I think he is looking back over his creation, and thinking ‘it is good.’” “That,” said Crouch, “is culture.” An artistic tapestry of radically different and dimensional expression that coalesces together to display the wonder and beauty of God.

As his words penetrated my eardrums, my mind whirled with metaphorical fervor. By referencing the expanse of the world’s cultures as a massive canvassed painting, we are given a lens through which to see the enemy’s strategy, the world’s current condition, and the church’s failure and potential future redemption.

God intended humanity, His image, to paint the most glorious global masterpiece through its expressions of culture. Each culture was to use whatever tools and colors were uniquely available to help in the development of the painting. The church, the ambassador’s for the ultimate creative source, was to be the greatest expression of that creativity, showing others how to paint with as much freedom of expression was allowed without damage to the brushes or the paint. There have been historical eras, even topographical locales where this has occurred. But overall, the last half a millennia has been a different story.

While the church remained mute and oblivious, the enemy of mankind took a knife to the canvas, cutting and tearing massive holes into the linen. What the church refers to as “sins” and the world claims are “pleasures,” are destructive actions that begin with immediate benefit (physiological, psychological, social, etc.) but deliberately end with (individual, social and generational) destruction. At first, humanity’s destructive actions, these tears in the canvas, were propelled through each individual’s personal actions. But the last four centuries have seen a shift from the personal to the societal. As the church abdicated its creative and compassionate role, new ideologies formed, distancing mankind from the hypocrisy and political posturing of the religious – but in doing so, the canvas was exposed. It is now replete with gaping holes of nothingness.

The world’s confusion and nihilism over its current condition is propagated through its attempts to paint in and out of these new holes. Individuals and societies stand perplexed as paint falls into the voids and the beauty of expression is lost amid clumping paint and serrated edges. But this perplexity is inevitable. For the serrated holes in the canvas are inconsistent with the secular culture’s worldview. There can be no holes in the canvas, since there is no ultimate enemy in a secular worldview. Through addiction, divorce, violence, human trafficking, depression, disease, murder, etc., the world realizes that the holes are there, and the paint disappears – but there is no lens through which to make the deliberate correlation. Nihilism is a direct result of a people being objectively and statistically destroyed, but calculated destruction is incongruent with their belief system.

Which comes to the church. The Christian church, through its worldview, is the only system on the planet that can explain and address the horrible gashes in the canvas. We are the only worldview that can explain and expose such an enemy and why he wishes to see humanity’s canvas destroyed. But instead of going into the culture with the transforming power of this worldview, the church merely fights to see it’s radically diminishing portion of the canvas protected from as many cuts as possible. The church stays content to paint on its limited portion of the canvas, leaving world decimated and confused at the cacophony of paint smears and torn holes. It has even developed its own canvas subculture, so its people can use as many of the world’s tools (media, music, literature, paraphernalia) to paint on its portion of the canvas. As Rob Bell states in Velvet Elvis: “Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective.” (Velvet Elvis, pg 84)

In reality, the canvas under the institutional church has been radically eroded. It is now little more than a flimsy screen that many still erroneously claim remains intact. Based on its lack of tangible social effort (apart from evangelism), most of the church appears unconcerned with the majority of the rest of canvas’ condition. It is far more known for attacking those attempting to paint inside these holes than addressing the ultimate issue, and strategy, of the gash itself. And so what will happen? Eventually those forced to paint on the rest of the canvas will take their knives and hack and slash away at the flimsy layer of the church’s portion of the canvas.

This slashing has already begun, fueled by a pool of sardonic and ‘scientistic’ writers, large political lobbyist groups, and a sympathetic media platform. And who can blame them? Those with the other worldview capable of dissecting the problem and providing the objective solutions appear little interested on remedying the vast portion of the overall canvas.

Which leads to the last portion of the metaphor: the Painter Himself. Is the Master Painter, looking over a ripped and shredded canvas, pleased with the fact that a small fraction of his masterpiece still appears to be capable of holding a smattering of paint? When the church uses the scripture, “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess,” it often refers to soliciting everyone over to its section of the canvas. In many cases, our evangelism models teach our converts to ignore the gaping holes and focus on the convert’s newly discovered portion of the pseudo-safe canvas. But what does that say about the Master Painter? If we truly are His ambassadors, then wouldn’t He want us repairing the gaping holes in the canvas first?

”They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” Isa 61:4

We cannot leave the rest of the canvas decimated while we selfishly craft our small fraction of the painting. What does that incite in the Master Painter? The Master Painter, staring over the overall landscape of the canvas, must be grieving. There is so much chaos in the canvas of culture, and He’s waiting for the church to rise to her true potential – by addressing the rest of the canvas.

“… and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)” Revelation 19:7b-8

Yes, I agree with Andy Crouch, culture is like a glorious masterpiece unfolding on the Artist’s canvas – and we’ve got some major repair work to do.