What To Do With My Art — Generation Orthodox Podcast
By admin | January 26th, 2008 | Category: Generation Orthodox ||
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| Title: What To Do With My Art , Geneartion Orthodox Podcast The Future of Christianity in America.
This week: Fr. Justin Mathews (St. Anne Orthodox Church, Oakridge TN.) joins in the mix. Fr. Justin Shares his thoughts on the use of non liturgical art in the Orthodox Church. Before becoming Orthodox and then a Priest, Fr. Justin was involved in the Christian music scene where he was signed to a major Christian record label and has toured the US sharing his music. |
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Host: Jacob Lee - existdesigns.com Participatants: Fr. Justin Mathews - justinmathews.com Steve McMeans - orthodoxspeakers.com Calee M. Lee - sacredandtheprofane.com Turbo - myspace.com/turboxviii
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| Music for this Episode Provided By: Confessing Between The Lines© 2004 Justin Mathews (829757638928)
Album can be purchased at: |
Show Sponors:
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A little about the author of the this post - Jacob Lee is the Creative Director of the Icon New Media Network. Jacob believes new media is a great tool for sharing the Orthodox faith. You can hear Jacob\'s journey to the Orthodox faith by visiting the following link: Jacob Lee's Journey to Orthodoxy You can email me at: jacobleeatIconnewmedianetworkdotcom Read more from this author
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptJustin was involved in the Christian music scene where he was signed to a major Christian record label and has toured the US sharing his music. Host: Jacob Lee - existdesigns.com. Participatants:. Fr. Justin Mathews - justinmathews.com … [...]
Quick disclaimer - I’m not Orthodox, yet. I have, however, been actively inquiring into Orthodoxy for almost a year now. FWIW.
I can certainly see how someone who has been actively involved in leading or participating in protestant worship might initially feel somewhat obsolete when entering Orthodoxy. What to do with all that experience? My experience, so far, has been in a somewhat different direction.
One among the (many!) challenges of Orthodoxy to my Protestantism of thirty some-odd years is that beckons me to stop living in my head. Christianity for me, for so long, has been about getting my theological ducks in line, reading more books, thinking more, reading more, etc. I used to play guitar. I used to enjoy art and drawing. But somewhere along the line I deemed those activities “unnecessary.” Why waste my time with playing the guitar when I should be truly improving myself by studying Greek or Hebrew? Why waste my time on art when I could be mastering the arguments in the latest tome by N.T. Wright? I may have given lip-service to a more holistic approach, but my actions said otherwise. Faith was a mental exercise.
The short of it is that Orthodoxy has beckoned me to stop living in my head, to repent from being so lopsided, to repent from going no further than my own reason allows. The surprising thing is that since I’ve begun taking Orthodoxy seriously, I’ve also begun to engage art and music once again - quite spontaneously. Orthodoxy challenges my latent Gnosticism and reminds me that I’m not just a brain on a stick - but physical. The whole person is important and the arts are included in that.
“Orthodoxy challenges my latent Gnosticism and reminds me that I’m not just a brain on a stick - but physical.” - Gnosticism is so prevalent in Protestantism, it’s insane. You’re the second person to mention a sort of “gnosticism” in the Protestant world. I think the only other person I’ve heard that term used in this context was the guy from the band “East West” on one of the podcasts here on icon new media. The band member said that the the whole mindset is gnostic; everything is a formula you have to figure out, especially the gospel. What I’ve found in the Orthodox church is that the Gospel is in 3-D. The Gospel is not only a programmatic formula one has to “apply correctly” or figure out, but it’s tangible. It’s lived. It’s smelled. It’s looked at. And all these elements can be found in the Orthodox worship services.
There is a wonderful series of blog posts on the subject of placing God and our faith in the “second story” of the house whilst we live on the first… Orthodoxy recognizes that we live in a one-story universe - there everything is in the human heart: the Kingdom of God and hell itself. True 3-D so to speak. Secularism is rampant in much that calls itself Christianity today.
See http://www.GlorytoGodforallthings.com - Fr. Stephen Freeman’s blog for more on this important topic.
Particularly see: http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/christianity-in-a-one-storey-universe/
Blessings in Christ,
JM+
Yes, I would commend anyone to read Fr. Stephen’s blog and to subscribe to his podcast as well. Thanks for that suggestion, Fr. Justin.
And, I meant to say that the “gospel” in so many protestant churches is programmatic and formulaic, and thus is nothing like the Gospel found in Orthodoxy (the 3D version I spoke of).
Many thanks to all for addressing a topic that I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone speak on. As an Orthodox convert of 20-some years, I have a passion for the Church. As an artist and graphic artist, I suppose I’m a little frustrated. The iconography avenue is certainly open to anyone in the visual arts, but I don’t feel worthy of this calling. There is a wide chasm between this sacred art and the world of intense, constant imagery that we all live in. There must be room for something in-between, but I’m not sure I know what it is.
It sounds like the dilemma for musicians and writers is very similar.
Dumb request, but can you come up with a consistent naming convention for your mp3 files? I download them for later listening, and I’m always having trouble organizing them so I can tell which I’ve listened to already…
Father Matthews bless,
I listened to your podcast and could not rest until I posted a website for Orthodox Christian Artists. http://www.dotcollective.com Please let me know what you think or would like to add.
In Christ’s Love,
Kissing your right hand,
Charles-Michael