228. Why Don’t Christian-Made Arts Top Secular Charts?

“Back in the olden days, Christian art was king.[1. Photo by Jelly Dollar on Unsplash.] Top artists like Michelangelo and Da Vinci pioneered in their creative fields, and later composers like Bach and Handel revolutionized their day’s music. Then later, of course, Lewis and Tolkien did this for fantasy! So why today do all the Christian artists copy The World instead of leading in culture?” How often have you heard these questions? And how often have you heard solid, logical answers to them? Episode sponsors Enclave Publishing: Ignite by Kara Swanson Above the Circle of Earth cover reveal: Thursday, Sept. 5 Lorehaven Guild: The Wall book quest Mission update Lorehaven reviews: Maggie and the Mountain of Light Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild Concession stand If you’re still asking these questions sincerely, we aren’t throwing shade. At the same time, we do believe these questions should help us grow. In this episode, we won’t just complain about our art not topping charts. Instead we explore exactly why Christian art isn’t as “big” as we’d like. After this, we’ll share some needed challenges to the question premise. Answer 1: Because pop culture is a demanding field. Some jobs are more traditional, and others high-risk, like story-making. Stephen can testify to this. Much of what he does entails a lot of risk. For every A-list creator, there are thousands who haven’t made it. Open discussion Answer 2: Because we’re called to other goals first. God commanded His people to start families and steward the Earth. That leads to and includes art-creation. But now we suffer pain and toil. This sin-cursed world does put a damper on our relationship with art. Open discussion Answer 3: Because secular elites manage the charts. We can’t afford to be too naive about the biases in entertainment media. Many movies, games, songs get secular attention but little actual profit. In the past, Christian-made books weren’t often sold in secular stores. Open discussion Answer 4: Because culture isn’t Christian-adjacent. In the old days, artists showed biblical imagery because this was trendy. Cultural Christianity was in. The churches held wealth and influence. If we want Christians to top charts, we’d first need cultural dominance. Open discussion Answer 5: Some old top artists were not Christian. Again, the classic-art greats did their work in a Christian-ish culture. Some were Christian, but others were just going along with their world. Christians can’t “claim” artists just because they showed Bible pictures. Open discussion Answer 6: Plenty of new Christian artists do great. It’s corny to repeat the “all Christian just follow the world” canard. These days, right now, many faithful Christians are making fantastic stuff. Often critics don’t notice because they’re the ones following the world. Open discussion Com station Where do you see faithful Christians making fantastical art? Zachary Edmonson remarked about last week’s ep. 227: Contrary to popular belief, I think a world of true Christians could achieve a Star Trek future. If ours was an atheistic, relativistic world, we’d be too busy fighting each other to accomplish anything. RuthAnn Schmitt added about that ‘Star Trek future’ episode: The Gutenberg Printing Press, for example, was made to print the Bible. Without that want for printing the Bible, we would not have the high tech printers we have today. Now, we have 3D printers. All because of a man who had a desire to get Bibles out to common people. In short, countless inventions were made because of Christians. Atheists have no right to complain. Next on Fantastical Truth In the year 2099, imagine having to cancel your family vacation plans to St. Louis or that Oklahoma ranch. How come? Because, unfortunately, it’s dystopian times and there’s a wall there. It’s even worse inside those middle districts for Asher, son of The Defiance, because his one true love is now trapped on the Lazurite side, and her father runs totalitarian government. This month we’re crossing The Wall in our September book quest, and next week we invite Brian Penn to explore this debut and other dystopian dooms.