Ellis Potter, an influential Christian Missionary in Europe encourages his congregants to ask 10 people who are not followers of Jesus these two questions.
If you converted to Christianity today, do you think your life would be larger, fuller, richer, more attractive and creative, more involved with the people, circumstances, art, & culture around you?
Or do you think your life would be smaller, narrower, more withdrawn, judgmental, and negative, less winsome and creative, less involved with the people, art, circumstances, & culture around you?
Were you to ask your neighbors these questions, your family or your friends, how do you think they would answer? Why would they answer that way? Who taught it to them? Francis Schaeffer once said,
As evangelical Christians we have tended to relegate art to the very fringe of life. The rest of human life we feel is more important. Despite our constant talk about the Lordship of Christ, we have narrowed its scope to a very small area of reality. We have misunderstood the concept of the Lordship of Christ over the whole of man and the whole of the universe and have not taken to us the riches that the Bible gives us for ourselves, for our lives, and for our culture. The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.
It seems that in our culture today many Christians are known for what they hate, rather than for what they love, for talking about what is evil, rather than celebrating what is good and praiseworthy.
The Bible makes clear that Jesus Christ is Lord over all aspects of life, including pop culture and art, and it is my belief that not only can we celebrate our partaking of art as entertainment, but that we can use it as a means of sharing the gospel with our family, friends, and neighbors.
