#Unreached21 Seminar: Art, Mission and Social Justice
Jonny and Ruth discuss the ways in which Art has allowed them to enter into conversation with the different cultures they’ve found themselves in and serve those cultures.
Listen to the seminar in full here.
See below for Questions on Entering the Artistic World on Cross-Cultural Mission
Questions on Entering the Artistic World on Cross-Cultural Mission
Cultural Insights
- What artforms are inherent to the culture you have adopted? Which one do you feel most drawn to?
- How is history and place important in this form? (When did it start? Where was it from?) What assumptions about life/freedom/God does the artist’s practice disclose?
- Some people enter the artistic world on cross cultural mission because of passion (it’s fun!) or a sense of calling. Others enter because of the beneficial side effects of culture/language acquisition, social status and identity etc. What is your motivation for getting stuck in?
Global Humility
- How do people in your adopted culture view people from your home culture? Higher? Lower? Equal?
- What does it look like for you to enjoy and appreciate the local culture? How might this appreciation be expressed corporately in your local expression of church (wherever or however believers gather where they can)?
Global Humility leads to Cultural Honour
- What creative community in your adopted culture do you dream of finding a seat in?
- What steps could you take now to move you forward on that journey? Where do you need to connect? Who can you honour and train beneath to find a place in that world?
Fullness Gospel in Minority Context – showing God’s favour amongst believers and beyond
- Who has God sent you already with artistic gifts? How can you spur them on to express fullness of life even in a minority context? If you’re still in initial phases, how could you pray as a team for artists to be key as you launch/grow?
- How could your stewarding of the arts be a blessing to artists beyond your own sphere of influence going forward?
Artists and Gardeners – not dissimilar after all!
- “…like our first parents, we are to be creators and cultivators. Or to put it more poetically, we are artists and gardeners. … after the contemplation, the artist and the gardener both adopt a posture of purposeful work. They bring their creativity and effort to their calling. … They are acting in the image of One who spoke a world into being and stooped down to form creatures from the dust. They are creaturely creators, tending and shaping the world that original Creator made.” ― Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling
- How might Church Planting, Kingdom growing and Artistic endeavour be more similar than many people realise?
