by Andre Choi
A few things I’ve learned about art is that it’s subjective and never objective. It’s personal and never indifferent. It’s filled with emotions and passions, yet never without an opinion. Art is tangible yet abstract. Art is organic and never forced. We can see art, create art, admire art, but can we ever define it? I believe this is why art is so attractive. Art is all about the chase and never about the possession, the moment an artist believes they made it or “mastered” it, lost the essence of it. The purpose of art is not to master it or to figure it out, but to enjoy it. We love art because it’s beautiful, and art is beautiful because it represents the very unique heart of its creator and by doing so it connects with people across gender, race, age, socioeconomic background, religion, and so much more.
As of lately, God has been placing a phrase in my heart that reads: “The Art of Jesus”. I’m not sure what this means but I do know it has the same connotation as when a sculptor talks about the art of sculpting, or when a photographer speaks about the art of photography, or when a master storyteller shares about the art of telling stories. It has to do with what an individual is passionate about as his obsession captivated his heart. I know that it’s personal and unique, and just as art is everything I mentioned above, it’s the same with our relationship with Jesus. A relationship with Jesus is subjective and never objective, organic and never forced, so tangible yet so abstract, all about the pursuit and never about the possession. In other words, The essence of the Art of Jesus is about three things at its core: to gaze upon the beauty of Jesus, to be with Jesus, and to live our lives as a bridge to Jesus through the overflow of our hearts as we fix our eyes on Him and simply sit at His feet.
The Beauty of Jesus Tim Keller once tweeted, “Religious people find God useful, Christians find God beautiful.” The Bible illustrates repeatedly that God is glorious, the most precious entity in all the universe and you only need to look at the types of forms God chose to manifest in to see this. God took the shape of a burning bush that never dies, a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night, the transfigured Jesus and the resurrected Jesus. One look at God is enough to captivate man’s heart for eternity. Not only is Jesus beautiful physically but he’s also beautiful personally. He’s endlessly compassionate while consistently a defender of the weak, shamelessly humble while immovably confident in his identity as a son of God, and radically sacrificial while immeasurably omnipotent. Jesus is the very essence of beauty, He is everything we are searching for and He calls us His sons and daughters.
The art of Jesus is just another way of illustrating the heart of the Christian faith. What is our Christian faith all about- are we Christians in order to have this “prestigious” add-on to our lives or do we truly see Christians as broken people who have now been made new and to never forget that we’ve been saved. Never to forget that we were once broken and sinful people who received this amazing grace.
To Be with Jesus It’s the Art of Jesus, not the Science of Jesus. As corny as this may sound, it’s true. The Art of Jesus is all about being with him and enjoying the process- to sit at his feet and to find our rest, joy, hope, peace, freedom, and identity right there. The Science of Jesus is focused on figuring Him out, how to please him, how to be blessed by him, and how to “get Jesus”, but just like art, Jesus is never meant to be “figured out”, he’s meant to be cherished and expressed. We know whether we really enjoy the presence of God by the way we view grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast.” Christians who truly believe that grace is gifted and not earned walk a different way, their confidence and assurance is different because they know they possess a power and position that cannot be taken away from them. They rely on the fact that their salvation is secured by Jesus Christ allowing them to live lives free of guilt, shame, and condemnation. Their joy and hope is secured in knowing it is Jesus and His Spirit that allows them to conquer, and in their weaknesses, Jesus and His Spirit that empowers to stand and fight again. Rather than praying for more joy, freedom, power, and identity, those who walk in the art of Jesus seek Jesus himself as their joy, freedom, power, and identity. They want the giver himself, not simply his gifts.
To Be a Bridge to Jesus The art of Jesus is that God builds bridges, he doesn’t burn them- we are by default as believers of Christ in the ministry of reconciliation. As we see His beauty, His righteousness, and His faithfulness, should that not drive our hearts to want to share who He is with the world? As we learn to love His presence and to see Him as our very access to life, should that not dictate how we behave?
To simply put it, Jesus was a bridge and He was our bridge who connected us to the Father. Jesus was the bridge that allowed us to walk and live in true joy, hope, and eternity. Without Jesus there is no life, that’s why he declared in John 14 that He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” To walk in the art of Jesus is to look past the elementary arguments between Reformed vs. Charismatic theology, national vs. local missions, and secular vs. Christian culture because Jesus and His Gospel is above that. Jesus was concerned with God and where His Father’s heart was at- to reunite the orphans to the Father. When Jesus looked at the world He didn’t see it by differentiating the sinners to the holy ones, or the religious to the irreligious, rather He saw the world from the lens of those who are lost and those who have been found, those who are running and those who have returned, those who are broken and those who have now been redeemed.
The essence of the art of Jesus is to walk by faith and not by sight; and if we are not satisfied with this statement could it be because we are walking by sight and not by faith?