Live Art: Go Forth and Assemble!

Last updated on: April 23, 2015 at 7:43 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Live Art: Go Forth and Assemble! 2015-04-22T14:26:11-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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A wonderful thing about Christianity is that we are forbidden to stay in caves of solitude:

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

We may not save the world when we meet and not every gathering will be super, but gather we must. Obviously, this verse refers to the Christian worship service, but I think there is a larger lesson to be learned. God made people to need people and this is not just a result of sin.

Before sin entered the world, God saw that the first human was alone even though Adam walked with God daily. Adam was not being “bad,” but Adam with just God was not enough. God took Adam and made male and female. In both sexes together we see the full image of God. Men need women. Women need men.

Of course, this is not the only kind of community. Church is a second sort where in gathering, the “body of Christ” is imaged. Artistic expression is another kind of community. The woman who created an image of Christ’s burial by bathing his feet with her hair and in perfume could have done some act alone, but she shared it with a community. That was good.

A very few Christians have been called to pray in a hermetic state, though almost always they end by teaching many what they have learned. Most of us are called to live in the city since we need the practice since our future home is the City of God and not solitude with God. There we will worship, eat, and live together in harmony. Get used to it.

Yesterday I attended a wonderful concert at Lone Star Community College (Kingwood). The fairest flower in Christendom (you know her as Hope Reynolds) was playing trumpet with their concert band and they also had a jazz ensemble following that program. It was a treat to hear both and yet many Christians had forsaken the assembly for entertainments flickering on their cave walls. Many of us sit alone and entertain ourselves. Five dollars (!) would have purchased a seat. You would have been taught, helped the kids have an audience for their art, and had a good time.

The person who lives for self has a harder time justifying the “inconvenience” of going out and seeing art performed. The “cost” may be too high in the short term but Christians know we need each other. Here is my new apologetic plan: since Americans are mostly abandoning live artistic performances (especially non-professional performances) we should become the audiences. We can show up and enjoy the music.

We will be the artistic communities’ best friends and any hostility that has developed toward us will melt away. We will be their audience. Why not? We know we need each other. We are called to serve. We are helped create much of the music played at these concerts. We have a mandate to learn. By going to concerts, especially the struggling concerts, we can do all of this at once.

And have fun.

Isn’t the life of a Christian jolly?

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