I teach Bible at a Christian school, so I am something of an authority on how Christian teachers decorate classrooms.
I really don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just say that what passes for Christianity in the art that most Christians surround themselves with has all the perception and Biblical depth of Thomas Kincaid meets Precious Moments.
If the use of art were the measurement, Christianity is about a God who gives us the occasional upbeat slogan. Sort of a Mountain Dew….spirituality speaking.
I moved to a larger classroom this year, and I had to do something with it, so I decorated with new posters. I dropped some semi-serious coin on this, because I knew what I wanted.
A lot of Jesus on the cross.
My favorite is this altar painting by Cranach. (It’s fully explained at Paul McCain’s web site.) You really need to get this print.
I’ve got several images of Jesus on the cross or in his passion. No Mel Gibson. Classic art, icons, some impressionism.
I intend to make the point that this is what God is like. Not some trite admonition to smile and have a nice day, but the suffering of Jesus at the hands of religious and political thugs in a world that is broken, bleeding and full of constant contradiction and despair.
Jesus and him crucified. Christus Victor. The lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
As of today, I have a record number of international students from all over the world taking my class. Some of them come from war and poverty; others from prosperity and materialism. All of them will be looking at what I present of the Gospel very carefully. That’s one reason I’ve surrounded myself and my students with the cross.
As we spend a year in the Bible, I intend for the constant reminded to be that God suffered for us. God came down, took on our worst and most despicable acts, and loved us to death, hell and beyond.
A Jesus shaped faith values Jesus and his kingdom in all his different manifestations and accomplishments for us, but it remembers that the REASON the kingdom of God can come into one life or into all of history is because of the cross. It is the cross that American Christians can sing about but shy away from taking up. It is the cross that Jesus tells these students they must take up if they follow him.
At this point, evangelicals are obscuring the cross with a happy-clappy Christianity of moralism, political rhetoric and cultural conformity.
I wouldn’t accuse Christians of talking about the cross too little. (With some exceptions.) But I will say that the centrality and importance of the cross is waning across large portions of evangelicalism.
I want my students to sense that real Christianity is down and dirty. Earth and bloody. Real, not cleaned up or remade for applause. That it is for them, and it is worth living and dying for.
This is a message that proclaims Good News of great joy, and purchases that great joy with the price of incredible suffering. I’m not inviting my students to promise to be nice religious Christians. I’m inviting them to give their lives away to the God who put Jesus on the cross, placarded for the world to see.
Is all this a stumbling block? Offensive? Poor consideration of how to treat a seeker?
Of course. And it’s all worthless if all I have is posters. Jesus isn’t placarded on a painting. He’s crucified for the sins of the world in the Gospel I’ll proclaim and teach through scripture.
The pictures are useless if they don’t retell the story the Bible tells us. That’s the beauty of a great painting like Cranach’s portrayal of the crucified lamb: it preaches what scripture preaches, and amplifies what scripture underlines.
My prayer for this year is that the Jesus my students hear about draws them into the journey of faith and the road of being a follower. On the cross, Jesus had few friends, but on the cross Jesus was drawing all persons to himself. May that process continue as students from the United States, Thailand, Japan, S. Korea, Uganda, Nigeria, Liberia, Ethiopia, India and Russia hear the story of Jesus this year in my class.
May God bless you as you present Jesus to these children.
All seniors, btw. 18 and over.
I recently listened to one of the Steve Brown Etc. programs with Tony Campolo on it. He was comparing power vs. Authority and it was great. He compared Mother Teresa with the Evangelical movement. She has authority because of her sacrifice… evangelicals are playing for power.
What I remember him saying as only Tony can, was that the reason that every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus was not because of his power, but because of his authority.
The authority of Jesus comes from His sacrifice. Tony then quoted…
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! ”
Great thoughts and an interesting picture to ponder.
Thanks!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamen!
not even a puppet or flannelgraph?? :)
Several years ago, I picked up a copy of this poster by Rick Griffin. Check it out; http://www.myraltis.co.uk/rickgriffin/images/art/crucifix.jpg
Paul determined “not to know anything among the Corinthians except Christ crucified.”
I wonder how that would play today.
Also, while I must admit my initial reaction to your post is, “what about the fact that He lives today?” – I am even more intrigued about the role that His ascension and being seated at the right hand of the Father has on our faith and our view of Him.
Blessings on your ministry to your students!
Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit the Wieskirk in Germany while in the area on business. It was a profound experience as I saw the celebration of a suffering servant called Jesus rather than the “feel good” savior that too many folks want to follow. It brought back to me the reality of God’s suffering on our behalf. It’s important as we seek to spread the word that we are honest about what not only Jesus was called to, but what we may very well be called to as well. Bless your efforts to be honest with your students about who we are called to as Christians.
I think the reason we do not talk a lot about the cross is that we cannot manipulate it enough to give us what we want. It’s a place of death and Jesus told us to take up the cross and follow Him. We will do almost anything for Him, but dying isn’t one of them.
For me, the cross is a place of peace. I did not come willingly.(more like kicking and screaming). I had to find out that the cross is not just a place for bad people. The good in me also had to die.
Perhaps that is why the cross is such an offence to us.
Michael,
Glad to hear you also are a fan of that painting.
In Christ,
Paul
I wish every professor and teacher of the Christian faith shared your convictions on the centrality of the cross in all its mystery and majesty. God forgive us for the times we have ignored it, made light of it, and failed to take it up. Thank you for calling us back to the heart of the Gospel.
abmo: Agreed. The Crucifixion is too simple, to easy to understand that we don’t want to talk about it because we all know what it means. But hey, let’s have flame wars about McCain v. Obama!
Over 25 years ago, my wife and I went to dinner at the home of an elderly couple from one of the churches that I served at the time. They wanted to show us the birthday gift that they’d just gotten for their 17 year-old grandson. We had to muster all the strength that we could find not to laugh out loud. It was some gaudy,in all senses of the word, picture of Jesus–one of those that actually chages to another picture when moved or seen from another angle. Hideous comes to mind as perhaps the best way to describe it. We would like to have seen the grandson’s reaction upon receiving it.
I will remember “Thomas Kincade meets Precious Moments.” Yet most so-called Christian bookstores are full of that “stuff.” You are blessing your students with your choice of artwork.
I almost fell over when I walked into a church in India and saw Salvador Dali’s St. John of the Cross hanging in the back of the sanctuary.
Dunker,
I was just about to ask if he’d included that very painting! Such a great piece!
Pax
Cranach painting is a great but can you honestly say that you’re really like it? It seems way to Didactic and stagy to me and of course there is all that blood and the heavy handed allegory. It feels very academic to me. Let me suggest the work of a friend of mine, Lynn Mcilvride-Evans http://www.mcilvride-evans.com/ . Her work is self consciously Christian and very accessible without being preachy it’s also not outrageously expensive around 500$-2000$ depending on the size and media. You can have original Art in your classroom or home not just a print and support a living artist who is very serous about her faith and a very fine painter.
God Bless
Steve in Toronto
Imonk,
You mention having a large number of students from all over the world taking your class. Do you think that there might be a danger in using representational art which shows Jesus as a white man to such an international audience? (For the record, I think there is a danger in showing Jesus as a white man to a *white American* audience, but that’s another conversation.)
I currently hold to a more traditional Reformed view on images of God, including the Incarnation. Obviously, you have a different view, but I’d be interested to hear your answer to the above question.
To clarify– I’m not trying to be contentious. I’m just interested in hearing your view on the particular question that I asked.
I make it abundantly clear through many different means that Jesus was a middle eastern Jewish man.
Thank you for answering, brother. I am thankful for your thoughtful, challenging posts.
[…] great art (there are some artists who stand out from this). We need to go deeper. Michael at Jesus Shaped Spirituality has some good points that I agree […]
The blog is looking good so far, senor.
Sorry to go off topic with my first posting but do you (or any other reader) have any comments about the new clown of the evangelical circus, Michael Guglielmucci?
He’s worth googling… and you thought the PTL scandals could have put the church in a negative light.
In a comment posted above, the Cranach Weimar altar painting is said to be “too preachy” and “didactic” with too much blood.
Precisely!
: )
“We preach Christ, and Him crucified”
1 Corinthians 2
That poster may preach the story of God and Jesus, but I have to say, I would not want to be looking at it. Not just because of the blood, but the way that one stream of blood just squirts the way it does out of his side. It’s just too weird-looking! Oh well, that’s just me.
Hello Rev. Paul
What is the painting for? It’s a alter piece in this context in makes perfect sense in a classroom I am not so sure. It was painted to form the backdrop for and to help provide the context to the Eucharist. Cranach drew on the long tradition of catholic liturgical art to show the continuity between Lutheran and Roman Catholic understandings of the Eucharist while at the same time making clear the distinct doctrines of the reformation. It brilliantly succeeds in this goal. The problem is that you have to have to have either a degree in theology or art history (probably both) to get it. I am a 40 year old Architect who has been collecting Christian art for over 20 years; I worship in the Anglican Church and believe in “real presence”. If I have trouble relating to this painting as more than a fine aesthetic object and an intellectual puzzle what do you think our host Michaels’ Baptist students are going to make of it? Not much I am afraid. I would rather their first introduced to fine art be in a form that is somewhat more accessible. I would also like them not to get the idea that only dead white men can make worth wile Christian Art.
Peace
Steve in Toronto.
>what do you think our host Michaels’ Baptist students are going to make of it?
Almost none of my students are Baptists. Few are Christians. And what, Steve, is there on this painting that a “Baptist” with a Bible can’t understand?
The poster is in a classroom where I teach those students 5 hours of Bible a week and preach the Gospel to them in chapel 2-3 hours per week. It’s my job to hold up the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
Hello Michael
If you explain the painting to them first I am sure they will get it but I am almost certain that there first impression of it will be that it’s too Catholic.
I grew up in the Baptist church and the rational I was always give for the absence of Crucifixes it that our lord is risen and sitting on the right hand of the father not eternally being re-sacrificed in the form of the mass. In the churches of my youth you saw a lot of empty crosses that were suppose to remind you of the sacrifice but also to indicate that our lord had risen.
I understand that the empty cross has largely lost any specific meaning due to its reduction to mere ornament but I think the original impulse was right. The most common form of the Crucifix you find in contemperary Anglican Churches is an image of the risen Christ with a gold crown and kingly robes displaying his wounds superimposed on a cross http://www.petereball.com/archive/religious/christus-st-giles-1992.jpg . This seems to be a nice compromise between the bland abstraction of a plan wood cross and that faintly sadomasochist images of Christ that are so common in Catholic churches.
I am reminded of what Martin Scorsese’s own priest said about his film the last Temptation of Christ “Too much good Friday not enough Easter Sunday.” The Cranach painting try’s to maintains this balance (the vision of Christ slaying the dragon in the lower left hand corner is marvelous) but taken as a whole the dominate eliment is still the blood.
My experiance talking to Muslims (both in Canada and in the Middle East) is that they have a very difficult time relating to the “dark bloody nature” of Christianity but find the concept of the incarnation and the personal loving Christ extremely appealing (if incomprehensible). Obviously we need to preach the whole Gospel but also need to maintain a proper balance.
I look forward to hearing what your students think of the Cranach you might also want to introduce them to my favorite image of Christ from the Northern Renaissance, Rembrandt’s portrait of Christ from the Hyde Collection in upstate New York http://www.hydecollection.org/collections/details-image.cfm?ID=19
God Bless
Steve in Toronto
Steve,
I think you are making some large assumptions from the fact that I work at a Baptist school.
Most of my students are not Christians or Americans. Many come from Africa, and a large group from Ethiopia where Orthodox churches and art are everywhere. My Asian students from Korea and China also do not bring many preconceived notions of “Catholic” art.
I’ve been at a Baptist school for 16 years and we’ve never given an explanation for the lack of crucifixes other than the fact that Protestants tend to have little or no art. Mainly, for us, its because all our facilities are plain and simple.
I have students from a Muslim background, and I do hope they find the art provocative. I don’t have any “serious” Muslims this year, but they can still be quite vocal.
peace
MS
I stand corrected Michael. On reflection I think at least part of what is diving my suspicion the suitability of the Cranach for your class room is a fear that it will reinforce the common evangelical view that Christian art should be obviously pedagogical (i.e. Pilgrims Progress, Chronicles of Narnia ect.) plus a fear that it high renaissance style will be a turn off to modern high school students (perhaps I am not giving them enough credit, When I was their age I was obsessed with the Northern Renaissance but then again I had seen Francis Shafer’s film “How Should we Then Live” about a dozen times). I would like there first encounter with fine art to be one of joy. Cranach is a painter I have always felt I ought to like but not one I actually do like.
As an aside why would a non-Christian parent send there kid to OBI? I know a lot of the students in normally Christian Prep schools (mainly of the Quaker and Episcopal variety) come from “Pagan” homes but these schools are often seen as gateways to the WASP elite and anyway most soft pedal there christen identities. OBI seems like a hard core kind of place (field trips to the Creation museum, revivalist guest preachers, required bible classes ect.) How does a kid who presumably comes relatively wealthy and cosmopolitan pagan family (who else wants or can afford an American boarding school education for there children) react to rural appalachia?
God Bless
Steve in Toronto
I come form a multi-denominational background. I would have agreed with the statement that the picture was “too Catholic”. But You’re right – there is so little emphasis on the Cross these days. I see it so often in jewelry, icons, books – that it seems to mean very little nowadays. But to hang up a picture of Jesus ON the Cross….that will have some people asking questions!!! And although I know he has risen, it moves me every time I think of Him there. If I was confronted with those images everyday – I’d have to think about salvation, and the price that was paid for it. I believe it was a good choice to place those kinds of pictures in a classroom.
Michael, I have never seen this particular rendering of the crucifixion, but it is very captivating. I have always like Matthias Grunwald’s altarpiece. For about 15 years I have had a framed copy in my office and have used it judiciously in various teaching situations. I had the opportunity to see the original in 1998 on a trip to France and just sat studying it for several hours. Timothy George is the person who actually introduced me to the Grunwald.
Steve, thanks for your thoughts. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” If I were you, I would not assume that because you do not like it, or understand it, that means others won’t.
This painting is extremely popular among many people from diverse backgrounds, and interestingly enough, children find it endlessly fascinating, since it so filled with meaning and symbolism.
Perhaps a larger version might be better able to help people understand it and see what all is in it.
You may view it here:
http://cyberbrethren.typepad.com/cranachinweimar/
Perhaps it might be worth considering the Cranach altar piece as an icon rather than as a painting or a work of art as we westerners are so want to do?
As an icon it is truly a window into eternity where the historic reality of our Lord’s crucifixing is seen together with the eternal. This is something that modern representations have most often fail to do; including Mel Gibson’s.
If we were to consider Cranach’s altar piece together the Ghent Altar’s Adoration and the Lamb and Rublev’s icon of the Holy Trinity from the perspective of Orthodox iconography, then perhaps we might not be so concerned with art appreciation?
As we stare into the icon, so the icon stares back at us.
In Christ,
David from Mildura