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September 2003 Table of Contents
Special Feature: Drama
The Ministry Of The Arts
By Todd Farley
I had a friend once ask me how the performing arts worked in the Church. It was a question that has echoed time and time again throughout my 25 years of ministry, a question posed by both those in the Church and those outside of our faith. Down through the years, I have watched as churches struggle with the question. Unfortunately, at times there are those who answer, "They don't work in the church." There have even been Churches that reject the artist with the arts. Thankfully, and more commonly, the church has found an answer in some isolated application of the arts: youth mission trips and special events such as Christmas and Easter being the most common. These events have helped the artistic type find expression in the local church. In the last decade, we have also seen a surge of utilization of the arts for illustrating the sermon. These are all wonderful uses of the arts. However, there are more answers-deeper answers. I'd like to explore scripture to answer this question anew.
During the end of the seventh century before Christ, The Children of Israel were carried away into what was to be called the "Babylonian Captivity." Though the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah called for their repentance, the children had closed their ears to the prophets' words. They had stopped listening to the voice of God. Instead, they chose to listen to the popular lie, "all was fine, God would deliver." The problem was that God was not going to deliver them out of captivity, but rather into it. Ezekiel was one of the captives carried off to live by the rivers of Babylon. Yet even though they were now captive, they still would not listen-so God stopped speaking...in words, and started acting a mime. In Ezekiel 3:26, the prophet is made mute by God: the people would not listen so he was not going to speak; only by a miracle could he speak the words "Thus saith the Lord." He was a silent prophet, a new breed of minister, one who would act out and live out the "Word of the Lord." And act it out he did, in chapters 4,5,6,7...the prophet Ezekiel acted out in mime the prophetic "Word of the Lord" to those who could not, and would not, hear. Now, do not just believe me! Look it up for yourself, and read in Chapter 4 how the army camped around Jerusalem, see the description of the army's scare-tactics and machines of war. Read the script of Ezekiel's mime, of God not getting through the iron wall of sin that stood between the besieged Jerusalem and God's help.
What is amazing about the Ezekiel account is that it does not stand alone, Ezekiel mimes over 25 prophecies, mimes presented as the "Word of the Lord"; many times with utterly no "words"-just actions. He is not alone! Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ahijah, Elisha, Hosea and the New Testament prophet Agabus all acted out, mimed their prophecies! Hosea writes about God using this form of dramatic word, "I have also spoken to you by the prophets and I have multiplied visions for you and have appealed to you through parables acted out by the prophets." Hosea 12:10 AMP
Scripture supports the use of the dramatic arts such as mime as a form of "prophetic ministry," not just that which is done by our zealous youth, but as done by our leaders and ordained ministers of the Gospel, our Ezekiels of today. Our world has likewise closed its ears to our prophets of the Gospel, and become a MTV nation, listening to the false prophets if this world. Perhaps we too need a silent prophet who could show God's Word, to envision what will not be heard.
In the Golden Age of the nation of Israel, King David ruled on the throne. God's presence was manifest in Zion; Israel was winning its wars. Things were looking good. Then, David "sinned" with Bathsheba-she became with child. David tried to cover up his sin by bringing her husband home from the war. However, Uriah, her husband, would not return to visit his wife, and thus her pregnancy would reveal wrong doings. Thus, David plotted Uriah's death, and sent a message to his General Joab to place Uriah in the front of the battle and abandon him there to die: the message was successfully delivered by the hand of Uriah-how heartless. Uriah died, and Bathsheba was left a widow with no chance of remarriage. David then stepped up his plot, and married Bathsheba. Now instead of being a villain, David would be seen as a redeeming hero who honors his fallen soldiers by keeping care of their survivors...his wife.
If you were a prophet in those days, you could not rebuke David; his sin was too well concealed. It would be your word against his, and false prophets were stoned to death. Much like the world today, you cannot prove THAT is a sin...what's sin anyway?
So, God sent a prophet, Nathan by name. Nathan's prophecy is recorded in II Samuel 12, a most unconventional prophecy-he told a fictitious story: a story about a rich man and a man with a lamb. Amazingly, David listens and relates to the story and the characters involved, unaware that it all is just a fiction. The characters and the story so move David that he gets down right angry, or more literally "red in the face." He curses the evil character in the story with the sword and other kingly judgments. Nathan listens to David's judgment and only has to say, "You are that man." The story rewrites itself in the mind of David; he sees his own actions with Uriah as being parallel with those of the evil character in the story. He sees the truth; he is confronted by it and his own judgment. David repents. David repents because God used a fictitious story to by-pass his intellect, stir his emotions, and touch his spirit with a Truth beyond fiction.
Perhaps we need some dramas, movies, and dramatic stories that confront our congregations and the world around us. Perhaps, as Aristotle said, in the story we will see ourselves "mirrored" and be called to virtues we have traded for vices. However, this was the work of a prophet-not just an entertainer. Where are the artistic ministers of today?
Some might find it amazing to realize that God uses the arts throughout scripture. Consider the Brazen Serpent that is used in a process that heals the Children of Israel of their rebellious hearts, the poison of the snakes, or the symbolism of Daniel and John's Revelation. Consider the greatest of them all, Jesus, and his use of Parables. Consider that our Faith's greatest testimony is not spoken, but enacted in the Lord's Table and in Baptism. We cannot deny it; our God is Dramatic and Creative-indeed, the Creator. Should not our churches represent this? Should we not see the arts as more than just the passing summer activity, or in use for more than just the illustration of a sermon? Could not the arts be the Proclamation itself, the sermon? This probably will not happen until there is a new generation of artists: not ministering artists but rather artistic ministers. Then we will see David and Miriam dance without fear, Ezekiel mime, Nathan dramatize, Bezaleel sculpt, hear John's visions and Jesus tell stories once again in our local church.
Todd Farley serves as Artist in Residence for Fuller Theological Seminary, where he is currently studying for a PhD in Theology and Culture. He is also serves as an Adjunct Professor for the Instituted of Worship Studies, is an author of numerous books, videos, and articles. He is also a mime, having studied with Marcel Marceau in Paris, France from 1984-1987. He is an Ordained minister, ministering for the last 25 years through the arts and leads an artistic worldwide ministry called Mimeistry with his wife Marilyn (also a mime), and teachers at Mimeistry School of the Ministering Arts in Pasadena California. He can be contacted at todd@mimeistry.com or www.mimeistry.com
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