The Spirit and the Bride
Artists need the church
By John Michael Heard
I awoke early in the morning. The sun had not yet risen, and I found my friend sitting in the hallway. It was his big day, and I was going to be his best man. He held his phone in front of him, nervously going over a letter he had been writing to his soon-to-be bride. He struggled to find the right words to finish it, so I offered to help. It was an opportunity and privilege that I cherished: to help my friend find the right words to express his love for his bride.
The Scriptures describe all marriages on earth as an icon for greater union that is still to come — the wedding between Christ and his bride, the church. One day, Jesus and the church will be one. It is my conviction that just as I helped my friend find the right words to express his love for his bride, so also artists have the opportunity to serve God by going before him and conveying to his bride the depths of his love for her.
Jesus loves the church. That statement is provocative enough in our day. Many people have turned their backs on the church. Scandals upon scandals have tarnished her reputation. Her leaders have failed. There is little unity among her members. The statement often attributed to Gandhi has come to resonate with so many: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
There is an impulse among artists who follow Jesus to disassociate from the church for these reasons and more. Artists have not always been welcomed in the church. Our work has been misunderstood, undervalued, even belittled at times. In return, we like to stand back and criticize the church—it is easy to do, and we are good at it, often even justified. We like the idea of being the Bonos or Wendell Berrys of the world; we want to identify with Christ, but not his church.
But, again, we should remind ourselves that Jesus loves the church. Not only does he love her—he intends to marry her. If we are committed to Jesus, we are bound to his church by association. We cannot claim to love Christ and despise his bride. Part of what it means to love Jesus is to serve his church. What we do for her, we do unto him.
That is not to say that we should overlook her blemishes. On the contrary, our aim, especially as artists, should be to make the bride beautiful. We do this by helping her to see the glory of her bridegroom and conveying to her the depths of his love. As she beholds his splendor, touches his wounded body, is filled by his Spirit, she will be delivered from that which afflicts her, healed from her sicknesses and diseases, and transformed into his likeness.
There is a prophetic calling for Christian artists to become “friends of the bridegroom” as John the Baptist was to Christ. We can find many lessons for artists in the example of John the Baptist.
First, John the Baptist knew that he was not the bridegroom and that the true bridegroom was coming. Many artists today falter and fail because they accept the worship of man. Woe to those who seek to take credit for what God has done! Every good thing that we create is a gift from God, given so that he might be glorified in us. Although for a time we might benefit a little in taking credit for his works, in the end God “will not yield [his] glory to another” (Isaiah 42:8). He will demand from us what we have stolen from him.
And woe to those who lust after the affection of Christ’s bride! Artists in the church should not succumb to the seductive spirit of fame that pervades our world but continually seek to yield glory to Christ. Jesus is coming, and we are not worthy to stoop down and untie the straps of his sandals (Mark 1:7). He is most beautiful. Our art and our lives should direct people to the one who is worthy of all praise. As John the Baptist himself states, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30).
John the Baptist testified to the coming of the true bridegroom. Filled with the Spirit of God, he spoke the words of God (John 3:34). If only what was said of John the Baptist might be said of us: “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man [Jesus] was true” (John 10:41, italics mine). Christian artists should seek to show the true nature of Christ—in our words, our actions, and our art.
In anticipation of Christ’s arrival, John the Baptist made every effort to prepare the bride for her husband. He did this via the baptismal waters, a work of symbolic participation in what Christ would achieve by his death and resurrection. Likewise, our work as artists should be done in light of Jesus’ saving acts. Our art should be a means by which we immerse the church in the story of God, the experience of his love, and the knowledge of his actions on her behalf, cleansing her “by the washing with water through the word” and raising her up again in the newness of life, so to present her to God “as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:26-27).
In the last days, I am convinced, there will be nothing to compare with the glory of the church. Every human organization, institution, and community will pale in comparison to her majesty as she comes to embody everything that Christ taught us. Her beauty will expose the fleeting splendor of this world—the false beauties of riches, power, and fame. Her face will shine with the radiance of God. Christ will be so enraptured with her that in his zeal for his bride he will initiate the end: all will be fulfilled, and the wedding day will come.
To that end, we join in the chorus of saints, saying “Come, Lord Jesus!” Let us pray that the church would be made beautiful, and that Christ would have his bride.
John Michael Heard is the Content Editor for Creo Arts. He is based in Wilmore, Kentucky, pursuing an M.A. from Asbury Theological Seminary. In addition to his work for Creo, he publishes regularly on Substack at Not Yet Home. He is passionate about storytelling, with a focus on screenwriting and middle grade fiction.
Photo by Jaakko Perälä, courtesy of Unsplash.
