Slaying the Dragon of Sentimentality: Why Aesthetic Maturity Matters

What’s On Your Wall?

The Capital One commercial provokes you, “What’s in your wallet?” because your wallet symbolizes who you are, how you spend your money, and what you value. Maybe you’re a successful leader with a fancy credit card, a gym membership, crisp 100-dollar bills, and an airplane pilot’s license. Or perhaps you are a high school student, with a driver’s license, a few single-dollar bills, and a raffle ticket from your school rally. Your wallet symbolizes who you are and what you care about.

But what about your home? How much more strategic is the décor of the place where you raise your kids, fellowship with your friends, and spend decades with your spouse? Does the décor in your home have an aroma of Christ that inspires spiritual depth, or does it coddle sentimental ideas about life? These are questions we rarely hear mentioned from the pulpit, much less brought up in small groups, or discussed at Christian conferences. And this is a grave mistake. We have neglected the very nature of how we were designed by God, and have therefore forgotten the power of beauty, the influence of visual imagery and the need for rich symbolism in our homes.

The Typical Art in the Christian Home

Growing up, visiting the homes of Christian friends, I remember noticing how differently families decorated their homes. I often saw a shelf lined with Precious Moments figurines—cherubic children with teardrop eyes, locked in frozen gestures of sweetness. Maybe there are a couple of Thomas Kinkade paintings.

What struck me later in life is that all this artwork pointed to a world without sin. It was either a picture of Eden before the Fall, living in the presence of God, or life in Heaven, living in the presence of God. As a Christian, I understand mourning the loss of Eden and the longing for Heaven, but where was the artwork that spoke to the spiritual battles of today?

The Disconnect in Christian Homes

Something was missing. There were no depictions of the courage of David fighting Goliath, or the bravery of Queen Esther risking her life to save God’s people. There was no recognition that we fight against spiritual principalities. All the art implied there is no battle. There are no trials for which we need courage, nor is there any adversity for which we need great faith. All the trials in life that make us aware of our need for the Gospel are absent. 

The Theology Your Artwork Embodies

The theology of the artwork we choose is a serious matter. We should long for heaven earnestly, but we should not let that longing become a form of escapism. We need to embrace the calling of Christ to pick up our cross daily, to be faithful in adversity, and to work diligently to glorify God in all we do. There is a time and place to cherish the beauty of youth, and the wisdom of old age. There is a time to appreciate the innocence of a young child, and the beauty of a serene mountain lake. These are wonderful things. But, there is also a time to ‘gird up our loins’ for the battles God has called us to face. Maybe, like David, we reject Saul’s armor, but we still need to prepare for the fight. The artwork in our homes should reflect the life God has called us to live. Theologians remind us, we should live our lives in consideration of the “full counsel of God,” not just the parts we like, or the parts that make us feel good.

The Beauty We Long For

Americans alone spend $30 billion a year on interior design for a reason. We want to live in a beautiful home. We want our family and friends to feel welcomed and loved in our homes. In a deeply theological sense, we long for the beauty of Eden and the New Jerusalem. This is a good thing.
The problem is that both the leaders in the church, and the media in our culture have failed to distinguish between shallow forms of beauty, and deeply meaningful forms of beauty.

We often reduce beauty to anything that catches our eye, or gives us a particular feeling. It has become detached from our faith and our theology. (We are all theologians because we are all making decisions based upon what we believe about God, His Word, and His World)

The Artwork and Beauty Jesus Celebrates

As Christians, we seek to grow spiritually every day. We are striving to become more like Christ, to live the way God wants us to, and to have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). This means we desire to understand beauty as Christ understands beauty, and to celebrate as beautiful that which Christ celebrates as beautiful. This means rejecting shallow forms of beauty, in favor of the robust beauty of the Gospel.

Beauty and the Mind of Christ

Beauty is the term we use to describe that which gives us pleasure or satisfies our desires in some manner. Simple forms of beauty may satisfy our senses, while robust forms of beauty will nourish our very soul. Indeed, we were made to find good things pleasurable and to call them beautiful. Ecclesiastes tells us that God is the one who makes all things beautiful at the right time. (Eccl. 3:11) Beauty can be found in everything from sunsets and daffodils to marriage vows, stories of courage, and demonstrations of sacrificial love. These are good things which godly people should celebrate and find beautiful. These are echoes of God’s goodness and His generosity.

Beauty Both Great and Small

While we may find many things lovely, they are not all of the same caliber or character. The beauty of face-painting butterflies on my daughter’s face for a holiday is not the same as the beauty of Jesus loving us so much that He would die to rescue us. One is simple, short-lived, and fleeting. The other is complex, eternally impactful, and life-sustaining. One is an inexpensive gift to brighten my daughter’s day for a few hours. The other is an exceedingly expensive gift from the God of all Creation given to transform your entire life, both now and throughout eternity. We dare not equivocate the two, nor substitute one for the other. They each have a place in this life, but they are not the same. Nor do they nourish our senses or our soul in the same way.

The Beauty We Long For

There is a time for face-painting, stuffed animals, and simpler forms of beauty, but they will never suffice as a substitute for the beauty of sacrificial love. These simple forms of beauty lack depth, moral context, and spiritual insight. While we can enjoy these simpler things in life that provide a spark of joy, we should not be satisfied by them. We need both kinds of beauty in our life. Ultimately, we were made with a longing for life in the City of God, where we are loved by God with a love that never ends, never fails, and never keeps a record of our wrongs (1 Cor. 13:4-13).

The Danger of Mere Shallow Beauty

If all the artwork we view and the beauty we embrace are simple and shallow, it will foster a simple and shallow faith. Or, it may expose the shallowness of the faith we already possess. The most common forms of shallow beauty are kitsch, sentimentalism, and nostalgia. These kinds of art can provide an escapism from the complexities of life, rather than equipping us to face the call to follow Christ, daily.

The Shallowness of Kitsch and Sentimental Art

Unfortunately, much of the art in recent decades described as “Christian art” (a term we avoid ), has traded beauty for sentiment. Precious Moments is an easy target, but it represents a trend: an aesthetic of safe, soft, and sweet. This is religious kitsch. It comforts, but it rarely challenges. It soothes, but it rarely stirs. We know as Christians that we can find shalom even during a storm, just as Jesus did on the boat in the Sea of Galilee (Matt 8:23-27). Such peace is not found by ignoring the waves, but by recognizing the power of the waves, and then placing our faith in the one who can calm every storm. And if He does not calm the storm, He will guide us and protect us through the storm.

Sentimental art simplifies our emotions and avoids the complexity of life. It invites us to reduce our spiritual life to feeling comfortable. A spiritually mature man or woman anticipates the persecution and hardship this side of heaven. Sentimental art fails to represent the evil in this world, and the need for such faithfulness and courage in response.

The Shallowness of Nostalgia

Art that is soaked in nostalgia lacks hope. Nostalgia fosters the idealization of the “good old days.” It turns our eyes to the past with fond remembrances, diverting our eyes from the future. This is the opposite of the Gospel. The Gospel proclaims that the best is yet to come. We have great hope because we have a great Savior who died for us, a great Father who watches over us, and a great Holy Spirit living within us. The Gospel points us forward, unlike nostalgia which draws us back into the past.

Consider the Children

What does sentimental or nostalgic art say to our children? It does not teach them that they need to trust in the finished work of Christ in order to maintain hope in this fallen world. It pretends that the world has not fallen, and therefore, there is no need for courage, faith, or hope. What about the stories of Scripture that we are commanded to tell our children? (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Biblical stories point us to the heroes of the faith, like Esther, Samson, David, and Daniel. These men and women were brave under pressure, faithful under persecution, and never hinted at a life of quiet avoidance of the evils that surrounded them.

Sentimental art does the opposite. It breeds naivete and passivity. Surprisingly, Veggie Tales depicted more real-life struggles than the artwork in some Christian homes. At least they showed our children that the Israelites had to march around Jericho, while being mocked, before they saw God tear down the walls. Those veggies didn’t stay in camp simply dreaming of a land filled with milk and honey. They understood that God called the Israelites to “take the land,” even though there were giants in the land.
 

True Danger and the Nature of Dragons

G.K. Chesterton once stated:

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist.

Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

And this is at the heart of the Gospel. Satan is still a lion roaming around, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). It does not help anyone to pretend otherwise. We do not shrink back in fear, nor avoid the subject, hoping Satan will just run away. No. We look to the work of Christ on the cross, and to the judgment upon such a dragon when Jesus comes again.

The first time I visited Europe, I was fascinated by the sculptures in public squares. Though the art is for everyone, and children were expected to grow up walking past them, they did not shy away from depicting evil. One of my favorites is the Archangel Michael with Satan under his feet, about to be slain. You can see this one from Hamburg, Germany:

The Power of Great Art

These statues of St. George and Archangel Michael do something Precious Moments and Thomas Kinkade never do: They educate and inspire people with the true story of good overcoming evil. These statues are echoes of the true Warrior King, Jesus himself, who will come again to bring judgment upon the wicked. How fitting is it for children to know that evil will not have the last word. Sculptures and paintings of St. George depict him driving a spear through the heart of a dragon—smoke, fire, and glory swirling around him. It tells a story of courage, good versus evil, virtue battling chaos. This echoes the story of the Bible. We cannot pretend we are still in the Garden of Eden when we are not.

We are called to fight injustice, love our neighbor, and seek the shalom of our homes and cities with all our might and all our soul. Only fools will pretend they do not live in a spiritual battle. (Eph 6:12). Paul challenges us to maturity:

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”
– (1 Cor. 13:11)

It’s time we grow in aesthetic maturity. Our artistic choices are not spiritually neutral. What we choose to look at every day—what we hang in our homes, gift to our children, and support with our money—shapes the soul of our family and our community. If we want a robust, resilient, and beautiful community of faith, we need art that reflects it.

How Should We Then Decorate?

Once we understand what is at stake, we should examine the artwork on our walls. Now I’m not saying we all need to have sculptures of saints slaying dragons in our home, but we can still curate artwork that speaks deeply to those who enter our homes.

What is the artwork in your home saying, and how does that both reflect your faith, as well as shape the faith of those who spend time in your home? While there is a place for serenity and simple forms of beauty, there is also a place for art that inspires, challenges us, and points us to Christ.

Freedom In Christ As We Decorate

We are free to decorate in a way that speaks to our family members, our culture, and to those who enjoy our hospitality. There is no rule book on how to decorate. Thankfully, the Bible offers us glimpses of all kinds of stories pointing to what is true, good, and beautiful about God’s plan for all of Creation. God loves it when you use the creativity He has given you to make your home and your environment beautiful. It is an echo of His character when he placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden.

Here are a few ideas to inspire you(this is NOT an exhaustive list) as you consider how to decorate, or re-decorate, your home. Depending upon where your family lives and what you are going through, you may want to focus on one or several of these types of beauty in Scripture:

• Celebrating the beauty of creation.
Nature photography, landscape paintings, etc.

• See through the eyes of Scripture.
Depictions of Biblical characters, parables, proverbs, stories, etc.

• Celebrating the beauty of God’s redeeming love.
Art that celebrates forgiveness, redemption, atonement, etc.

• Yearning for Heaven: A holy discontent.
Depictions of injustice or brokenness that inspire you to care for the least of these.

• Embracing the call to persevere as Christians.
Art that reflects the struggles in this life, and the hope we have in Christ.

• Remembering God’s Faithfulness.
Stories of God providing and rescuing in the past.

There is also a place for simplicity of shapes and designs, whether they are abstract, representational or something else. Again, we have tremendous freedom in Christ, so this list is an example not a prescription. This idea here is thoughtfulness and intentionality in how our space and elements of design also reflect the gospel and glorify God.

Let us not decorate our homes and our lives with art that is sentimental or nostalgic. I pray that you will not use art as a form of escapism. God has gifted artists in this world to do something much more profound. He has gifted them in unique ways, to inspire your moral and spiritual imagination. Invest in the artists God has gifted, and let their work be an investment in the spiritual depth embraced not only in your heart, but on the walls of your home.
If you need help finding artists who create great art informed by their Christian worldview, check out links to these artists below (In alphabetical order):

Lynn Aldrich       Victor Atkins          Bolanle Awosika          Steve Bjorkman           Grace Carol Bomer          William Butler                      Tom Clark

Cha Cha Garcia                 Daniel Hendricksen                        Kevin Ho                       Glen Lamar                       Jennifer Kimbrough           Janna Mattia          

Elizabeth Mikelides         Kelly Phipps                                      Christina Ramos         Mirjam Schrei                  Linea Spransy                      Silvana Tei Kenney

Melissa Tubbs       Linda Tully            Ain Vares                      Liberty Worth              Landon Weckerly             Dylan Wheeler                   Chris Zappe

Let me know in the comments what art you put in your home, office, church, or city?

What will you do with this information? May we choose to be intentional!

And what art inspires your family to be courageous, loving, and just?

I look forward to continuing the dialogue through the comment section below: