The Bushel Has Triumphed
by Chris Vitatoe

In anticipation of the introduction to this paper, I solicited a Christian friend of mine with a loaded question, which was answered in just the way I had perceived. The question, “Why is it that you only own Christian CD’s?” The answer, “Well, I figure it’s better than listening to all that worldly junk.” And if, upon reading this reply, you neither cringed nor frowned, I worry that you might be just as misled as he.

If American aesthetics were on trial, on charges of debauchery, it would not be very difficult for the prosecution to build a solid case against it. Surely, the evidences abound, what with the slew of vicious rap songs, the scantily clad women on TV and on films committing near-pornographic acts, and violent, hardcore rock music with its lewd themes and vulgar vocabulary. The prosecution might even subpoena such figures as Jessica Simpson, Snoop Dogg, Ozzy Ozbourne, Fifty Cent, or Seth Farlane (creator of Family Guy) to testify. But there is a problem: while we can evidence and agree upon the depreciation of the American aesthete, it is hard to agree upon who should take the blame for its rapid descent into liberalism, nihilism, and sexualization. We cannot put all the blame upon the shoulders of any singular person or entity, for the blame belongs to several. However, to stop the problem we would need to seek out these individuals and institutions and prosecute them so to begin a redemptive process.

For the first, and perhaps guiltiest of the culprits, I would nominate the Christian church.

Am I wrong in my assertion? If my accusation offends you, then let us discuss this, and we can reason together.

Can we agree that wherever morality is not, corruption is? Isn’t it true that in areas where there is little to no moral influence, that this realm eventually becomes overtaken by vulgarity? For instance, think of the business realm. If a company’s executive officers and owner’s were without scruples, what would occur? There will be extortion, money laundering, sex scandals and such. What about the sports entertainment industry? If referees had no morals, what could we expect to see? There would be rumors of bribes accepted and blackmailing and biased calls. It should be obvious that where there is no morality, there is evil.

However, you must consider yourself before agreeing to this, for if you agree to this you will be ensnared by the next question. That question: should the exemplary figures of morality be found in the secular world or within the church? Of course, it should be the church. For we cannot expect strong, unshakable morals and sound ideals from the godless, can we? True, though some godless men may exemplify morality at times, we cannot expect this form of morality to come from a pure ethics. Pure ethics implies that good is done with no ulterior motive, done only for the sake of it being good, and nothing else. However, the secular world only practices “social morals”, morality for the sake of social norms and regulations pressed upon them or passed down to them through the generations. When the social norms and regulations shift, so does the morality. Pure ethics are only received through supernatural means.

And this is the condemning fact, for if pure ethics come supernaturally, this means that the burden to exemplify sound morality and pure ethics rests solely upon the shoulders of the church. However, let us think back to the beginning of this discussion, in which I pointed out how my friend only owned “Christian” CD’s. I put the term “Christian” inside of these quotation marks to note that its meaning is different than from what Christianity should truly mean. We live in an age of the church where a near-Stoic mindset has developed that only recognizes things with the name “Jesus” or “God” in them as godly, and everything else is labeled “of the world” or “worldly”. Surely there is no greater name than the name of God, but does this mean that if they are absent from a lyric sheet, the song is therefore worldly?

What is truly “worldly” is that which either denies or takes glory away from God. This is what scriptures imply when it tells us to be “in the world, but not of it.” Unfortunately, most evangelicals hear only the latter part of this verse and believe it gives them license to an early “check out” of the culture surrounding them, and they begin to ignore the very world they live in.

Thus, the dilemma. We as Christians have made our own compartmentalized sub-culture where we live and thrive, ignoring our world and God’s good creation and letting it slip deeper and deeper into its own destruction. How naive of us to think that the only things Christians can be involved in or support are those things which directly contain or speak the name of Christ! Those of this mindset only listen to our “Christian” CD’s, dine at “Christian places, and watch “Christian” movies (which means we hardly get involved in the arts at all), and have their radio stations on nothing but KLTY or the gospel channel.

It is no wonder then that we are not able to impact our world! For there are many things which glorify God which do not directly bear his name. What about creation itself? It is funny how many Christians in this age have a “rapture mindset” and seem to want to be rid of the world so badly that they cannot enjoy the glory of God around them. Is it not true that creation glorifies God, the very work of his hands? Or should he carve his initials into every rock, tree, and molecule before we take note?

We should rid ourselves of this Christian sub-culture and instead immerse ourselves into the greater culture of the world which we share with the lost, which is far from perfect, but is in need of the love of Christ. Have you noticed how many of the mega-churches have such things as coffee shops, bowling alleys, workout centers, and other such establishments within them? These things are not wrong in and of themselves, except that it encourages the church to stay within the church culture, and not involve themselves with the greater culture. Instead of fostering escape from the outside world, should we not encourage interaction?

Is it any wonder that great and good things like the aesthetic realm have become destroyed? It all goes back to the root problem: we do not understand the meaning of the term “worldly”. And because of that ignorance, we believe that the only godly occupations are ones that minister from behind a pulpit or on the mission field, and all other areas of work are just mundane, temporary things that we must do to make a living. No wonder there are not enough Christians making a difference at their occupations and practices! Could the problems with aesthetics be traced to a lack of moral, hardworking, and committed filmmakers, painters, musicians, playwrights, and producers?

I suppose now is the fitting time to explain the title of this discussion. There is an old song they still teach children today which sings:

“...hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine!”

Perhaps virtually every Christian has at least heard this song before. Therefore, it is quite ironic that as I now observe the Christian church as a whole, I am seeing an awful lot of bushels.