Articles

We do not seem to understand that the arts too are supposed to be under the Lordship of Christ.

The Lordship of Christ over the whole of life means that there are no Platonic areas in Christianity, no dichotomy or hierarchy between the body and the soul. God made the body as well as the soul, and redemption is for the whole man.

If Christianity is really true, then it involves the whole man, including his intellect and creativeness. Christianity is not just “dogmatically” true or “doctrinally” true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life.

How often do Christians think of sexual matters as something second-rate. Never, never, never should we do so, according to the Word of God. The whole man is made to love God; each aspect of man’s nature is to be given its proper place. That includes the sexual relationship, that tremendous relationship of one man to one woman. At the very beginning God brought Eve to man. A love poem can thus be beautiful.

The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars.

Christianity is not just “dogmatically” true or “doctrinally” true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life.

The ancients were afraid that if they went to the end of the earth, they would fall off and be consumed by dragons. But once we understand that Christianity is true to what is there, including true to the ultimate environment — the infinite, personal God who is really there — then our minds are freed. We can pursue any question and can be sure that we will not fall off the end of the earth. Such an attitude will give our Christianity a strength that is often does not seem to have at the present time.

But there is another side to the Lordship of Christ, and this involves the total culture — including the area of creativity. Again, evangelical or biblical Christianity has been weak at this point. About all that we have produced is a very romantic Sunday school art.

As evangelical Christians, we have tended to relegate art to the very fringe of life. The rest of human life we feel is more important. Despite our constant talk about the Lordship of Christ, we have narrowed its scope to a very small area of reality. We have misunderstood the concept of the Lordship of Christ over the whole of man and the whole of the universe and have not taken to us the riches that the Bible gives us for ourselves, for our lives, and for our culture

I have frequently quoted a statement from Francis Bacon, who was one of the first of the modern scientists and who believed in the uniformity of natural causes in an open system. He, along with other men like Copernicus and Galileo, believed that because the world had been created by a reasonable God, they could therefore pursue the truth concerning the universe by reason. There is much, of course, in Francis Bacon with which I would disagree, but one of the statements which I love to quote is this: “Man by the Fall fell at the same time from his state of innocence and from his dominion over nature. Both of these losses, however, can even in this life be in some part repaired; the former by religion and faith, the latter by the arts and sciences.” How I wish that evangelical Christians in the United States and Britain and across the world had had this vision for the last fifty years!

The arts and the sciences do have a place in the Christian life — they are not peripheral. For a Christian, redeemed by the work of Christ and living within the norms of Scripture and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, the Lordship of Christ should include an interest in the arts. A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God — not just as tracts, but as things of beauty to the praise of God. And art work can be a doxology in itself.

By Eric Pastorek

What is your favorite color and how do you think it effects you? This is the question that’s asked by many wanting to find out how to use color to communicate to people. There are many different people with many different answers. It is fascinating that the reaction a person has to sight affects other parts of the brain, thus individual parts of the brain do not work independently from one another. Individual areas function together as a whole to contribute to the decisions a person may make. For example, when driving down the road a person may see a billboard for a restaurant. The colors that a restaurant may use may entice a viewer to become hungry causing him or her to pull off at the next exit to eat. However, the colors used could cause rejection of a product. Color is important in society, because it creates association, emotion, and reaction, and when used properly it can affect decision making.

Throughout history color has been used, perhaps unknowingly, as a way to assemble groups of people under one banner and to cause people to have certain emotions such as pride and patriotism. In a sporting game when a fan sees his or hers team colors, emotions well up for their team and cause devotion. Men and women differ somewhat in how color is viewed. In a study by Natalia Khouw in her book “The Meaning of Color for Gender”, she writes, ‘there was a difference, with women preferring soft colors and men preferring bright ones” (O’Leary). Age and culture may also affect how a person views color. Color psychology is a field of study devoted to analyzing the effect of color on human behavior and feelings, not to be confused with color symbolism (Wikipedia).

Psychologists today are studying in great depth the effects that different colors have on people. For example, the color Pastorek 2 red is found in studies to ‘increase bodily tension and stimulate the autonomic nervous system, while “cool” hues. . . [such as blue]. . . release tension’ (Wikipedia). Interestingly, one shade over, the color pink, or ‘drunk tank pink,’ a bubble gum color used to calm violent prisoners, has an interesting effect. In studies of angry and aggressive inmates, Dr. Alexander Schauss, Ph.D., director of the American Institute for Biosocial Research in Tacoma Washington, reports, ‘Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in the presence of pink, he can’t. The heart muscles can’t race fast enough. It’s a tranquilizing color that saps your energy. . .’ (Color Matters).

Similarly, there is a spectrum of effects from different colors among humans and animals. Most consumers aren’t aware of the psychology behind the use of color schemes among corporations. When money is a large factor, time is too. In an article about studies that show how corporations, such as McDonald’s, use color strategically. It says, ‘Even the color scheme used by McDonald’s promotes speed. Studies show that loud colors like red and yellow increase customer turnover’ (Gipson).

The use of color can also be instrumental to the success of a company. It would not be profitable to have people sitting in a restaurant for two hours when there are potential costumers that have no where to sit. Motivating them in and then motivating them out is profitable. It is still early in this field of study to tell for sure how color affects people. There are many factors to consider in the study of color psychology, that is why it’s not very well known. This psychology is not proven to be viable for helping for certain mental diseases. One thing is for sure, color psychology is a promising field yielding many new findings on how people are affected by color.

Works Cited
Color Matters. ‘Drunk Tank Pink.’ Find Articles on the Web. 13 September. 2006.
Gipson, William. ‘McDonald’s and Fox’s Diner.’ Find Articles on the Web. 13 September. 2006.
O’Leary, Tom. ‘The Psychology of Color in Messages.’ Find Articles on the Web. September 2006 28 September. 2005.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. ‘Color psychology.’ Find Articles on the Web. September 2006. 13 September. 2006.