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Prepare the Way—Remove the Stones

“Go through, go through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!
Remove the stones.
Raise a banner for the nations.”
- Isaiah 62:10

Since 2004, when I served as convener of the Lausanne Forum for World Evangelization’s Issue Group on the Arts, I have had the increasing sense that the recommendations of the “Redeeming the Arts” paper from that Forum needed urgent implementation on a global scale.

During my seven years as dean of the arts at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi, USA, I developed the program to train students in music, visual arts, dance, and theatre in their craft within a biblical worldview. Today, the college has beautiful facilities, a world-class art faculty, and a vibrant missional student arts community. It is one of only twenty-five universities and colleges in the United States to be nationally accredited in all areas of the arts. Seeing those things accomplished, it seemed it was time to take the vision to another level.

After prayerful discussion with Belhaven’s president Dr. Roger Parrott (chair of the 2004 Lausanne Forum), the college has launched StoneWorks—a global arts partnership for cultural transformation. An exciting vision to educate the Church, disciple the artist, and transform the culture is underway and gathering momentum. The following is an overview of the vision and its current implementation.

Vision Overview
In Babylonian exile, God’s people discarded their musical instruments and wept (Psalm 137). They were struggling with their identity. With their homeland in ruins, they had begun to lose hope. When they did eventually begin to return home, it was with a mandate to rebuild, restore, and renew the ruins of their city (Isaiah 61:4). Before the restoration work could begin, however, they had to prepare the way, build a highway, and remove the stones.

Comparisons could be made with Christian involvement in the arts. At certain times in history, the arts have played a strategic role in the life and mission of the Church that championed artistic endeavors to the glory of God. At other times, Christians largely abandoned the world of the arts. Seeing it as broken and spiritually bankrupt, they went into self-imposed cultural and artistic exile.

The neglect of the imagination in life and faith has impoverished the Body of Christ. However, during the past few decades there has been a global renewal of interest in the arts and the imagination among believers. Like the ancient Jews in exile, it is time for God’s people to weep over our cultural disobedience and neglect of God’s good and creative gifts. It is time for the artist and the Church to weep together over their mutual alienation. And, it is time for our tears to turn into action. The stones need to be removed. A highway must be constructed.