An argument with myself....

As I was leaving my class on Wednesday, I had a horrifying train of thoughts flash through my mind. "Art is meaningless. It doesn't help anybody. All it can do is entertain." As a Christian I know that ultimately I'm called to love and help others, so I was really disturbed by this... So I debunked it. My argument is as follows:

There are three things I know are true and biblical, so I can trust them.
1. God gives us the desires of our hearts. "Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

2. God gives us our talents, whatever they are and it's up to us to find a fitting use for them. "1 Peter 4:10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."

3. God cares about art. When the tabernacle was being built God directed the leaders to hire an artist whom God had given the talent especially to create the articles which would be used to worship. Exodus 31:1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship."

So then, my conclusion to the matter is that I am going to create art because God put a skill and ability inside of me to be creative just like HE is.

Aside from that, I also know that art DOES matter. We are surrounded by it every day and even those who don't give a flip about the visual elements, principals of design or sociological themes of art, can be impacted simply through the visual pleasure that it brings. 

Point being: Whatever way I can find to use my abilities to speak a message, help someone or give God recognition I'll find it and I'll do it. Because as long as I give my art meaning, it's not meaningless.