What Does God Think of Representational Art?

Art is powerful.In our’s and other cultures, art has been used as a medium for expressing convictions in a variety of ways. We see art all over the Bible, and although there has been debate over its usefulness within Christianity, I think we can all agree that it can be a powerful tool for expression and change.In his book, Art and the Bible, Francis Schaeffer discusses one way that Jesus used art to express himself. Schaeffer unpacks Moses and his serpent staff.While the Israelites were wandering throughout the desert they complained to Moses about the lack of bread and water. God, in response, sent “fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much of the people died” (Numbers 21:6). So the Israelites came to Moses, confessing that they had sinned and asking Moses to pray that God would take the serpents away. God replied to Moses’ prayer, “Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a stand: and it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” Moses obeyed this command and those who looked upon the “serpent of brass” lived.The striking thing is how Jesus used this incident and the work of art as an illustration of his coming crucifixion. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes may in him have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). So, what was Jesus using as his illustration?? A work of art!But some might rebut by saying, “Yes, but they smashed it. Hezekiah broke it up in 2 Kings 18:4.” They wouldn’t be wrong in saying that they broke it, and, indeed, God was please that they did it. But why did Hezekiah break the serpent? “And he [Hezekiah] broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it.”Did he smash it because it was a work of art? Of course not! God had commanded Moses to make it. He smashed it because men had made it an idol. What was wrong with representational art is not its existence but its wrong uses.Question: How do you view representational art? What beautiful things have you worshipped instead of Jesus, the maker of all that is beautiful?Matt Walker is a member of the Monticello City Group. He is the founder and president of Anchor Apologetics.