Art, Artist, and Audience
Imagine with me …
Imagine that you saw a beautiful painting and stopped to admire it for a few moments. You found yourself moved by the work and wondered if you could purchase a print for your home or office.
Now imagine that you glance at the plaque next to the painting and see that it was painted by Charles Manson. Yeah, that Charles Manson. Or Hitler, the Unabomber, Osama bin Laden, or Darth Vader. You know, someone bad.
As you look at the beautiful painting again, has it turned ugly? Are you nauseous, angry, and revolted, or is the painting still beautiful and moving?
My guess is that you could never look at the painting the same way again. For darn sure, you aren’t purchasing a print for your living room or making the new wallpaper on your MacBook.
But why? Why does the artist’s life and story and infamy change your perception of or reaction to his or her art (whether good or bad)? If art doesn’t stand on its own, should it?
Now … imagine with me that one of your favorite Christian songs was written by Ray Boltz. Or Michael English or the “Healer” guy from Hillsong. What now? Is it still one of your favorite Christian songs or have you unchecked it in your iTunes library because of that queasy feeling you get when it comes up on shuffle? If so, why? If not, why?
By now you may have heard the news,. Ray Boltz is gay. In an interview
with the Washington Blade, a gay and lesbian newssource, he
officially came out to the public.
Ray Boltz is a legend in the christian music industry, coining many of
the songs we now view as standards. “Thank you”, “the anchor holds”
and “I pledge allegiance to the lamb” and many more have been sung in
churches across america. You may know Ray Boltz as the Howie Mandell
look alike with his shaved head. In the interview Boltz acknowledges
that he told his familt in ‘04 but decided recently he need to come
bring the news to his fans and the public. “” I’d kind of had two
identities since I moved to Florida where I kind of had this other
life and I’d never merged the two lives. This was the first time I was
taking my old life as Ray Boltz, the gospel singer, and merging it
with my new life. Emotionally it was kind of a big deal to think about
that.”
The double life. The difficulty of reconciling the hidden desires.
I told the news to a friend of mine who responded with an “Oh, no!”
and was saddened by the news. It seemed to me he was disappointed or
let down.
My question for us is…does it really change anything? Ray Boltz is a
musician, an artist. If he was a pastor who had been speaking out
against homosexuality that would be one thing. But his songs still say
the same things. His songs have the same lyrics and impact no matter
his orientation. When George Takei came out, did the character SULU
change? Did the quality of his acting become somehow less, or more?
With Ray Boltz its the same. His songs still speak of God, of the
pursuit of Him and of forgivness. Last time I checked Christ loves gay
and straight alike and his grace is still new every morning no matter
your preferences.
One of Boltz’s hits “The Anchor Holds” has the lyrics
“i have journeyed
through the long dark night
out on the open sea
by faith alone
sight unknown
and yet his eyes were watching me
the anchor holds
though the ship is battered
the anchor holds
though the sails are torn
i have fallen on my knees
as i faced the raging seas
the anchor holds
in spite of the storm”
I am sure these lyrics mean something to him. They aren’t empty words.
The struggle to be who you really are, to be honest is a difficult
one. Especially in the church where judgment cna be harsh and I am
sure he will experience much of it. I pray he can turn to The Anchor.
This time of his life will no doubt be “a long dark night out on the
open sea.” and he will need the love of the God he has been singing
of. Nothing has changed when it comes to God’s love or Boltz’s music
that speaks of that. If anything its truer.
posted at 3:55 pm on September 17th, 2008 by jake