By David Faust
Is your life less colorful than it used to be? Maybe so. According to a post on Culture-Critic.com, โEvery aspect of life is being stripped of color.โ
For example, consumer preferences for new car colors have shifted toward black, gray, silver, and white. Gone are the days when highways sported lots of red, green, and blue vehicles. Today, 80 percent of new cars are grayscale.
Building styles are shifting, too. The author complains about โcopy-paste, colorless architecture that comes from nowhere and yet exists everywhere.โ
Drifting Toward Blandness
Tastes in art and fashion change constantly from one decade to another. (Those of us who remember the 1970s arenโt lobbying for a return to the clothing styles and home dรฉcor common in that era!)
But what is behind the drift toward blandness? Are consumers opting for simplicity because they are tired of over-stimulation? Or is financial profit driving the trend because grayscale products are cheaper to produce? The writer argues that companies mass market bland, homogenous products that โappeal to the broadest possible tastes and offend no one.โ Noting a similar trend in music, he points out that compared to past years, few of todayโs top songs contain even a single key change. โComplexity is being stripped out,โ he says, โto appeal to worldwide streaming audiences.โ
Reflections of Godโs Glory
Iโm neither an art critic nor a fashion designer, and I gladly leave home decorating to the experts. I donโt pay much attention to the hue of a church buildingโs carpet, and I donโt care what color car you drive or how you style your hair. After all, the Bible says, โPeople look at the outward appearance,โฏbut theโฏLordโฏlooks at the heartโ (1 Samuel 16:7, New International Version).
I do appreciate beautiful things, though, for God โhasโฏmade everything beautiful in its timeโ (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Consider the ordered complexity of Genesis 1, the detailed craftsmanship of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple, and the romantic stylings of the Song of Songs. God turned a scarlet cord from Rahabโs red-light district into a symbol of salvation (Joshua 2:18-21, 6:25), and he promised to make crimson-colored sins as white as snow and wool (Isaiah 1:18). Heavenโs eye-popping color palette includes a rainbow, crystal-clear glass, pearls, gold, and sparkling gems (Revelation 4:3-6, 21:11-21).
Instead of creating a grayscale world restricted to shades of black and white, the Lord gave us brown deserts, green trees, purple grapes, red strawberries, orange pumpkins, black coal, clear icicles, white polar bears, gray elephants, blue skies, bright-colored birds, and tropical fish. No art gallery is large enough to contain Godโs handiwork, which is displayed in country fields, mountain forests, urban parks, and fresh-cut flower bouquets.
We honor God by recognizing beauty as a reflection of his glory, and by pursuing excellence in whatever we do. Do you appreciate a skillful cookโs creation of a delicious plate of food? The precise engineering of a well-designed tunnel or bridge? The orderliness of a landscaped lawn or a well-weeded garden? The melody, rhythm, and harmony of a well-written and well-played song? The artistry of a finely crafted poem?
Something โBeyondโ
Another recent article, this one published on the website Apologetics.org, is called โConfronted With Beauty: An Argument for the Existence of God.โ The author, Ryan Snuffer, writes:
Majestic mountain vistas, trickling waterfalls, meandering trails lined with mossy stumps, stones and towering trees all move me in a way that is felt deeper than any of my five primary senses. I enjoy contemplating the growth of a plant or the transformation of a tadpole into a frog. When I visit an art gallery, I like to stand about 8 feet away from a painted canvas and loosely stare at the colors, the texture and the composition of the painting. Musicians performing genres as varied as classical, Celtic, jazz, and traditional folk have produced music that has given me goosebumps, yielded waves of joyful tears, or produced a deep-as-the-soul sense of peace.โฏ
โOne would expect to find beauty and experiences like we are addressing,โ Snuffer observes, โin a universe that did not come about by random chance but was created by an intelligent being who loves his creatures. There really is no point in passionate love of beauty for humans if the only point in our existence is survival.โ This idea has profound implications for our understanding of God and the world, even leading to an โaesthetic argumentโ for the existence of God. After all, โWe are made in Godโs image. As his image-bearers, we are driven to create. Most of those of us who do not create at a high level appreciate others who do. And nearly everyone appreciates beauty on some level.โ
The writer concludes, โThe fact that there is a universal recognition and appreciation for beauty strongly points to something Beyondโsomething that makes no sense in a purposeless universe.โ Thatโs a point worth considering for all of us who follow the incarnate Word, who revealed God in loving color.
David Faust serves as contributing editor of Christian Standard and senior associate minister with East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is the author of Married for Good.
Author: Christian Standard
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