Seeing Through the Lens of Faith: Why the Church Needs Art Literacy

Back in 2015, my friend and I sat on the floor of a dark room in The Broad museum, watching what became one of the most powerful, artistic depictions of the Church I’ve ever experienced. I’m pretty sure 99% of the people in that room didn’t see it that way, and I doubt that’s what the artist intended, but for almost an hour, I was completely caught up in the beauty and belonging that I associate with the body of Christ.

We were watching The Visitors, a video installation by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson. It features nine screens, each showing a different room in a sprawling, romantic New York estate. In each room, a musician plays the same song, variations on a simple, repeated verse. You can catch a glimpse of it HERE (I highly recommend utilizing the 360° viewing feature and also reading the comments of those who have experienced the piece).

© The Washington Post.

The piece flows through quiet moments and builds to bold, sweeping ones, highlighting solos of each instrument. Toward the end, something powerful happens: one by one, the musicians begin to leave their rooms, walking into the next and joining whoever’s already playing there. Eventually, they’re all together, still singing, arms wrapped around each other, popping champagne bottles and lighting cigars, as they make their way out of the house to the hills, toward what feels like a feast or celebration.

What moved me even more was how the audience responded. As the musicians on screen moved from room to room, so did we. Strangers in a dark gallery, slowly rising and drifting from one screen to the next. By the end, we were all gathered in one part of the room, standing together with this ragtag band, caught up in their shared song and celebrations as we watched them walk off into the distance.

The entire time, I kept thinking, “This is what the Church should look like to the world," people caught up together in a shared song so compelling and lovely that outsiders can’t help but follow and want to belong. To me, it felt like a living picture of what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians: one body with many members. The shifts in the music mirrored the call in Romans to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, all carried by the hope of the final feast we’ll one day experience when Christ returns.

Now, I’m sure most people in the room weren’t seeing it the same way. Perhaps the artist, Ragnar Kjartansson, really only intended this to be a tribute to the 1981 ABBA Album or just some quirky weekend getaway with friends. But for me and my friend, it became a powerful image of the Church.

Experiences like these don’t happen by accident. It wasn’t our training in art theory or creative talent that shaped how we saw The Visitors, but our belief that God can speak through beauty, tension, and even discomfort. This kind of seeing isn’t automatic—it’s nurtured by what I call art literacy: not just academic knowledge, but a spiritual formation that engages art with curiosity, openness, and faith. Art literacy shapes our ability to perceive God's presence in the ordinary and unexpected places and helps us recover a vision cultivated by attentiveness and grounded in the belief that God has created a world worth seeing.

Too often, the arts are treated as optional, an extracurricular, or a niche interest reserved for galleries, museums, and operas. But that mindset misses something vital. In an age where the Church risks becoming tone-deaf to culture or suspicious of beauty, recovering art literacy is not a luxury—it’s a form of spiritual formation. Understanding the artist’s intent is part of honoring the work, but allowing God to speak through it is part of honoring His Spirit at work in the world. That’s what sets Christian art literacy apart: not that we see instead of, but that we see through —through the lens of faith, Scripture, and the hope of redemption. Art literacy is not about becoming art critics; it’s about becoming more faithful disciples, formed to engage the world not with suspicion or indifference, but with discernment, wonder, and hope.

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Three Reasons Why Art Literacy Matters Deeply for the Church

1. Art is a part of our shared church history.

Why must we care about art? Because to forget our visual theology is to forget part of our identity. From ancient iconography to catacombs, cathedrals, hymns and chants, the Church has always expressed its theology through beauty. Ignoring art is ignoring part of our spiritual heritage. As Margaret R. Miles argues in Image as Insight: Visual Understanding in Western Christianity and Secular Culture, early Christian art was not merely decorative but central to spiritual formation. In the Roman catacombs, frescoes of the Good Shepherd, the Eucharist, and Jonah’s deliverance were more than illustrations; they were theological affirmations for a persecuted people. These images served as "visual sermons," enabling even the illiterate to grasp profound truths of the faith. Miles emphasizes that “vision is a primary religious sense,” and that sacred images functioned historically as “a medium of revelation.”

This tradition continued through medieval stained glass, Renaissance altarpieces, and Orthodox icons, all bearing witness to a God who reveals Himself through beauty. Recovering this history reminds us that art has always been a way for the Church to teach, remember, and encounter God.

2. Art literacy is a practice of discernment.

Understanding our past is only the beginning. If art was once shaped by the theology of the early Church, we must ask how it can form us today, especially in a visually saturated culture that demands discernment. In a world saturated with images and media, learning to see with clarity and wisdom is essential, not optional. Andy Crouch, in Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling, reminds us that Christians are not merely called to critique culture but to cultivate and create it. This requires a discerning eye, not to withdraw from the world’s artistic expressions, but to engage them thoughtfully and redemptively. Crouch asks us to move beyond condemnation or mere consumption and to become culture makers, people who reshape the world through redemptive creativity.

Art literacy equips us to ask deeper questions, like:

• “What story is this telling?"

• "What vision of the good life is being offered?"

• "What is it inviting me to love?"

  
  

This is where our experience with The Visitors becomes an example. The installation may not have been overtly Christian, but it carried the scent of Gospel truth. Our discernment, shaped by Scripture, allowed us to recognize echoes of Christ’s body in that gathering. Without art literacy, we may have passed by apathetically or with dismissal, but with hearts trained to look redemptively, we saw an image of the Church and a longing for communion that we know only Christ can fulfill.

3. Art literacy orients us to glorify God.

Yet discernment is not just about judgement, it’s about direction. Where is beauty leading our hearts? That question brings us to the ultimate purpose of art and the chief end of man: to glorify God. When we learn to see through the lens of faith, we’re drawn into deeper worship—not just in song, but in how we live, love, and witness beauty in the everyday. James K.A. Smith argues in You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit that our hearts are formed by our habits of attention and affection. What we gaze upon shapes what we desire.

For example, a constant stream of advertisements can condition us to love consumption. Scrolling curated images on Instagram can lead us to value perfection over authenticity. Streaming a show that glorifies revenge or self-gratification can subtly shape our moral imagination.

But art, both sacred and secular, can also point us toward the good, the true, and the beautiful. A well-told story that honors sacrifice, a painting that invites contemplation, or music that stirs our soul can redirect our desires toward God. As Makoto Fujimura puts it, the act of making or even beholding art is generative. It resists efficiency and invites wonder. He writes that “to make is to offer,” and in that offering, we encounter grace.

Cultivating art literacy helps us recognize these sacred invitations in the midst of daily life. It enables us to glorify God not just by avoiding what is harmful, but by embracing what is holy, lovely, and true. In doing so, we become people formed by beauty, disciples whose lives bear witness to the Artist who is making all things new.

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How to Cultivate Art Literacy

So what might it look like to begin cultivating this kind of art literacy in the life of an ordinary believer—someone who doesn’t have an art degree or spend weekends strolling through galleries? Thankfully, it doesn’t require expertise or elitism. What it requires is curiosity, intentionality, and reflection. The Psalms offer a compelling example, crafted not only to express emotion but to shape the imagination of God’s people. Psalm 19 declares, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” In other words, we are invited to see God in the world around us, if only we will take the time to look. 

A great starting point is to simply visit a local museum—not necessarily to understand everything, but to practice being present and attentive. Consider taking a guided tour or reading the plaques beside the art. Ask what the artist might be communicating. What emotions are stirred? What questions does it raise about truth, beauty, or brokenness? Similarly, we can bring this posture into our churches. Try learning the history behind the hymns and worship songs you sing. Many of them were born from suffering, revival, or deep theological conviction. Ask your worship director or the artists and musicians in your community how they make creative decisions and what shapes their vision. These small conversations foster a deeper sense of participation and dialogue. 

Art literacy can also be practiced around the dinner table. Ask friends what they've watched, read, or listened to lately and how it impacted them. Did a film stir something redemptive? Did a novel make them see the world differently? These questions don’t have to be formal, they just need to be honest. Even noticing the colors, architecture, or design of a worship space or home can become a moment of reflection. 

In the end, art literacy is not about mastering a field of knowledge. It’s about growing in our ability to see and respond to the beauty and brokenness of the world through the eyes of Christ. It's about being shaped into people who recognize God's fingerprints not only in sacred spaces but in unexpected places. And that is the work of discipleship. Not a luxury, but a calling.

Resources and Recommended Further Reading:

• Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch – IVP Books, 2008

• God in the Gallery: A Christian Embrace of Modern Art by Daniel A. Siedell – Baker Academic, 2008

• Image as Insight: Visual Understanding in Western Christianity and Secular Culture by Margaret R. Miles – Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1985

• You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit by James K.A. Smith – Brazos Press, 2016

• Art and Faith: A Theology of Making by Makoto Fujimura – Yale University Press, 2021