(Originally published in Collide Magazine – Jan. 2009)

In church production, we have the great opportunity of using the gift of the arts to glorify God and connect people in worship. Through the use of video, drama, lights, and sound we can powerfully support and enhance the message of Jesus Christ. In order to do this we hire, train, and develop media producers, technical and production directors, sound engineers, and graphic designers. All of these artists give their life and passion toward enhancing the worship experience. The question we must ask and the balance we must find is this: Which is more important, the product or the producer?

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So I was reading Galatians 3:23 yesterday morning and had some thoughts I wanted to share. Before I proceed here’s Galatians 3:23 – 29 (ESV).

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

I was specifically drawn to the first verses where it says we were imprisoned under the law. Imprisoned under the law seems like such harsh imagery but then we see the law was a guardian. Guardians protect often by limiting activities, thus imprisonment and not true freedom. But what were we being protected from? Satan? Ourselves? Perhaps God himself? I think it includes all of that. We know the primary reason for the law was to remain in right standing with God. God, in His justice, has standards that the human race discarded and we need to be cleansed from that. The law was given to create a way for us to regain right standing in the eyes of the Lord. But then we see that we were imprisoned under it. I think this has to do with the impermanent nature of the law. The law has a lot to do with human action. We have to keep the law in order for the power of God to flow through it. Thus we are bound to it, imprisoned under it. But God had a better plan for us than repeated religious rituals. He sent His Son to replace the law with faith. The most exciting verse in that whole passage is verse 25:

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

No longer under a guardian, no longer imprisoned by the law. Free, children of God, through faith. Sometimes I forget how cool that is.

(Originally published in Collide Magazine – June 2008)

There has long been a tension between image and word in our churches. Historically, that tension was not as one-sided as it is now. For centuries, the Church was rich with artists and imagery. The Church even constructed church buildings designed to astound visitors and to spur the imagination towards the wonderment of God. Then something changed.

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