There seems to be a lot of thought these days about how Scripture translations can be communicated in ways that are not only clear and powerful, but also relevant and beautiful. Communicating Scripture to people in forms that are valued highly in their culture, such as dramas, stories, chants, songs, dances and poetry, may be as effective as didactic communication like preaching and teaching, and perhaps more.

We can facilitate the integration of Scripture into local arts through a two-step process, asking:

1. What art forms are already there in the culture?

We need to research what genres of art forms exist, what they are used for, and what associations are connected to them.

There is an old saying that when you have a good hammer, everything looks like a nail. For example, I suggested Scripture dramas to a people group because I’d been working with drama in a nearby people group. This team recognized, however, that chanting was an art form particularly respected by their people more than drama.

Some forms like story telling are more suited to communicating the full message of a passage. Others, like poetry, may be more suited to compositions around the theme of a passage. Art forms may be strengthened when combined in succession: a drama can be followed by a song on the same theme, or a multi-voice dramatic Scripture reading can be followed by a poem composed on the same theme.

2. How can those forms be redeemed to communicate Scripture relevantly?

Some artistic forms of expression have negative associations with them which make them controversial for Christian use, and that is why we may need to ask the Christian community to consider how they can be redeemed for Christ’s use. Old arts may need to be baptized and sanctified.

Instruments can be made from scratch and prayed over if old ones have been dedicated to other gods. Christian performers need to strive for recognized excellence in their art, and also live holy and honorable lives, dedicating their skills to God’s service. A different and attractive quality of a Christian artist should speak of Christ rather than of a foreign culture.

Expatriates working with local Christian artists need to be careful not to confuse their own forms of Christian expression with Christianity itself.

For large people groups, a third question may be asked:

3. By what media can we take the message of Scripture in traditional forms to a wider audience?

Local arts such as dramas, stories, chants, songs, dances and poetry hold one form of prestige. Modern media like radio, television and video have another form of prestige.

The small African village where I lived, although it still does not have running water, went in the space of one year from having only one phone in town, to having cell phones, to having television and an internet café. Villagers broadcast radio programs loud enough for whole neighborhoods to hear. Only a few people have televisions, but many people are clustered around them in the evenings. The same sorts of transformations are being repeated over and over again across the two-thirds world. If a radio or television program is in a local language and local form, people are likely to turn off the foreign language broadcast or the foreign type of program in favor of a more local one. Production of programming in minority languages and minority art forms can help preserve smaller endangered languages and cultures.

A Cord of Three Strands

Three strands—a relevant message from Scripture, recognizing local art forms, and communicating through mass media—can often be braided together in exciting ways to take a relevant Gospel message through traditional arts to wide audiences through mass media. I believe these braided strands can be more effective than any of the three alone.

Comments expressed here are my own and do not represent the official position or opinions of any agency with whom I am affiliated.