“Beauty will save the world.” This is a quote from the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky in his story The Idiot.
What he didn’t mean was that superficial beauty that is only visible to the eyes will save the world. Beauty, for Dostoevsky, was something that one experiences with all of the senses, and sometimes in intangible ways, and it leads people to the conclusion that whatever it is we've experienced cannot exist or be real unless there is a God. It's transcendent.
There’s an old story about Prince Vladimir the Great who ruled in Russia during the 10th century, how he sent out people to investigate great faith traditions as he was looking for a religion to unify his people. Here’s what they reported when they encountered a Christian cathedral in Constantinople:
Then we went to Constantinople and they led us to the place where they worship their God, and we could not tell if we had been transplanted to heaven or if we were still on earth. On earth we’ve never seen such a vision nor beauty, and we still do not know how to describe it. We only know that God must dwell among us. We cannot forget that beauty.
Immediately after, Vladimir adopted Christianity as the official religion for his people.
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When we think of the magnificent story of the gospel of Jesus Christ, does beauty stand out?
For some it does. For others it does not. For some others still, it’s just not something they’ve thought of, or were taught to think about.
Yes, the beauty of creation or a sunset or the inherent patterns of the world might draw us to consider that there might be a God behind it all. Such beauty might lead us to awe and praise. But the beauty of the magnificent story of the gospel has to be more than these things.
Unfortunately, in our recent culture, the idea of “beauty” has become associated with weakness, softness, or what's “pretty.” Too many men have some kind of adverse reaction to the idea of beauty because our culture has done a smashing job of feeding us the narrative that beauty is about looks and soft things, or feelings, and men are supposed to be tough, indifferent to pretty stuff, or just uninterested in things like art or music.
That’s too bad.
It’s too bad we’ve believed in a shrunken version of beauty. As John O’Donahue put it: “When we lose sight of beauty, our struggle becomes tired and functional.” That is, life becomes just a series of days in which we go through the same motions, with minor variations, “getting the job done.” Along the way, we seek outlets to bring change or relief from the tired and functional struggle. None of them satisfy, really. What we’re longing for is connecting with beauty.
Maybe we just need to rethink beauty and bring it back to the thing it should be.
________________________________
There are several ways our long Christian tradition has expressed how beauty makes its way to us.
Ultimately, beauty is the radiance of God's very being. We only have beauty because God – the Father, Son, and Spirit – are beautiful.
When I say beautiful, I do not mean "pretty"; not pleasing to the eyes; not magnificent in color or texture or smell; not beauty that is only “in the eye of the beholder.” That’s all superficial beauty that we in our broken humanness evaluate and categorize. God’s not that kind of beauty.
The beauty of things around us do reflect the beauty of God in various ways, this is true. Yet, the beauty of God transcends these. Ultimately all beauty (which often is in the eye of the beholder) is meant to point beyond itself to the God who is the source of it all.
And so paying more attention to what’s beautiful around us might just be an important way that we draw our hearts and minds to God. Through the beauty we sense, God is always drawing us, calling to us.
But, there's a deeper beauty still.
As you read the gospels, do you notice the beauty? Beauty is why we re-enact the story of the nativity during Christmas. It's not just tradition. The story of the nativity is not just a story to talk about or re-read. We play it out, even in Christmas pageants with little kids, because it’s a beautiful story that is meant to be experienced with the senses. It's meant to be a story that we participate in, that draws us into it. You are not just supposed to read it. You are made to live it, precisely because it is beautiful. And even through the chaos of little kids with angel wings and shiny halos, there is a beauty that comes through. In fact, I'd suggest that it is beautiful because it is often "imperfect" according to our small human minds. Since when does God's beauty have to conform to our misguided ideas of perception?
That's because the beauty of the magnificent story is a beauty that can’t be manufactured or forced. It’s a beauty that sneaks up and surprises you in unexpected ways. While we in our humanity create beauty in all kinds of ways that point to God, the beauty of the gospel is not created by us. It is, by the Spirit, given to us and created in us.
It’s the beauty of the Son of God who stoops low to wash the dirty feet of disciples who still don’t “get it.”
It’s the beauty of the God who patiently waits as his people fumble around with the mission to be witnesses to the hope of the world.
It’s the beauty of Jesus who said, “Father, forgive them; they just don’t know what they’re doing” (Luke 23:34). He said this about the very Roman soldiers and religious leaders whose violence and hate were so strong that bloody execution of rabble-rousers was normal. Forgive them, anyway.
It’s the beauty of the father who waits for his son to come home, because he loves even his child who rejected him.
It’s the beauty of the God who has never forgotten that we were created to be beautiful, just by virtue of being. Before we could put on make-up, dress ourselves, or contribute to society.
It's the beauty of the true story that rewrites all of our messed up stories, not to make our lives useful to God, but because we were made to be beautiful.
It's the beauty of the Father, Son, and Spirit who draw us into the fellowship of God so that we become beautiful people and a beautiful church who flood the darkness of this world with beautiful light.
This is the beauty of the magnificent story.
What he didn’t mean was that superficial beauty that is only visible to the eyes will save the world. Beauty, for Dostoevsky, was something that one experiences with all of the senses, and sometimes in intangible ways, and it leads people to the conclusion that whatever it is we've experienced cannot exist or be real unless there is a God. It's transcendent.
There’s an old story about Prince Vladimir the Great who ruled in Russia during the 10th century, how he sent out people to investigate great faith traditions as he was looking for a religion to unify his people. Here’s what they reported when they encountered a Christian cathedral in Constantinople:
Then we went to Constantinople and they led us to the place where they worship their God, and we could not tell if we had been transplanted to heaven or if we were still on earth. On earth we’ve never seen such a vision nor beauty, and we still do not know how to describe it. We only know that God must dwell among us. We cannot forget that beauty.
Immediately after, Vladimir adopted Christianity as the official religion for his people.
_________________________________________
When we think of the magnificent story of the gospel of Jesus Christ, does beauty stand out?
For some it does. For others it does not. For some others still, it’s just not something they’ve thought of, or were taught to think about.
Yes, the beauty of creation or a sunset or the inherent patterns of the world might draw us to consider that there might be a God behind it all. Such beauty might lead us to awe and praise. But the beauty of the magnificent story of the gospel has to be more than these things.
Unfortunately, in our recent culture, the idea of “beauty” has become associated with weakness, softness, or what's “pretty.” Too many men have some kind of adverse reaction to the idea of beauty because our culture has done a smashing job of feeding us the narrative that beauty is about looks and soft things, or feelings, and men are supposed to be tough, indifferent to pretty stuff, or just uninterested in things like art or music.
That’s too bad.
It’s too bad we’ve believed in a shrunken version of beauty. As John O’Donahue put it: “When we lose sight of beauty, our struggle becomes tired and functional.” That is, life becomes just a series of days in which we go through the same motions, with minor variations, “getting the job done.” Along the way, we seek outlets to bring change or relief from the tired and functional struggle. None of them satisfy, really. What we’re longing for is connecting with beauty.
Maybe we just need to rethink beauty and bring it back to the thing it should be.
________________________________
There are several ways our long Christian tradition has expressed how beauty makes its way to us.
- Beauty is the harmony of parts creating a whole. Think of a car running properly is beautiful because all of the independent parts function together as they should. That's beauty.
- Beauty is the radiance of truth and goodness, much like the Spirit is the radiance of the Father and the Son.
- Beauty is that which draws out awe, pleasure, or joy.
- Beauty draws us to see the eternal in all things, that all things beautiful are created as stepping stones toward heavenly, eternal reality.
Ultimately, beauty is the radiance of God's very being. We only have beauty because God – the Father, Son, and Spirit – are beautiful.
When I say beautiful, I do not mean "pretty"; not pleasing to the eyes; not magnificent in color or texture or smell; not beauty that is only “in the eye of the beholder.” That’s all superficial beauty that we in our broken humanness evaluate and categorize. God’s not that kind of beauty.
The beauty of things around us do reflect the beauty of God in various ways, this is true. Yet, the beauty of God transcends these. Ultimately all beauty (which often is in the eye of the beholder) is meant to point beyond itself to the God who is the source of it all.
And so paying more attention to what’s beautiful around us might just be an important way that we draw our hearts and minds to God. Through the beauty we sense, God is always drawing us, calling to us.
But, there's a deeper beauty still.
As you read the gospels, do you notice the beauty? Beauty is why we re-enact the story of the nativity during Christmas. It's not just tradition. The story of the nativity is not just a story to talk about or re-read. We play it out, even in Christmas pageants with little kids, because it’s a beautiful story that is meant to be experienced with the senses. It's meant to be a story that we participate in, that draws us into it. You are not just supposed to read it. You are made to live it, precisely because it is beautiful. And even through the chaos of little kids with angel wings and shiny halos, there is a beauty that comes through. In fact, I'd suggest that it is beautiful because it is often "imperfect" according to our small human minds. Since when does God's beauty have to conform to our misguided ideas of perception?
That's because the beauty of the magnificent story is a beauty that can’t be manufactured or forced. It’s a beauty that sneaks up and surprises you in unexpected ways. While we in our humanity create beauty in all kinds of ways that point to God, the beauty of the gospel is not created by us. It is, by the Spirit, given to us and created in us.
It’s the beauty of the Son of God who stoops low to wash the dirty feet of disciples who still don’t “get it.”
It’s the beauty of the God who patiently waits as his people fumble around with the mission to be witnesses to the hope of the world.
It’s the beauty of Jesus who said, “Father, forgive them; they just don’t know what they’re doing” (Luke 23:34). He said this about the very Roman soldiers and religious leaders whose violence and hate were so strong that bloody execution of rabble-rousers was normal. Forgive them, anyway.
It’s the beauty of the father who waits for his son to come home, because he loves even his child who rejected him.
It’s the beauty of the God who has never forgotten that we were created to be beautiful, just by virtue of being. Before we could put on make-up, dress ourselves, or contribute to society.
It's the beauty of the true story that rewrites all of our messed up stories, not to make our lives useful to God, but because we were made to be beautiful.
It's the beauty of the Father, Son, and Spirit who draw us into the fellowship of God so that we become beautiful people and a beautiful church who flood the darkness of this world with beautiful light.
This is the beauty of the magnificent story.
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