Knoxville has an unfortunate moniker as a “scruffy little city”. In short, we’re ugly. For Pete’s sake, we were spoofed in a “Simpsons” episode.
As if that wasn’t enough, we in KnoxCAM go into some ugly places. Prisons are designed for utility, not aesthetics. The overriding goal is to keep the inmates in. Homeless shelters, even if they start out beautiful, often end up scruffy and run down. The same goes for nursing homes. The smell can sometimes be overpowering. All of the residents in all three places would rather be somewhere else.
From a certain perspective, the modern world would say, “What’s the problem? They have three square meals a day, clothing and shelter.” The problem is that man, in addition to needing his physical needs met, also has spiritual needs. Too many Christians interpret this as just a simple offer of a truncated gospel, the gospel of being saved. Granted, the New Testament tells us that we need to be saved from our sins, but that’s only part of the story.
Russian novelist Fyodor Doetyevski once wrote that, “God will save the world through beauty.” Would we describe it that way, or do we get so caught up in the legal aspect of salvation that we forget to focus appropriately on beauty?
This isn’t a call to be art snobs. Beauty can be simple. Man needs beauty, and beauty is a reflection of God. The supreme beauty is in the finished work of Christ, but he leaves hints throughout his world, especially this time of year, when our region explodes in color. He leaves hints in fine music or in works of the great masters.
Our culture has its own notions of beauty – take a look at our magazines. Some deny that it even exists altogether, that all that’s left is art – if it can be called such. Much of “modern art” confuses or revolts us, and with good reason. It’s no accident that communist buildings were drab and ugly, all painted in the same shade of gray. They flowed from the same source – an asthetic that denied that there was anything or anyone beyond us.
People in prisons, homeless shelters, and nursing homes know better instinctively. Perhaps we can’t offer the gospel explicitly, but we can meet their need for beauty. It’s just as real – and in these “beauty deserts” – perhaps more pressing than a cup of cold water.