{"id":9073,"date":"2016-04-28T13:54:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T17:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=9073"},"modified":"2016-04-28T15:08:06","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T19:08:06","slug":"q-a-with-a-filmmaker-nathan-clarke-on-the-arts-the-christian-faith-authenticity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=9073","title":{"rendered":"Q &#038; A with a Filmmaker &#8211; Nathan Clarke on the Arts, Authenticity, and the Christian Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9080\" src=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-filmmaker-christianitytoday.jpg\" alt=\"Image processed by CodeCarvings Piczard ### FREE Community Edition ### on 2015-05-18 23:32:55Z | http:\/\/piczard.com | http:\/\/codecarvings.com\" width=\"600\" height=\"337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-filmmaker-christianitytoday.jpg 600w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-filmmaker-christianitytoday-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/>Photo Credit: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/thisisourcity\/more\/team\/nathanclarke.html\" target=\"_blank\">Christianity Today<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nathan Clarke is a filmmaker with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fourth-line.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Fourth Line Films<\/a>. He is known for his documentaries and honest story-telling through film (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ncfPcYtqm5M\" target=\"_blank\">Wrestling for Jesus<\/a>). Most recently, Nathan and team at Fourth Line, premiered a lovely and moving film. Produced through support of Fuller Seminary, this 20-minute documentary, <strong><em>Bono and Eugene Peterson &#8211;\u00a0 The Psalms<\/em><\/strong>, is available to watch on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bono &amp; Eugene Peterson | THE PSALMS\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-l40S5e90KY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I had the privilege of attending a preview screening of this film (reviewed it on this <a href=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=9029\" target=\"_blank\">blog<\/a>). After the showing of the film, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thirdrva.org\/senior-pastor\/\" target=\"_blank\">Corey Widmer <\/a>facilitated a Q &amp; A with Nathan Clarke and the audience. What follows is taken from my notes on the Q &amp; A and reflects some of his thinking on the arts (how faith might color them and the cry for authenticity). Here are my takeaways.<\/p>\n<p><strong>On hoped-for impact of the film<\/strong> &#8211;<strong> &#8220;A lot of people who would only know <a href=\"http:\/\/www.atu2.com\/band\/bono\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bono<\/a> will now know <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eugene-H.-Peterson\/e\/B000APEODO\" target=\"_blank\">Eugene<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/161291487X?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creativeASIN=161291487X&amp;linkCode=xm2&amp;tag=debmillswrite-20\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Message<\/em><\/a>. Those who only knew Peterson from the Message will now be introduced to his other books.&#8221;<\/strong> [The Message is a version of the Bible translated into the contemporary English language (of 1993) by Eugene Peterson. Although it&#8217;s over 20 years old, it still makes for an easier read for anyone new to the Bible. Peterson&#8217;s bold action for that very purpose has come under criticism over the years, with some calling The Message a paraphrase, not a true translation. For Bono, this version made Scripture come alive for him.]<\/p>\n<p>Sidebar: I didn&#8217;t know Peterson wrote other books until watching this film. Bono praises Peterson&#8217;s book <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/083083706X?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creativeASIN=083083706X&amp;linkCode=xm2&amp;tag=debmillswrite-20\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Run with the Horses <\/em><\/a>as &#8220;a powerful manual for me&#8221;. Besides <em>The Message<\/em>, there are over <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eugene_H._Peterson\" target=\"_blank\">30 books <\/a>available to us written by Eugene Peterson.<a href=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Eugene-Peterson-books.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9078\" src=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Eugene-Peterson-books.jpg\" alt=\"Blog - Eugene Peterson books\" width=\"1632\" height=\"1224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Eugene-Peterson-books.jpg 1632w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Eugene-Peterson-books-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Eugene-Peterson-books-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Eugene-Peterson-books-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1632px) 100vw, 1632px\" \/><\/a>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube &#8211; Bono &amp; Eugene Peterson<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This revelation reminded me of a tiny section of my bookcase, right beside my work desk, that houses the best of my &#8220;old friends&#8221;. Oswald Chambers&#8217; classic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1577489144?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creativeASIN=1577489144&amp;linkCode=xm2&amp;tag=debmillswrite-20\" target=\"_blank\"><em>My Utmost for His Highest<\/em><\/a> is only one of several great wisdom books under his authorship. Thanks to Nathan Clarke, I will look into Eugene Peterson&#8217;s other books.<a href=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Oswald-Chambers-Books.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9076\" src=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Oswald-Chambers-Books.jpg\" alt=\"Blog - Oswald Chambers Books\" width=\"2448\" height=\"3264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Oswald-Chambers-Books.jpg 2448w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Oswald-Chambers-Books-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Oswald-Chambers-Books-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2448px) 100vw, 2448px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>On making art as a Christian<\/strong> &#8211; Nathan told the story of making the film <em>Wrestling for Jesus. <\/em>As he filmed this documentary about Christian wrestlers, one of them, in the course of the filming, began to have his life fall completely apart. Was his &#8220;wrestling for Jesus&#8221; over? Nathan and team incorporated that story in the film. When he submitted the film to a Christian film festival, it was rejected because it wasn&#8217;t &#8220;family-friendly&#8221;. &#8220;What about David? What about Solomon?&#8221;, Nathan lamented. [The Bible is full of messy real-life struggles. Do we just white-wash those? In the film with Eugene, Bono sees Christian song-writers as being &#8220;vulnerable, open, porous toward God&#8221;; he implores them to &#8220;write honest lyrics&#8221; &#8211; about your bad marriage and&#8230;about how frustrated you are with your government. I&#8217;m suspicious of Christians because of this lack of realism in art, in life, and in music.&#8221;]<\/p>\n<p><strong>On art and the church<\/strong> &#8211; Nathan went on to ask the question, <strong>&#8220;Do we think of artists as just accentuating the decoration of the church?&#8221;<\/strong> [echoing Bono&#8217;s declaration on the arts as &#8220;essential not decorative&#8221;]\u00a0 Nathan then implored, &#8220;All my work is out there &#8211; is there a place for it in here [the church building\/the church itself]?&#8221; When asked how we can create Christian communities where artists could thrive and create, Nathan offered some practical suggestions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Patronage<\/strong> &#8211; We should buy their work.<\/li>\n<li>Offer <strong>effective and helpful critique of art<\/strong> &#8211; in a way that honors the image of God in who they are and still say, when necessary, &#8220;That sucks&#8221;. [&#8230;this coming only <strong>out of a place of honoring<\/strong>&#8230;emphasizing this, as a mom of an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.beyondtheguitar.com\" target=\"_blank\">artist<\/a>.]<\/li>\n<li><strong>Business people can help artists with the business side of their work<\/strong>. Helping them learn from failures and from success; helping them to market themselves, run a business, do taxes. This is also a form of patronage.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Give space for artists<\/strong> to talk about their art, practice their art, display their art in this place (the church building). [There are just a limited number of paid positions within a church (ex. worship leader). Still, there are artists in our churches that could have a place to express the gifts God has given them&#8230;these songwriters, musicians, writers, painters, and poets.]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This was so helpful, Nathan. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p><strong>On authenticity as artists who are also Christians<\/strong> &#8211; &#8220;If you look at God as artist, he didn&#8217;t make art a utilitarian thing (a means to an end). He expressed art as an end in itself&#8221;. Nathan talked about how affected he was by the film <a href=\"http:\/\/pursuitofsilence.com\/home\" target=\"_blank\"><em>In Pursuit of Silence<\/em><\/a>. He quoted Greg Hindy, a student\/pilgrim, in the film:<a href=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-Greg-Hindy-on-Silence-newslookup.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9090\" src=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-Greg-Hindy-on-Silence-newslookup.jpg\" alt=\"Blog - Nathan Clarke - Greg Hindy on Silence - newslookup\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-Greg-Hindy-on-Silence-newslookup.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-Greg-Hindy-on-Silence-newslookup-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-Greg-Hindy-on-Silence-newslookup-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-Nathan-Clarke-Greg-Hindy-on-Silence-newslookup-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/a>Photo Credit: N<a href=\"http:\/\/nypost.com\/2014\/05\/12\/man-treks-cross-country-in-silence-by-foot\/?_ga=1.224374424.2026220554.1461862546\" target=\"_blank\">ew York Post<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Silence should be explored not explained&#8221;. Then Nathan applied that to art as being best<strong> &#8220;explored not explained&#8221;<\/strong>. Art is better served not with the end in mind but through illumination that comes in the making of the art (as he discovered in the filming of <em>Wrestling For Jesus<\/em>). Even as Christian artists try to explain what part God played in their work, how can we really know or compartmentalize that? [As much as we would hope art could have an impact on our culture, for instance, can we shape or manipulate the art toward &#8220;making that happen&#8221;? Is that right\/honest\/authentic?] Nathan responded with <strong>&#8220;Art that seeks to catalyze will never affect change, but good art catalyzes change.&#8221; <\/strong>He talked more about the role of the artist who is also Christian as a <strong>&#8220;faithful presence&#8221;<\/strong> (from James Hunter&#8217;s book <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0199730806?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creativeASIN=0199730806&amp;linkCode=xm2&amp;tag=debmillswrite-20\" target=\"_blank\"><em>To Change the World<\/em><\/a>) &#8211; honoring God through his craft and serving others with it.<a href=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-nathan-Clarke-faithful-presence-azquotes.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9092\" src=\"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-nathan-Clarke-faithful-presence-azquotes.jpg\" alt=\"Blog - nathan Clarke - faithful presence -azquotes\" width=\"850\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-nathan-Clarke-faithful-presence-azquotes.jpg 850w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-nathan-Clarke-faithful-presence-azquotes-300x141.jpg 300w, https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Blog-nathan-Clarke-faithful-presence-azquotes-768x361.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/a>Photo Credit: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.azquotes.com\/quote\/866459\" target=\"_blank\">AZ Quotes<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Christian artists, like others, walk a fine line here, and Nathan stated he felt that tension all the time. Filmmakers manipulate light, color, mood, materials, sequence&#8230; He aims to be as authentic as possible in the process &#8211; &#8220;We lie so we can tell the truth&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>__________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>I would have kept the Q &amp; A going even longer because of all that was stirring in my heart and mind. It was exhilarating both to see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY\" target=\"_blank\">film <\/a>and to hear the process of it coming to fruition in the words of the filmmaker. I wish they had filmed the Q &amp; A honestly (or maybe they did&#8230;who knows?). Anyway, there was one other question that struck me, given my son is a musician. Nathan was asked the difference in the craft &#8211; film vs. music. With film, he says there is a wrap. You may spend hours filming, weeks and months in production and then editing, but then it&#8217;s done. With musicians, they must get tired of singing those songs forever (I wonder, Bono&#8230;do you?) Still, says Nathan, &#8220;the filmmaker, poet, and painter all want to be rock stars.&#8221; That immediate feedback. After 15 months of working on this film, this evening, this screening, was the first time he experienced that feedback &#8220;hearing people laugh at the same time&#8221; at the funny parts.<\/p>\n<p>With all the arts, there is a cost&#8230;but there is so much gain&#8230;for all of us.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks again, Nathan, and Fourth Line Films.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/work\/quotes\/963387-art-and-the-bible\" target=\"_blank\">Art and the Bible Quotes &#8211; Francis A. Schaeffer<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/carl-mccolman\/in-pursuit-of-silence-a-q_1_b_9396596.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>In Pursuit of Silence &#8211; a Quiet Movie with Much to Say<\/em> by Carl McColman<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2010\/may\/16.33.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Faithful Presence<\/em> &#8211; an Interview with James Davison Hunter by Christopher Benson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Photo Credit: Christianity Today Nathan Clarke is a filmmaker with Fourth Line Films. He is known for his documentaries and honest story-telling through film (see Wrestling for Jesus). Most recently, Nathan and team at Fourth Line, premiered a lovely and moving film. Produced through support of Fuller Seminary, this 20-minute documentary, Bono and Eugene Peterson &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=9073\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Q &#038; A with a Filmmaker &#8211; Nathan Clarke on the Arts, Authenticity, and the Christian Faith<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[810,3121,1229,34,799,2126,1705,183,50,903,33,317,2611,761,946],"tags":[3134,2548,3122,3133,658,3137,3123,3140,3125,3138,3141,3142,3143,3124,1136,38,3139,3132,3127,3135,3136],"class_list":["post-9073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-good-gifts","category-arts","category-beauty-of-gods-creation","category-books","category-church-2","category-community","category-conversations","category-culture-religion","category-god","category-grace","category-inspired","category-lessons-learned","category-love-your-neighbor","category-redeeming-restoring","category-worship","tag-authenticity","tag-beyond-the-guitar","tag-bono","tag-christian-faith","tag-church","tag-corey-widmer","tag-eugene-peterson","tag-faithful-presence","tag-fourth-line-films","tag-francis-schaeffer","tag-greg-hindy","tag-in-pursuit-of-silence","tag-james-hunter","tag-nathan-clarke","tag-nathan-mills","tag-oswald-chambers","tag-patronage","tag-the-arts","tag-the-message","tag-the-psalms","tag-wrestling-with-jesus"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-2ml","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9073"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9073\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9104,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9073\/revisions\/9104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}