A Stack Of Foundations Does Not A Building Make

Film, literature, art.

Movies, poems, comic books.

For some weird and wildly unbiblical reason, these sorts of things are looked down on by many self-assessed “mature” or “deep” Christians.

Just to be clear, I’m not talking merely about the perverted versions of these things presently permeating the culture. I’m talking about the things themselves – the mediums and modes of creation known as film, literature, art, movies, poems, and comic books.

To have a passion for these things is viewed as an inherent sign of worldliness and therefore weakness by some of the “deep, mature” Christians in question. They see the use of any significant amount of time on such things as something between wasteful and a full-blown, wide-open gateway to complete uselessness. They therefore tend to see the cultivation of talent in relation to these things as similarly wasteful, especially when there are Bibles waiting to be read and Psalms waiting to be sung.

Why practice your film-making talent or hone your comic drawing skills when there are Bibles to be read and Psalms to be sung, right?

This warped view of reality no doubt has a lot to do with the Rapture-laden, “the culture is going to hell anyway, so why bother” vibe permeating most of what passes for Christianity in America these days, but there are also a whole lotta “Reformed” (please note the capital ‘R’ there), “serious minded” Christians who share the basics of this inherently (and ironically) culture-dooming worldview.

In practice, this approach encourages the crafting of one of the most stealthy idols known to man: The idol of biblical foundations.

Sounds crazy, right?

How can you make an idol out of biblical foundations?

So glad you asked!

By taking a healthy regard and proper primary consideration of foundations as, well, foundational to all the many good and important things that are to be built upon the good biblical foundation in question, the idolatry of biblical foundations make The Foundations the thing above all things and inspires its adherents to forget that foundations are for building upon rather than obsessing over (in the idolatrous sense).

In this fixation, some “deep, mature” Christians preach what, in practice, amounts to constructing life and culture in a way similar to a stack of foundations piled one upon another rather than in the biblical manner prescribed and advanced through the Gospel-fueled Great Commission, by which a solid foundation is used as the sustaining basis for all of the non-foundational beauty that is to be built upon it by God’s grace through God’s people.

I a proper biblical context, the pursuit or creation of ever more detailed, complex, and intricately beautiful art, literature, games, and yes, even comic books, are not inherent signs of infidelity to Christ, immaturity in Christ, or a bad approach to culture.

Quite the contrary.

The biblically grounded pursuit of these things is a sign, evidence, and perpetual fruit of true faithfulness to Christ.

Put another way: Mature Christians don’t stack foundations sky high and pretend its a building. They build vibrant, flourishing, diversely beautiful and God-glorifying civilization.

Time and treasure spent honing God-given talents so that we might make ever better art, literature, and the like for His Kingdom is hardly a waste. It’s the perfect investment.

We’re here to build on a foundation as opposed to building a never-ending stack of foundations.

We’re not to be the short-sighted, monochromatic, sterile little curmudgeons that some “deep, mature” types would have us be when it comes to art and culture. We’re to do anything that we can with everything that we’ve been given to build the varied, soaring, vibrant structures (both material and immaterial) that are enabled by and flow from the Foundation that is Christ, all by His grace, all for His glory, and all to our eternal benefit.

That’s our role right here and now in His inexorably advancing Gospel-fueled Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).

Remember that the next time you hear a “deep, mature” Christian talk down the importance of comics, movies, and games.

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You can also help support the Fire Breathing Christian mission by checking out these books:

Stupid Elephant Tricks – The Other Progressive Party’s War on Christianity takes a painful but much needed look at how Christ-less “conservatism” has captivated Christians and co-opted them into helping march the culture ever deeper into darkness:

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The Beginning of Knowledge: Christ as Truth in Apologetics is an approachable, easy to read introduction to Christ-centered apologetics:

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Apathetic Christianity: The Zombie Religion of American Churchianity explores the tragic true horror story of all-American dead religion masquerading as Christianity:

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On Education is a compilation of some of the most provocative and compelling Fire Breathing Christian articles on the subject of children’s education:

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There Is No “God-Given Right” To Worship False Gods is a compilation of some of the most provocative Fire Breathing Christian articles on the subject of America’s embrace of a satanic approach to religious liberty:

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Fire Breathing Christians – The Common Believer’s Call to Reformation, Revival, and Revolution is the book that first presented the FBC mission to apply the Gospel-fueled Great Commission in every realm of God’s creation:

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An alternate white cover version of Fire Breathing Christians is available:

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There is also an alternate black cover version of Fire Breathing Christians:

Finally, here are a few good intro/reminder links for those of you who are new to Fire Breathing Christian and curious about exactly what’s goin’ on ’round here:

What are you, some kind of [insert label here] or something?!

What’s with that shark-fishie graphic thing?

Intro to Fire: The Power and Purpose of the Common Believer

When the Bible gets hairy. (Or: Is it right for men to have long hair?)

And especially this one: Never forget that apart from God’s grace you and I are complete morons.