Today in this blog post I’d like to address something that has become seemingly popular over the past several years, and that’s the topic of aesthetics and finding your aesthetic.
How should we as Christians view and approach this trendy pop culture topic from a Biblical perspective?
Is it okay for Christians to get themselves involved in trying to find their personal aesthetic just as everyone else in the world is doing?
And is there a more Biblical alternative to aesthetics that we as Christians can focus on?
Let’s dive into today’s blog post to find out the answers to these questions!
First Off: What Are Aesthetics?
According to one website article, aesthetics in the pop culture sense is basically your “personal style” or your “personal look.”
Cosmiquestudio.com further expands on this definition by saying that aesthetics are really associated with your “self-nature.”
Now, Biblically speaking, if aesthetics are all about your personal self-nature, can it be safe for Bible-believing Christians to get into these kinds of things?
Taking A Biblical Look at Aesthetics
2 Peter 1:4 is a Bible verse that comes to mind as we consider this topic.
In 2 Peter 1:4, we read:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
(2 Peter 1:4, emphasis added)
And Matthew 16:24 also says:
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
(Matthew 16:24, emphasis added)
The Bible clearly tells us that we as Christians have been given a higher calling than what worldly aesthetic “types” may try to offer us.
God is calling us to “partake” (the Greek root word for partaker in 2 Peter 1:4 means “possession, resemblance, union”) of His divine nature, His character, and to deny our own old fleshly nature or character.
It makes me think of Galatians 5:25, which says:
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
(Galatians 5:25)
This is the more Biblical alternative to finding our own “aesthetics” or “personality types”.
Rather than seeking to figure out who and what ourselves want to be or could be; Jesus is calling us to seek after a life of following His Spirit, His Nature, and His character.
To put it simply, we as Christians should follow Christ’s call to us to BE LIKE HIM rather than following the world’s call to be like our own aesthetic, self-based style.
A Prayer
Friend, would you like to be more like Jesus rather than seeking to be like the world’s self-based aesthetics?
Then I wanna encourage you to just pray:
I wanna conclude today’s blog post with one of my favorite hymns. As you listen to this hymn, I hope and pray that your heart will be softened to be wholly His, aesthetic preferences and all!
Amen! Maranatha!