Jodi Adams on images

I know I’ve linked to Jodi Adams’ posts before, but this is an especially insightful one where she describes ways to engage image in worship. I particularly appreciate this advice:

Go outside the church. We have an insider's language, even when it comes to worship images. In fact, we have whole sites that are dedicated to "worship images" full of stock photos of young men in fields with one hand thrown up in prayer or surrender, back-lit women thoughtfully leaving footprints on the sandy beach, a face turned upward with eyes closed, a lone cross stark against a purple backdrop. You know the pictures I'm talking about. These are undeniably Christian-culture pictures. And they speak to a certain Christian experience inside a particular cultural context and for a specific demographic. Oy. Not very broad, eh? It certainly narrows the definition of worship and excludes the revelation of Christ that some people might have away from the solitary cross in the background. Sometimes, nothing speaks better to our need for grace and restoration than the picture of the caving-in-on-itself building with it's pockmarks of graffiti. Time to ditch the broken dude in the field for something more provocative, more encompassing, more honest. Time to move our image-searches outside the church. Some great resources: istockphoto.com, awakeimages.com (especially the urban series), dreamstime.com.