Smelly Soapbox<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Soap A makes your hands smell fruity and fresh. Soap B has no scent at all. Which one makes your hands cleaner? And what does this have to do with movies?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/03\/smelly-soapbox\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Smelly Soapbox\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Soap A makes your hands smell fruity and fresh. Soap B has no scent at all. Which one makes your hands cleaner? 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{"id":95770,"date":"2015-03-30T21:05:01","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T03:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?p=95770"},"modified":"2015-03-30T21:18:09","modified_gmt":"2015-03-31T03:18:09","slug":"smelly-soapbox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2015\/03\/smelly-soapbox\/","title":{"rendered":"Smelly Soapbox"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"Bath_&_Body_Works_-_Winter_Spice_Vanilla_hand_soap_(8222986872)\"$ <\/a>I used some hand soap today that smelled powerfully of fresh watermelon.<\/p>\n

And I got to thinking about what a simple trick it plays on the mind: \u201cI\u2019m smelling something that makes me think of sweet fresh fruit, so this soap must have made my hands very clean and thoroughly sanitized!\u201d<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s a fact:\u00a0There is no relationship between the artificial scent added to soap and whether or not the soap actually made my hands cleaner than ordinary water.<\/p>\n

This reminded me of how I used to think that if a movie or a song included \u201can agreeable message,\u201d then that movie or song must be praiseworthy and good medicine for the world. Boy, was I wrong. The fact is that the beliefs or convictions promoted by a work\u00a0of art do not improve the art itself. On the contrary, the more a work of art makes obvious and paraphrase-friendly its \u201cmessage,\u201d the more its quality has been compromised. Art\u2019s purpose is to engage the imagination, teasing the mind into vigorous thought \u2014 not to deliver\u00a0messages to which we respond \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said it before, and I\u2019ll say it again:<\/p>\n

No bumper sticker improves a car\u2019s ability to do what it was meant to do.<\/p>\n

No engraving on an apple tree makes that tree a better apple tree.<\/p>\n

No political protest sign or slogan displayed in a garden improves the garden.<\/p>\n

If we want to give the world great cars, apple trees, and gardens, we should become students of the art of the automobile, the apple tree, and the garden. If we want to give the world meaningful art, we will study that art that has proven to be meaningful.<\/p>\n

And if we believe that God cares about excellence \u2014 the Scriptures repeatedly insist that he does \u2014 we will not settle for mediocrity in any discipline.<\/p>\n

Great art invites the viewer\u2019s head and heart to become healthy through exercise; it does not come in the form of a vitamin or a supplement.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"