I think the purpose of chapter 4 is for Barrs to get across what he thinks are the criteria for judging the arts. The first is the presence of a gift. Barrs wants us to ask if there is a giftedness from God that is placed inside someone to do something incredible. The second thing Barrs wants us to look out for is the development of the God-granted gift. He wants us to really look and see if the artist uses his God-given talents in a way that brings glory to God. The artist needs to show Jesus through the way he works: humility, faith, understanding, and creativity. The third thing that Barrs wants us to look for is the service of others in addition to self-expression. While most artists get fulfillment from themselves just because they enjoy doing their work, we have to look and see if they are trying to give others fulfillment too. They need to want to find something besides their own pleasure. The fourth thing is the respect for the traditions of one's discipline. One has to have boundaries and morals for himself, in order to advance for God. The fifth thing is the presence of truth. Barrs writes about how artists have to be creating things that are true to who they are, and true to the world as well. The sixth thing is to figure out whether or not there is moral goodness in the artwork. The seventh thing is to ask questions about the continuity between the form and content of artwork. Barrs wants us to ask if the artwork is still relevant in the world today. With the world changing every day, we have to be aware that we may have to adapt our artwork as well. Eighth, Barrs wants us to look and see if the art is technically excellent. We need to make sure that an artist has done everything he could to make the art wonderful. This is only eight of the things that we should look for, but I feel like Barrs still got his message across. I think the author is trying to get his readers to understand that we need to do "background checks" on artists and figure out their motives. We need to figure out who some people are, what they mean by their artwork, and see how hard they work.
Something that really impacts from chapter 4 is when Barrs talks about the devotion of the heart. He writes "We also recognize that there is the matter of the heart." When we look into how someone acts, how he carries himself, and how he goes about his life, we can see a little bit of his heart; a little bit of who he is. Barrs writes about people that maybe can play an instrument or sing, but do not necessarily need to be in front of a crowd leading worship. We have to realize that although some people are incredibly talented, they do not need to be in front of people. Likewise, we should not tell someone not to sing just because he or she does not sound as great as we would like. We have to look into people's hearts, and figure out who they are, and what they live for.
Something that really impacts from chapter 4 is when Barrs talks about the devotion of the heart. He writes "We also recognize that there is the matter of the heart." When we look into how someone acts, how he carries himself, and how he goes about his life, we can see a little bit of his heart; a little bit of who he is. Barrs writes about people that maybe can play an instrument or sing, but do not necessarily need to be in front of a crowd leading worship. We have to realize that although some people are incredibly talented, they do not need to be in front of people. Likewise, we should not tell someone not to sing just because he or she does not sound as great as we would like. We have to look into people's hearts, and figure out who they are, and what they live for.