One of the most difficulty things for artists in the church is finding acceptance for their work. I have talked to many people who have said some variation of “My Church Doesn’t Accept My Gift…” What do you do when your church and your gift don’t seem to line up?
Some people get prideful and hurt and leave the church, shaking the dust off their shoes as they go. More often than not, this is not the correct approach, after all pride is the sin that made the devil fall, as such it is not a good motivation for anything done in the house of God. What should you do instead?
- Pray. I know it’s the Sunday School answer but it’s the truth. The first step in anything we attempt to do in service to the Lord is prayer. Ask God to give you the right ideas for your gift. Ask God to open up the doors, to show you the opportunities and give you the ability to do them
- Humble yourself and show yourself faithful. In other words don’t put too many things beneath you. You may be a very accomplished artist with accolades from all over the world, but your church may not know what to do with that. Look for the needs, do the small humble job, show yourself faithful in the small things and the doors will open to those dream projects. Most of the time those dream projects are visions from God and sometimes we just need to serve faithfully until everyone catches up. So do the mural in the nursery, do the coloring pages, the bulletin cover, face painting at the community outreach and give it your best. Be a team player and humbly offer your gift. Remember those who humble themselves will be exalted. You usually can’t skip the humbling step nor should you try.
- Check the fit. Sometimes what you are making does not fit the venue. At this point you have two choices, change the gift or find the venue and neither solution is wrong. Sometimes you have to be humble enough to meet people where they are and sometimes you have to find the people that are ready to meet your creation where it is. Either is an appropriate alternative.
The truth is breaking fellowship over your gifts and talents is almost never the right thing to do. Better to submit your creation to the Lord’s will and let Him work on the hearts of those who will receive it even as He is working on the heart of the one who created it. If God gave it to you, He will also give you the way to use it. It may not be easy, and it may take a lot of work, but God is faithful so follow His example…
Be faithful.
AMOKArts 
I know this can and does happen, but I’m glad to say that my own church is quite accepting of the various gifts (not just music and teaching), including art and writing. There is also a healthy appreciation of super-heroes! This is the best church I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ve been a Christian for 50 years.
John that is really great and I think that sentiment is increasing. The church is getting more in touch with it’s artists and it’s fantastic. Keep helping them to grow, putting your work out there and being used to God’s glory!
God bless,
Dave