Daily Bible Challenge: January 26, 2019

This year, I am going to post creative challenges from God’s Word, the idea is simple, read the passage and create something based on it.

 

Glorify God

What does it mean to glorify God? How can you use your gift(s) to glorify Him

When Fitting In Is Important…

Let’s face it, creative people are not always the best at fitting in, and sometimes (most of the time) that’s okay. Standing out is often better, with in the creative world and the Christian life. There is a time though when fitting in is really, really, urgent. (Don’t worry you can still stand out, while fitting in.)

Here’s what I mean. I had been speaking to a young man, who had started to use his gift for his church. He was a comic artist, and the church had agreed to run his comic in the church newsletter. At first, he was elated, but before long, his elation turned to pain. The church decided to stop running the comic. His statement to me, was his church had rejected his gift. Now as an artist, I wanted to sympathize, but something else was also coming to bear. You see by that point, I was already in church leadership, and as a church leader, you learn pretty quickly there are two sides to every story. Rather than immediately sympathizing, I asked him to show me the comic. I understood the church’s position immediately.

The comic was biblical, so no issues there. The comic was well drawn and written, no issues there either. Here was the issue. He had chosen to tell the crucifixion story, which again is not an issue. The problem was stylistic. He went for extreme realism, which meant the piece was quite gory. It simply didn’t fit. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the work, but it did not fit the venue. When you get an opportunity to serve the church, you have to make sure that your contribution fits the environment in which it will be presented. Were his piece placed in a comic in a comic book store, it would have been an excellent evangelistic piece. It certainly would have fit in with the rest of the work there.

When we get the opportunity to serve with our work we have to make sure it fits the venue. Remember, when we do work, especially for the church, the people who call upon us to do that work are taking a risk. We need to honor their faith in us, by giving them something they can use. Sometimes it’s important to fit in.

Assignment: Look at the project or projects to which you are feeling led. Then consider what venues might be a fit for them. Look into how you might serve that venue with your work.