We artists are so blessed. We were created by our Creator to make beautiful things, and sometimes not so beautiful things but still things that touch hearts and awaken us to the beauty all around and hopefully within us. We were created by the Creator to create. What a blessing.
The question is do we live beauty? Here’s what I mean. Ask someone what artists are like, and you’ll get a plethora of responses. Some will say wonderful things like creative, imaginative, etc. Unfortunately, you will also hear things like aloof, unreliable, arrogant, and the list goes on and on. Now some people are willing to give us a pass on all of that because of our talents and the cool things we can do, but the question for those of us who love Jesus is, does God give us a pass? Maybe that’s the wrong way of saying it. His love covers a multitude of sins and His grace still saves. How about this question: Do all those negative things that are attributed to the arts and artists glorify the Lord? Because remember that is our purpose. James 3:1 reminds us, “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” You might want to argue, but I am an artist, not a teacher. Not so fast, those of us called to create in His name are definitely teachers, at least to some degree. We have a skill and a talent that points directly to Him and the use of our gifts is certainly expressing Him to the world. That’s teaching, or at least a form of it.
This begs the question, who will do that more strict judging? I’m sure to some degree, that is the Lord, though again His grace and mercy are plentiful. Where we are not likely to get a lot of grace and mercy is from the world around us. When you name and your gift is tied to the Lord, your life goes under a magnifying glass, and there are behaviors that might be accepted from the rest of the world that will no longer be acceptable for you. This making of beauty in the name of the Lord is a high calling, and we need to see it as such. We can’t just make beauty, we need to be beauty. Erwin McManus, in his amazing book, The Artisan Soul, reminds us, as people created in the image of God, we are both works of art and artists at work. You are a work of art and the greatest work of art you will ever make is your life.
Make it a thing of beauty. Be beauty.
AMOKArts 