{"id":4779,"date":"2017-12-04T14:44:46","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T20:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=4779"},"modified":"2017-12-04T14:44:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-04T20:44:46","slug":"rediscover-the-artist-god-created-you-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2017\/12\/rediscover-the-artist-god-created-you-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Rediscover the Artist God Created You to Be"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you go into a room full of seven- and eight-year-olds and ask, \u201cHow many of you will be professional athletes?\u201d you\u2019ll get a bunch of raised hands. Same thing if you ask about becoming president or living on Mars. Those numbers are completely out of step with reality, obviously. I\u2019d bet good money that none of those second graders would end up doing those things. A few might, of course, but it\u2019s still a safe bet.
\nBut that\u2019s not the only thing they\u2019ll raise their hands for. If you ask them, \u201cHow many of you are artists?\u201d you\u2019ll see nearly every hand in the room shoot up.
\nContrast that with a room full of adults. How many of us will raise our hands\u20145 percent? One?
\nI don\u2019t bring this up to point out how silly second graders are. The opposite, really. Their attitude about art and creativity has a lot to teach us. They know more than we do! They naturally express their unique creativity in everything they do, from math to writing to conversations to forest exploration.
\nWhen Jesus said, \u201cTruly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,\u201d[1]<\/a> I think part of what he was talking about is a child\u2019s innate sense of creativity.
\nAs we age, we lose our fearlessness. We become less concerned with expressing ourselves than with managing how others see us.<\/strong>
\nAnd not for no reason! Expression, at least as we age, involves risk. Over time we learn that some expressions earn us applause or money or approval, while others earn us ridicule or fear or rejection. So the spark of creativity we had inside us as kids, the one that set every idea on fire with possibility, fades to ember. And in some of us\u2014most of us, maybe\u2014it\u2019s gone out completely.<\/p>\n

Friends, that is not what God intends.
\nAn infinitely creative God created us. And God continues to be creative in us, so that we can be creative\u2014in his name\u2014for the sake of the world.
\nOur call to express ourselves through a lifestyle of creativity is like someone turning on every light in a house at sunset. You\u2019ve walked or driven past houses that are all lit up, right? What\u2019s cool about them is that we can\u2019t help but stare! There\u2019s something attractive and compelling about a glowing house in a dark neighborhood. (The Bible uses a similar image, by the way, but I\u2019ll let you find those examples on your own if you\u2019re curious.)
\nWhen we give up on living lives of creative expression, it\u2019s like we\u2019re turning out the lights.<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019re not talking about some lonely, isolated, creative genius brooding off in a cabin somewhere. We\u2019re talking about real, everyday life. See, creativity and self-expression, which are part of how God designed us to live, are about better loving God and loving our neighbors.
\nCreativity begins inside, but it\u2019s not meant to stay there.<\/em> Creativity is a blessing from God, through us, for the world. And it breaks my heart to write this, but in the fifteen-plus years I\u2019ve been part of various Christian churches in America, I have never once heard someone preach that truth.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

You can rediscover the artist that God created you to be.<\/h3>\n

Think about that. We\u2019re not talking about if you\u2019re an artist or about if God designed you to be creative. Those things are already true, for all of us. Instead, we\u2019re going to look at the how and the why. And we\u2019re going to do more than satisfy our longing for creativity and self-expression.
\nWe\u2019re going to join God\u2019s Spirit in transforming everything!
\nJustice is actually easy to define. It\u2019s basic fairness and wholeness and rightness, grounded in who God is and who we are. We should not pull out our hair trying to define and redefine and argue a concept that is really meant to be understood by living it. Creativity is much the same. There are literally entire books that try to define creativity. I\u2019ll do it in one sentence: Creativity is when we tap into who God created us to be in order to make something new and beneficial for the sake of the world.
\nIt\u2019s important not to think that creativity and self-expression describe only fine art. Creativity can mean painting a portrait or painting a house. It applies to creating a song or creating a spreadsheet. As we\u2019ll see in our scripture in just a second, all of us are called to be creative and all of us are called to do good works. But clearly not all of us are called to be professional artists. That must mean that God has designed ways for us to be creative in our jobs.
\nHere is the scripture to dig into here\u2014Ephesians 2:8-10:<\/p>\n

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love these verses. Partly for their unexpected connection to creativity, and partly because we\u2019ve got the whole story of Scripture here in fifty-four words!
\nLet\u2019s start with God being a creative God. That\u2019s not mind-blowing to most of us because we believe God created everything. Which is mind-blowing, actually, but we\u2019re so used to the idea that it seems run-of-the-mill.
\nHowever, we aren\u2019t as comfortable thinking about God\u2019s creativity being demonstrated in us, right now. We think that sure, it applies to people in general, maybe. Or specific people who are awesome, maybe.
\nBut me? You?
\nYet Ephesians says we are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus. That word handiwork is incredible. Some translations use workmanship or masterpiece or creation. In Greek it\u2019s the word po\u0113ma. That\u2019s where we get our English word poem. So Paul is saying that we are God\u2019s poem.<\/strong> Which is stunning.
\nI\u2019m not a poet, but I love reading good poems. Poetry has this way of cutting right to the heart of something, doesn\u2019t it? Like you\u2019ve seen a million trees before, but suddenly a poem about a certain tree gives you eyes to truly see it for the first time. A love poem can change the course of a life.[3]<\/a> Poems are expansive and unique and specific and memorable.
\n\"\"
\nThat\u2019s who you are. You, the person reading this, are God\u2019s poem. God\u2019s glorious work of art.
\nI like this lyric: You make everything glorious \/ And I am Yours \/ What does that make me?[4]<\/a> Such a great rhetorical question! We don\u2019t usually think like that, but it\u2019s true. God is a master artist, and he doesn\u2019t make junk.<\/em><\/p>\n

But We\u2019re Still in Process<\/h3>\n

Okay, but don\u2019t get a big head about it! It\u2019s by grace we\u2019ve been saved. So don\u2019t go around saying, \u201cOh, yeah, I\u2019m totally God\u2019s Mona Lisa. I\u2019m God\u2019s Moonlight Sonata.\u201d Because we aren\u2019t just God\u2019s art .\u00a0.\u00a0. we\u2019re unfinished art. Second Corinthians 3:18 tells us that God\u2019s Spirit is transforming us into the image of God. It\u2019s still happening![1]<\/a>
\nSometimes Christians will say, \u201cGod\u2019s not finished with me yet.\u201d Usually we bring that up when we screw up. And that\u2019s true. But it\u2019s also true that God\u2019s not finished with the good stuff in us either. God\u2019s creativity created the world and everyone in it, just like God\u2019s creativity is\u2014present tense, is\u2014re-creating and refashioning us, day by day.
\nLook back over the last hour, the last week, the last year. Your whole life.
\nThat\u2019s God\u2019s canvas\u2014including the pain.
\nI\u2019m not being flippant here when I say \u201cyour whole life.\u201d I\u2019m acquainted with how life can slap us around. How it can drip poison into our veins, year after aching year.
\nBut if the Bible is right about us being God\u2019s art, pain is to be expected. Paintings have sketches and false starts and errors beneath the final layer. Songs have discarded sections and terrible first versions. In the last chapter we talked about using our \u201cstuff\u201d to serve others. The places where we\u2019ve been hurt or broken are the places where God shows us how to be truly transformational servants.
\nGod doesn\u2019t promise us that bad things won\u2019t happen. If a preacher tells you that, you can officially stop listening. God doesn\u2019t promise we won\u2019t be hurt. God doesn\u2019t promise we\u2019ll be rich or healthy or successful.
\nKnow what God does promise? That we\u2019ll have trouble in this world\u2014and that we can take heart and be courageous because God\u2019s grace and power are sufficient.
\nWhen we try find a savior other than God\u2014something to keep us from ever being hurt or suffering pain\u2014there is always a moment when our so-called savior fails us.
\nThis is especially tempting for certain types of creative artists.
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\nI know because I tried it. Before I met Jesus\u2014but after I had become a solid bass player\u2014I was a professional musician.
\nAfter Jesus saved me, I was still struggling with something related to creativity. I was playing gigs all the time, and I was finding my identity in my performances. If it seemed I\u2019d connected with the audience and everyone responded well to how I played, I would feel great about myself. I\u2019d be elated all night and into the next day. But if I got a lousy response from the audience or didn\u2019t live up to the vision I had for my own performance, I\u2019d be devastated.
\nIf you\u2019re looking to art to be your savior, you\u2019re in for a bumpy ride. Art isn\u2019t a savior. And it can be a brutal taskmaster.
\nBut you are God\u2019s art, and God is the only one who can truly save. God is the only one who can take the pain in your life, and the failure in your life, and redeem it .\u00a0.\u00a0. not just for your sake, but to transform others as well.
\nSee, we think failure is antithetical to creativity, but really it\u2019s the vehicle. Let\u2019s go to God\u2019s Word. Think of the failures in the pages of Scripture that turned out to be part of God\u2019s creative plan. Adam and Eve. Moses. Jacob. David. Paul.
\nJesus being put to death. Literally everyone thought that meant the whole thing had failed.
\n

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Click the book to read chapter one for free.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nHere\u2019s a quick story from music history. The great Charlie Parker, who is one of the great pioneers of jazz, goes to a jam session as a young man. He stands up with his saxophone, and .\u00a0.\u00a0. it does not go well. The other musicians are shaking their heads like, \u201cMan, this kid doesn\u2019t have it. This isn\u2019t working.\u201d
\nCharlie keeps soloing a bit longer, when all of a sudden, there\u2019s this big crash. The drummer has taken one of the cymbals off the stand and tossed it on the ground\u2014that\u2019s how much he didn\u2019t like Charlie\u2019s solo!
\nThat incident, that failure, became the fuel that propelled Charlie Parker forward. He practiced and performed and practiced and performed, and in time he created an entire genre of jazz called bebop.
\nWe could look at athletes who go undrafted and still become huge successes. We could look at a painter like Van Gogh who scarcely sold any paintings in his lifetime. Or Steve Jobs getting ousted from Apple, then going on to start Pixar, then coming back to Apple and setting it on a path to become one of the most successful companies in the world.[2]<\/a>
\nWe are God\u2019s poems, God\u2019s works of art\u2014but we\u2019re unfinished.
\nAnd thank God for that!
\nBecause the more space there is in us for God to work his creativity, the better.<\/p>\n
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You’ve been reading Daniel Fusco’s Upward, Inward, Outward: Love God, Love Yourself, Love Others.<\/em> Daniel is an expert on illustrating how Jesus is at street level with you and me. In this book he unpacks how the greatest commandment Jesus gave us is to be lived out today. We only have one life, so we need to live the most meaningful life possible!<\/p>\n