I‘ve just completed a week of ministry in Korea and have come home with fresh vision for Christian artists. God is calling us to shepherd our generation.
Shepherd and pastor are the same word, but God isn’t necessarily calling artists to drop their work to become pastors of churches. We use the word “pastor” for the person who addresses the congregation every Sunday morning, who performs weddings and funerals and baby dedications, and who is for all practical purposes the CEO of the local church. This is what our culture and tradition have done to the word “pastor.”
But God uses the word a little differently in scripture, especially in the Old Testament. He often calls the secular leaders shepherds, whether they were politicians or businesspeople. It’s too long to quote here, but Jeremiah 23 is God’s word of judgment against the shepherds who “destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.” Ezekiel 34 echoes the theme.
As artists, we don’t necessarily have a position of authority that makes us leaders. But we have a capacity to influence people, and influence may shape a culture even more than its authorities do. God is challenging us to be good stewards of our capacity to influence people, and to nudge them towards godliness. Here’s an example of what I mean.
My wife has just begun to work with a new manager, Terry Sheppard at http://cre8ives.net. Terry is a consecrated Christian with a wealth of experience, connections, and creativity in marketing Christian art. And his first advice to us was to identify a secular cause we believe in, and target the next project towards meeting this need.
Making a long story short, JoAnn’s next project is aimed towards helping and encouraging children in disadvantaged neighborhoods to learn to read.
Think about what it’s like for a child in a bad neighborhood to start falling further and further behind in reading skills. Is this child likely to finish high school? To get a job? To take on the responsibilities of parenting? And if not, what options are left?
It would be unrealistic for JoAnn to think that her next book will put an end to illiteracy. But it can make a difference in the life of one child here and another there, and how can we measure how powerful that influence will be?
Why did Terry tell us to look for a secular cause to advance? Why not simply stay within the pastoral ministry of the church? Why not proclaim the gospel rather than ministering to other needs?
The questions are valid, and each of us must ask God to help us identify our mission. But before you decide that you should present your work to Christians only, consider a few more questions.
Are you troubled at the ungodly influences that permeate today’s culture? Are you disgusted at the filth that parades itself as art? Do you expect God to find unsaved people through whom He can make a difference? If God wants to inject righteous influences into our society, who will be the instruments He can use?
Pray about it. You may find that God starts to give you a fresh sense of missionary direction.
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