From Analogy To Ministry

God will use analogies to shape your mission and ministry as an artist.

It was noon and the Apostle Peter was hungry. He was staying with Simon the tanner, and while he waited for lunch to be made, he went up on the flat roof to pray. Suddenly he fell into a trance and saw a vision of a large sheet coming down from heaven, filled with every kind of unclean animal, and a voice said, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

Peter replied, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”

The voice replied, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This was done three times. And Peter pondered what the vision might mean.

What does Peter’s vision have to do with art? At first glance, nothing. If you’ve read the book of Acts, you know that this moved Peter to overcome a prejudice and take the gospel to the Gentiles. But we’re going to look at another angle of Peter’s story: that God used Peter’s listening time in prayer to give him a larger sense of mission.

The online school of the Spirit is built around two disciplines: to soak in God’s presence 2-3 times a week and to encourage 5 people a week.

Soaking is a time of listening prayer, and as you soak you can expect to hear from God about your artwork itself, how to get it out to the people, and how to spin off ministry opportunities from your art. Ministry to people helps keep you in touch with their needs, which in turn enhances the flow of the Spirit in your life. This will overflow into your art.

Over time, if you discipline yourself to listening to God regularly, you will have an occasional experience like Peter’s. I can’t promise that you will fall into a trance and see an open vision, but at some point, God will awaken you to a calling.

Why did God use an analogy when He spoke to Peter? I’m going to base my guess on the forty years I’ve spent, doing my best to follow Jesus and to hear His voice. When I have strong opinions or prejudices, I may not be ready to hear what God wants to tell me. In these cases, He often speaks to me in a parable.

The analogy gets me thinking. It doesn’t necessarily provide a quick interpretation. I’m not sure what it means, but I’m sure God is tugging at me about something. It awakens a sense of wonder that slowly softens my opinions and prejudices. I suspect this is what God did with Peter.

God might have come right and drawn Peter’s attention to the many Old Testament prophecies that say Israel’s light would shine to the nations. I’m sure Peter discovered these prophecies later. But again, speaking from experience, I have sometimes missed the plain meaning of scripture because I red it in the light of my opinions, not realizing I was twisting it to confirm what I already believed.

Peter’s vision didn’t change the gospel Peter preached, but it changed his sense of calling and mission. It opened his heart to see God’s intention to take the gospel to all nations. Peter’s ministry spread from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, eventually ending in Rome.

What does this mean to an artist? As you keep listening for God’s voice, expect Him to speak to you about the people your work is meant to touch. Expect Him to inspire you to get your work to them. And expect Him to show you how your work is setting you up to let your light shine. If He speaks to you with a direct word, act on it.

If He speaks to you with an allegory, ponder it and let it seem into your worldview. Either way, He wants to give you not only blessing in your work but also the grace to multiply its impact.

Stan Smith :: © 2009, GospelSmith :: www.GospelSmith.com

Three Creative Metaphors

One well-recognized avenue for creativity is analogy. With an analogy, thinking about this can give new ideas for that. This means a creative thinker is likely to use metaphors and parables in every aspect of his or her work.

The Bible gives many reasons to believe creative people can learn to excel in creativity if we engage with God in meditative prayer – prayer that listens for His voice. James 1:5 says that if we ask God for wisdom, He will give it.

Our creativity will be at its best if we get in the habit of asking God for creative wisdom, and for His anointing to fill every aspect of our work: our art itself, the process of getting it out to people, and the ministry opportunities that spin off from it. Here are three creative metaphors God has given me.

For my work. I was a young ministry student at Pinecrest Bible Training Center in New York, and the president of the school often told us, “Your words are little dump trucks – they carry something.”

This was his teaching about Jesus’ words in John 6:63 that His words “are Spirit, and they are life.” Wade Taylor was urging us to spend time with God, for only as we did so would we gain this elusive quality of Spirit and life in our own speaking.

Artists speak not in the pulpit but on canvas, in print, in drama, and in a thousand other ways. If Christ lives in you, your work too is a little dump truck, and either it carries Spirit and life or it doesn’t. Much of today’s art carries another spirit, but that’s another story.

How can you get Spirit and life into your own work? Only by spending time with Jesus. Sometimes He will direct your work, giving you creative ideas. Sometimes He will simply bless your work by filling it with His presence.

For marketing. Almost every artist I know loves working and hates marketing, but marketing determines whether we get our work to the people who need it.

I have seen the same principle with ministry. When I travel in ministry, it takes hours to prepare for a meeting that lasts just a few minutes: hours of travel, packing, unpacking, preparing printed handouts or PowerPoint slides, and more. As a pastor, it was the same: building maintenance, getting the word out about special meetings, training various types of workers, and so on.

For Paul the apostle, it included beatings, imprisonment, shipwreck – read the whole list in II Corinthians 11:23-28.

What’s the point? Marketing your art is the same work a preacher has to do to get the message out. If you really expect God to use your art, you will have to make a journey and set the stage for your work to reach those God is sending it to.

This work isn’t self-centered or self-promotion. It is the self-denial Jesus has called every disciple into. Spend time with Him, and let Him direct your journey.

For ministry. Can the arts create ministry opportunities? Many people find they can: taking a concert into a jail, auctioning works in a fund-raiser, involving the homeless in an art project.

Sometimes art gives you a way to do something for the needy; sometimes it empowers you to work with them. A simple parable speaks into this: the sheep and the goats, in Matthew 25:31-46.

I don’t have to write much about this; you probably already know the message of the parable. But as you spend time with Jesus, ask Him: “How can my work feed the hungry? Give drink to the thirsty?” Go through the list of needs in the parable, and let Him surprise you with ministry assignments.

Stan Smith :: © 2009, GospelSmith :: www.GospelSmith.com

Listening For Metaphor

One of the key creative skills is the ability to think in analogies, and if we who learn to listen to God we can expect to become exceptionally creative because Jesus often speaks in parables.  But how do we train ourselves to hear the parables He speaks to us?

A good first step is to develop a discipline of soaking – spending time in His presence, with or without worship music playing in the background, meditating on Jesus and trusting Him to speak to us.

Sometimes He speaks with words. A scripture comes to mind, or we hear His “still small voice” like the voice Elijah heard.  Sometimes He speaks with pictures, and we have a vision – or maybe it doesn’t seem as powerful as a vision, but a clear mental picture forms.  And sometimes He speaks with non-verbals, and a sense of His presence envelops us and a conviction crystallizes in our hearts.

(For more articles about hearing from God, use the search feature on this blog and at the Miracle Lifestyle blog at http://miraclelifestyle.wordpress.com.)

I routinely include soaking as part of the creative process whenever I have a project that involves writing, music, or graphics.  Sometimes I receive very clear instructions:  an outline for an article, an idea for a sound to create on my keyboard, or a mental picture of how a layout can work.  But sometimes I hear a metaphor, and its ambiguity launches a season of creativity.  I’ve learned to expect to hear Him speaking both ways.

Here are three principles that help us respond well to God-given analogies.

1. God will speak to us in metaphors because they force us to think, and this is at the heart of the artistic process. If God gives clear instructions, we can act on them with little thought; when He speaks by analogy, it forces us to wrestle with what He’s telling us.  Analogies bring answers by posing questions, and the questions lead to exploration.  When God speaks to us in metaphor, He’s setting us up to discover something.

2. God-given metaphors don’t necessarily conform to biblical types and shadows. Some teachers will insist that red always stands for the blood of Jesus, the seas is a symbol of humanity, and so on.  If you have run into these teachings, they can serve you well in the arts.  I have sometimes based a melody on the numerical value of a Hebrew word, or used a biblical symbol in my graphics.

But don’t be a slave to symbols – the Bible isn’t.  In the book of Revelation, John made it clear that the sea represented great hordes of people; to Jonah, the sea represented death.  If the Bible itself uses symbols in more than one way, expect God to use them just as flexibly when He speaks into your art by metaphor.

3. God may give a metaphor to an artist that could turn weird if we misuse it. I wrote in another article that I was lead to start handling the keys on my keyboard as though I were Thomas exploring the wounds in Jesus’ hands and side.  I think anyone can see that I could get weird with what God gave me.

A landscape painter who lives on California’s central coast, recently said God had told her, “I am the ocean and people are the land, and the shore is the place where we meet.”  She is now making a point of painting coastal scenes, and is seeking God for more inspiration and anointing in her work.

If God speaks to you by metaphor, use it to launch your artistic creativity, not to form a doctrine.  He isn’t looking for new mystical teachings about keyboards and shorelines; instead, He is providing sounds and images to produce art that will glorify Him and that will make a godly impact on people.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2009, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Marketing By Metaphor

Part of your job as an artist is to produce your work, but another part of it is to get your work to the people God wants it to touch. In other words, the creative process doesn’t stop when you get paint on the canvas; it includes finding a way to get your finished work on a wall where people can see it.

Analogy is part of the creative process, and I’m going to share three analogies that have helped me find ways to get my work out into the marketplace. Two are in the Bible.

1. “What is that in your hand?” This was God’s question to Moses when He met him at the burning bush. He had given Moses a task and a message, but Moses felt he needed more credibility. So God asked Moses what was in his hand. Moses had a shepherd’s rod. “Throw it down!” God commanded, and the rod became a snake.

God’s work in people’s lives often began with what was in their hand. For Moses, it was a rod; for Elisha and the widow, it was a small pot of oil; for Jesus and the 5000, it was a young boy’s lunch.

What will it take for your art to make an impact?

If you have given your life to God, you will often find that his next step for your life is something you already have “in your hand”. It may be a coffeehouse where you can play your music or a local drama group that always needs another actress or a church art fair.

Look for the easy opportunities you can find, and make the most of them.

2. Water boils at 212 degrees. On an airplane I met a man who had written an inspirational book, 212. Its premise was simple: at 211 degrees, you have hot water; at 212 degrees, water begins to boil; boiling water produces steam; steam can drive a train. (See www.just212.com)

So start by making a list of ways you can get your art out there. Then look at the list and ask, “Which activity is closest to the boiling point?” You may find several activities that won’t cost much in time or money but that will take you to a new level of getting your work out to the people it is meant to touch.

3. Jacob’s cattle. Jacob was working for tricky Uncle Laban, and made a deal. I won’t try to tell the whole story here because it’s too complex, but you can read it in Genesis 30-31. But the bottom line was that Jacob’s pay would be the multi-colored animals born from then on to the solid-colored animals in Laban’s flocks and herds.

Jacob separated the cattle so Uncle Laban would know everything was fair and square. But then Jacob set rods at the watering troughs and carved the bark to look striped and spotted. When the animals came to drink, they would breed. Soon their offspring were striped and spotted, like the rods, and in a few years the best of the flocks and herds belonged to Jacob.

I have never been able to find a scientific basis for what happened, but Genesis 31:7-13 says God had sent an angel to show Jacob the whole process in a dream.

This may have been the only reason it worked.

But here’s the point: as God did for Jacob, so He will do for His children today. Ask Him to give you a metaphor that will show you how to multiply your effectiveness and impact as an artist. Whether He gives you a dream with an angelic visitation or simply speaks to you from scripture, a God-given blueprint will work.

Finally, use these metaphors to launch your own creativity. Use other metaphors God has already given you, and let Him give you fresh ones. He will direct your marketing so you can reach the people He has called you to reach with your work.

Stan Smith :: © 2009, GospelSmith :: www.GospelSmith.com

Music By Metaphor

Analogy is a key to creativity.  Thinking about one thing will give insight into another.  This is why God so often speaks in metaphors.

Can you think of an analogy or a metaphor that defines your workflow as an artist?  If you have just one, it will give direction to your work.  If you have more than one, it will provide variety in your output and will enlarge your capacity to produce.

Here are three metaphors that have shaped my music; each came to me as a word from God.  Music may or may not be your artistic medium, but let my testimony be a metaphor of what God will do for you.

1.  “Think of each string on your guitar as an angel, and let each sing praise to Me.” I was still in school, and had gotten in the habit of taking my guitar and going into the woods to pray.  I had retuned the guitar to DADDAD, which made it easy to simulate the sound of congregational singing in the Spirit but that left few options for chords.

I was reaching for the sounds of nature, reasoning that all of creation is praising God.  I did my best to capture the rhythm of the wind rippling in the trees, or the melodies of water trickling over rocks.

But I found myself falling into patterns that reflected the rhythms I already knew, with the thumb keeping a steady beat and the fingers filling in a melody.  I prayed for help, and God gave me the metaphor of strings and angels.

He didn’t tell me the strings really were angels; He was simply speaking symbolically.  But as I let each string have its voice, I stumbled into a rich style I would not have found by myself.

2.  “You are Thomas.  Think of the keys as the wounds in my hands and side; let your fingers caress them.” This is the direction I received when I was preparing to minister to a group in Canada that was hungry for a flow of the Holy Spirit.  This metaphor accomplished two things.

First, I developed a gentle touch on the keys.  Thomas didn’t bang on Jesus’ wounds as many pianists bang on the keys; he explored gently.  This quality of touch has affected the tone of my playing, leaving me with a meditative style.

Second, I got in the habit of focusing my attention on Jesus when I play.  This has released a rich flow of spontaneous lyrics.  I often learn from the words God gives me to sing.

3. “Let your left hand and right hand carry on a conversation on the keyboard.” Like most keyboard players, my right hand has a lot more skill than my left.  It’s as though an adult conversed with a child:  one with a rich vocabulary and a strong set of language skills, the other more limited and clumsy in speech.

And so it is that my left hand bumbles along like a little boy that can’t find the right words to express himself.  But the adult, the right hand, tries to restate what the child has said, and always manages to say it better.  Then, to try to get the left hand talking, the right hand asks a question.

I don’t use this style all the time, but the metaphor has done several things.  My left hand is become much more skillful on the keyboard.  The interplay between left and right hand has added several new textures to my music, which means I can put more variety and contrast in each song I play.  And the conversations often inspire new melodic ideas as one thing leads to another.
Ask God for the metaphors that will shape your work.  Nobody knows you as well as He does.  He will give you the metaphors that will unlock your unique ability to create.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2009, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Creative Parables

Jesus often taught with parables, but the disciples could not figure them out without going to Him for explanation.  The lesson?  We can’t figure out His parables on our own.  Only as we ask Him for wisdom can we find the messages He has hidden for us.

One of the main creative tools God has given us is analogy.  Something we are familiar with can teach us about things we know nothing about.  This is why Jesus used parables as He taught about the kingdom of God.  The parables were stories of familiar things.  With them He taught about the unfamiliar, the kingdom of heaven.

This principle is all-important for artists. Great art uses symbols to portray great truths.

But we misunderstand the parables if we think we can figure them out on our own.  The disciples asked Jesus why He taught in parables.  Matthew 13:11 gives the answer:

Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Parables make things clear to some people and hide them from others.  As the rest of Matthew 13 shows, the disciples could learn what the parables meant only because they were in relationship with Jesus.  They asked Him questions; they could listen whenever He chose to speak.

Is it possible that God has set parables in everyone’s lives, but nobody can figure out their meaning unless they ask Him to point them out and tell what they mean?
I received a guitar for my twelfth birthday and it became my best friend.  I played every day until my fingers ached and my fingertips were raw.  At some point I learned to rest my head on the side of the guitar, letting the sound go not just into my ears but also into my whole body.  Anyone who has held a guitar like this knows what I’m talking about.

I became a Christian on my fifteenth birthday and made a new Friend.  As I explored His book, David captured my imagination.  I understood him, taking his harp or lyre into the fields as he watched the sheep.  Did he play until his fingertips were raw?  Did he ever feel the notes vibrate into him as he held the harp close to his body?  Did he ever lay his head on the instrument as he played?  Somehow, I sensed that he did.

As I gave myself to worship, often singing to the Lord with spontaneous song, Jesus sometimes spoke to me.  It wasn’t a lot of words – maybe one or two lines a month – but they made an impact, and my life began to change.

Then one day He let me know that every time I picked up a guitar, it was a parable.  He wanted to pick me up and play me – playing through my hands, singing through my voice, feeling through my heart.  He wanted to hold me as close to Him as I held the guitar, and He wanted to feel the resonance of His sounds in me.

Over the years I have sometimes watched my hands play things I don’t know how to play on guitar or keyboard. I have confidently sung melodies that flowed out of me spontaneously.  I have learned from the words that came out of my mouth.

But it all happened because God put a parable in my life, a parable I would never have understood unless He had pointed it out to me and explained it.  He taught me a rich lesson about inspiration, and He used a parable to do it.

What parables has God set in your life?  They are already there, but you’ll never understand them unless you ask Him to make them clear to you. I challenge you to ask Him:  “Am I living a parable?  Help me to see it, and then to understand it.”

Ask God for wisdom, and He will give it.  And your life as an artist will take on new impetus if you let Him identify and explain the defining messages He has already sent you.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2009, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com