Accessing Wisdom

Where does wisdom or artistic inspiration come from?  Two places:  the streets and the throne room.  We have looked at both, but now we’ll consider what they look like where the rubber meets the road.

I was soaking one day last week and sensed this:  Most of the Culture-Shaper blogs have been teaching.  That’s okay, but it would be more effective to include testimonies that show what these principles look like when you put them into action.

I wrote last week about the wisdom that comes from God through soaking; I wrote a few weeks ago about wisdom calling from the streets.  Here is what it has looked like as I finish a few projects that are already underway.

My work itself. When I began posting the online school of the Spirit, I assumed that my best first version would still need fine-tuning.  So at this point, how can I make it easier to use?

As I was soaking, I saw how to reconfigure a few of the entry pages and sensed I should rewrite my website’s home page.

Then JoAnn was offered a freelance job in graphic design, and they requested samples of her work in PowerPoint and InDesign.  We haven’t used these programs much.  So I created a PowerPoint presentation together about the online school of the Spirit, and tried it out when I spoke at my home church two weeks ago. Now it remains for me to adapt it for the web and to add an audio file – this will be a great way to provide a simple introduction to the school.

Marketing the online school. How can I get the word out about the school?  I already know that I want to present my materials with a servant-spirit – no hard sell, but I need to be faithful to make the materials available.

Through soaking I have already listed about twenty people or ministries I need to contact, many of whom have large lists.  I also know that I will need to develop promotional materials for churches that want to host my workshops.

I have also been led to reread a book about business writing, Back For Seconds, by Peter Bowerman.  He lists many ideas for writers who want to find work in the commercial sector.  Though I won’t use most of his ideas in the context he writes about, I believe I will find a few principles that God will nudge me to use.

Ministry opportunities that spin off from my work. At the moment, I have no immediate ideas.  I’m sure the school will cause doors to open, and this in turn will lead to ministry times.

I’ll be grateful when this happens, of course, but I’m also looking for more.  I want to engage in the flow of the Spirit outside the church, not just in meetings.  For now I can’t say God has given me any steps to take, except to keep holding it before Him in my soaking times.  But it can be healthy to wait on God.  If nothing else, it’s humbling.  Waiting on Him testifies that we know we can’t accomplish anything until He empowers us.

Meanwhile, I don’t know if I will find time to do everything I have seen to do before next week when I post another blog.  And this is another principle:  God doesn’t always speak to us about every aspect of our art every week.  The important thing is to act on what He is saying, not to agonize about what He isn’t saying.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

God Gives Wisdom

For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
(Proverbs 2:6-7)

Solomon asked God for wisdom so he would become a good ruler, and God was pleased with his request.  The wisdom he received launched Israel into a golden age of peace and prosperity.

If you ask God for wisdom in your art, He will walk you into a level of effectiveness you couldn’t reach on your own.

Just because you have talent doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.  It’s not cheating to look to God for wisdom.  Quite the opposite is true:  you are designed not to be able to make your way without Him.

The core gospel message is Christ in you, the hope of glory. This doesn’t mean Christ simply lives in your body, controlling you like a robot.  He lives in you – your abilities, your weaknesses, your tastes, your artistic sense.  As He expresses Himself through you, your style will be seen – but so will His.

It’s hard not to notice the divine inspiration in Handel’s Messiah, a work he finished in twenty-eight days.  After he had finished the composition, he wrote to a friend that there were passages he somehow “heard”, scribbling the notes on his manuscript paper as fast as he could.

Yet anyone who listens to Handel’s compositions will notice that his Messiah has a similar style to that of his other works.  God does not commit personality-murder when He gives artistic inspiration.

So the first area in which we need wisdom is our work itself.  But in order for your work to make an impact, you have to get it out to people, and this requires marketing.

What does marketing look like for a Christian?  There are many ways to market your work, but some smack of self-promotion and seem to conflict with Jesus’ call to humility, self-denial, and servanthood.  Can marketing happen with a servant-spirit?

Yes, but we need to balance several traits.  Think about a good waitress:  she is available but unobtrusive; she is competent but allows you to make your own choices; she is friendly but doesn’t take over the dinner conversation.

As you look to God for wisdom, He will show you the nuts and bolts of how to make your work available, to maximize your competence, and to let His love shine through you towards the people you deal with.

Not everyone would balance the traits of a good servant the same way.  You won’t find God’s wisdom for your art by blindly following someone else’s convictions, but you will as you follow Jesus.

God will also give wisdom in a third area:  how to find ministry opportunities through the arts.  Your work may give you opportunities to share your testimony through public speaking, print, or the web.  Or it may give you opportunities to mentor other artists, to lead prayer groups for artists, or to do volunteer work for your church or for charity.

James 1:5-6 says that if we need wisdom, we can ask God for it and He will give it to us liberally. But he adds that we must ask in faith, truly expecting God to answer.

Wisdom includes artistic inspiration, marketing savvy, and he ability to minister to people.  God wants to give it.  Don’t be ashamed to ask – and when you ask, expect to receive.  You will do your best work when you lean on Him.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Art And Mission

What is an artist’s mission?  Art can be a vehicle for pouring a higher point of view into society – an agent for change.  Here is how Solomon described it:

Because of the transgression of the land
Many are its princes;
But by a man of understanding and knowledge
Right will be prolonged.  (Proverbs 28:2)

There may be many powerful people promulgating unrighteousness, but a single man or woman with understanding and knowledge can make a positive impact.

Many artists give up on making an impact.  There are too many vested interests, powerful people like princes who define our opportunities.

Nevertheless, in his role as a king, Solomon observed that there were people of understanding and knowledge who managed to be a force for good, in spite of the opportunity to compromise.  And artists by nature are people of understanding and knowledge.

Here are a few things that will help.

You can’t do everything, but you can do something. Don’t waste your time lamenting what you can’t do.  Do what you can.  If you can’t influence a million people, influence a hundred or a dozen.  Give them your best.

Right now, society is very focused on the green agenda.  I have read may articles that tell how to conserve energy and resources, and they all say the same thing:  we all have inefficient habits, but if we all make small changes, they will add up to worthwhile global changes.  If you really need to drive a gas hog, at least recycle your trash.

The same principle applies to artists.  You can’t do everything needed to make the earth a better place, but do what you can.

Save part of your work for your own vision. If you are using your talents to work for someone else, give the best work you can.  But save a niche for yourself – another medium or another project that you can call your own.

There is nothing wrong with using your gifts to make a living and to provide for your household.  The projects that pay the bills serve their purpose.

Your opportunities to be a force for good may occur in volunteer projects that don’t pay, or in what you do as a hobby.

If you haven’t begun yet, start here and now. Make the most of the season you are in.  If you’re in training, start with the assumption that your work will make an impact.  If you’re just starting to build your portfolio, you may be able to include works produced for worthy causes.  If you are in the workplace as an artist, look for credible ways to use your position to effect change.

Solomon didn’t say your work has to do it all:  he said that by a man (or woman) of understanding, right will be prolonged.  You may be able to do things your work can’t.

Movie stars often hold press conferences to endorse a political candidate or to support a cause.  They can’t always include those same endorsements in their work, but they use their celebrity to influence people as much as possible.

If movie stars can use their influence, we can use ours.  They may have a bigger audience than we have.  We in turn may have a more believable message than they have.

The important thing is to do what we can, either with the work we get paid for or with the work we do for free – and to start now.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Success In The Arts

What is success for an artist?  Everyone’s situation is different, but take a closer look at just one art form, writing, to get a picture of several things that can be called success.

Making a living. Many writers who make a living with their work serve the literary or commercial needs of others.  They don’t write the things that interest them as writers; they write what their editors or employers need.

Making a killing. A very few writers produce best-sellers that lead to movies or a television series.  Though it represents a pinnacle of success in writing, it also involves meeting the requirements of agents, editors, and publishers, and can demand a grueling marketing campaign.

Making an impact in society. Many writers serve as activists.  They don’t necessarily follow the course that makes them the most successful – in terms of whether their work is in the magazines with the highest circulation, or whether their books become best-sellers.  But if their writing affects policy-makers, they count their writing a success.

Making an impact in the arts. Many writers make their living in another career, but seek the prestige of having their works honored by the people who appreciate good writing:  to win a literary award, or to have their work published in a prestigious literary magazine.

Making an impact on lives. Some writers are content with modest success financially, and are not seeking to be known as literary greats.  They measure their success instead in helping ordinary people live successful lives.

We could try to philosophize and decide which is the best kind of success, but this misses the point.  If you are an artist, it is a good idea to take inventory of your talent, your training, and your opportunities – and then to decide what kind of success seems to be attainable.

Solomon noted that monetary success isn’t always a clear measure of whether an endeavor is really worthwhile:

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches;
Loving favor rather than silver or gold.  [Proverbs 22:1]

In other words, making more money with a project is counterproductive if you develop a bad reputation.  And further, “loving favor” or good relationships are greater success than a large income.

Solomon was a king, and he saw people who had succeeded in many ways.  This is how he knew that it takes more than money to measure success.

There is nothing wrong with setting monetary goals for your art.  If you are a hobbyist, see if you can make your art at least pay for itself.  If you make a living as an artist, be as professional about your work as you can.  If you have it in you to produce a best-seller, go for it.

But at the same time, look for opportunities to succeed in ways that have nothing to do with money.  Write a letter to the editor about a public issue that matters to you.  Look for a cause you would want to give your services to.

And pay attention to the effect your work has on your readers.  Does it motivate them to keep trying?  Help them make something of what life has handed them?  Cause them to see hope in a seemingly hopeless situation?

I’ve used writing as a sample, but the same principles hold true for any other art form. Success is always more than money.  Choose goals that will force you to stretch, but that are attainable.  Who knows – maybe in five years, you’ll be ready to set much more ambitious ones than you can right now.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Connecting With People

You can’t do your job as an artist without connecting with people.  You need to get your work out into the marketplace.  You need to participate in shows or concerts.  You need to teach and be taught. All of this connects you with people.

And most aspects of the Holy Spirit also call for you to connect with people.  Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, anointing Him to minister in a variety of ways – but always to needy people:  the poor, the blind, the captives, the brokenhearted.  If you want more of God, you will also need more kingdom connections with people.

Your art, or anything else you do, will connect you with people, and this will lead to ministry opportunities.  And when you spend time listening to God, He will often speak to you about people.  He will show you how to make connections that open doors of ministry, or that make you viable as an artist.

God doesn’t divide your life into secular and sacred.  He weaves the two together.  They are one.

Soaking will give you an opportunity to hear from God in three ways.  He may speak about your art itself – giving you designs or sounds or techniques.

He may speak to you about what we call “marketing.”  This word doesn’t just mean sales or promotion.  It means everything you need to do to get your work to the people God means for it to touch.  God may lead you to think big, sending you to a mass market.  He may call you to focus on a niche market.  Success in the kingdom can’t be measured by bigness only; it’s a matter of fulfilling the assignment God gives you.  Soaking helps identify this assignment, and the steps you need to take to fulfill it.

He may speak to you about ministry opportunities that spin off from your art.  My wife recently exhibited her work at a local art show.  She didn’t sell enough to feel the show had been worthwhile, but she met a man whom God used to use, and encouraged him to get back in the flow.  Evidently God’s purpose in her being in the show was more for the ministry than for business.

This means your work can succeed in two very different ways.  It can succeed commercially, or it can create ministry opportunities outside the church.  If you belong to God, either success is an advancement for His kingdom.

Perhaps you can create your art in isolation, but for marketing and ministry, you will need to connect with people.  The monthly assignments in this course will call you to connect with 20 people in a specific way.

Often, you won’t need to take time off from work to make time for ministry.  Look for ways to make these connections pay off in both arenas.  Ask God for wisdom.

As God leads you to people, ask Him very specifically for a domino effect.  This is what happened to Jesus with the woman at the well:  he ministered to one woman, who went to town and told about Jesus; her story piqued their interest and they came to see Jesus for themselves; as one thing led to another, Jesus spent two more days in Samaria, ministering to one person after another.

God knows how to lead you to people who will cause a domino effect to happen in marketing your art, and in ministry opportunities.  Ask God to lead you this way.  He wants to cause your connections with people to overflow, becoming more than you ever imagined they could be.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Wisdom In The Streets

Solomon grew up in the royal courts.  His father, King David, was an accomplished prophetic poet and musician.  We can surmise that Solomon had access to the best training available – in political matters, in his faith, and in the arts.

Surprisingly, in Proverbs 1:20-21, Solomon wrote of wisdom’s being not in the classroom, but out in the streets:

Wisdom calls aloud outside;
She raises her voice in the open squares.
She cries out in the chief concourses,
At the openings of the gates of the city
She speaks her words.

Street wisdom for artists starts here:  there is no point in filling your attic with paintings, no matter how great, or with self-published books that you can’t figure out how to sell.

Successful artists find a way to get their work out to their audience, and then to get paid for it.  And this process is marketing.

Most artists have more fun producing their art than marketing it, but this is shortsighted.  First, it takes the same creativity to market your art as it takes to produce it in the first place.  Second, the give-and-take of getting your work sold provides valuable feedback from your customers and will improve your work.  Third, it is very unlikely that your work will be “discovered” by a sponsor who will get it out there for you – until you first get it out there where the sponsors are.

Oh no – this sounds like the adage that the banks won’t loan you any money unless you don’t need it.  But the principle isn’t as unfair as it looks.  Just as the banks loan money to people who demonstrate that they know how to handle it, sponsors are looking not only for good art, but also for artists who carry themselves like professionals.

If you have filled a studio with unsold paintings, finished the rough draft of the next great American novel, or filled a pile of CDs with your home-produced music, how do you begin a marketing effort?

Marketing wisdom is calling out to you – and it’s free.  Start on the internet.  Run a search on “marketing” or even “free marketing”, and make a list of inexpensive things you can do to get your work out into the mainstream.

Sometimes you’ll find an idea that demands more research – such as writing a flyer or a press release.  Run another search on “writing a flyer” or “writing a press release”.  The information you need is out there, and it’s free.

You’ll find more information than you need, and more good ideas than you can use.  And you’ll be amazed how easy it is to parlay one form of marketing into another.  One thing leads to another.

If you’d rather take college courses, you can spend thousands of dollars to find the same information.  But if you’re willing to get it for free, it’s out there on the web – calling out to you.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Create Your Frame

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.  (Proverbs 25:11)

My wife JoAnn bought a painting a few weeks ago, and we’ve found that it has taken more energy to select the frame than the art.

Should artists think about the frames?  Some may not need to.  JoAnn’s painting is so extraordinary that the painter could afford to leave the frame to others.  But thinking about the frame may help some of us lift our work to a new level of excellence.

The frame around a painting is just one example.  Sometimes the frame is very much a part of the art. Here are a few examples:

1.  A song can begin and end with an instrumental line that frames the verses and chorus that are sung.  The instrumental part doesn’t match what the instruments do for the rest of the song, but it does complement it.

2.  Fiction writers often frame a story with another narrative – perhaps a character who tells the author a story, or an account of finding a manuscript in an old trunk in an attic.  The author’s story then frames the main story.

3.  Non-fiction writers often frame their material with anecdotes that put a human face on the facts they present.  Sometimes they can use a single anecdote both to begin and to end their work.

4.  Web authors and magazine writers often frame their material with sidebars – a short column of text off to the side of an article, presenting another aspect of their material.  Sidebars are often, but not always, presented as lists.  (This list would make good material for a sidebar; I would use one now if I knew how to lay it out in my blog.)

5.  In a play, a narrator may frame the main action by first telling a few words about the setting.  Less often, the narrator may also deliver a few words at the end of a scene.

Pay attention to frames, whether the base under a sculpture, the graphics on a website, or the background music in a radio ad.  Notice what works and what doesn’t.  Watch for clues that will help you with your own work.

The artist’s job can include not only the apples of gold, but also the setting of silver.  The silver enhances the gold but doesn’t outshine it; it reflects the gold without calling attention to itself.  Here are a few thoughts about frames.

It takes as much creativity to produce a frame as it takes to produce your art. Spend time soaking in God’s presence, trusting Him to show you how to create both.  They both demand imagination and inspiration, and God will help you with both.

Prayer itself is part of the frame. The principle is simple:  seek God in secret, and He will reward you openly.  Prayer is the part of your work that people will not see, but it will make a huge difference in how effective your work turns out to be.

Your frame is not only the part of the work you create, but also the setting where it is displayed. Let God direct you about the setting.  It may be an art show or some other live setting; it may be on the web; it may be in print or a recording.  He will show you how to place your work where it will do the most good.

As you let God inspire both your work and its frame, He will help you get your message out. Solomon’s proverb is not just a commentary on beauty.  It is also a recipe for “a word fitly spoken” – a message that is effectively presented.

Finally, pay attention to your own image. The way you carry yourself either augments or conflicts with your work.  Make yourself accessible and credible to your target audience.  You are part of the setting of silver.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

The Bible’s Media Giant

People will forget your books and your lectures.  To make an impact, come up with an unforgettable phrase.

A proverb is worth ten thousand words.  Ten thousand words may present a convincing argument, but ten words can captivate the imagination.  This was the lesson King Solomon learned in Bible times, long before slogans were printed on t-shirts and advertisers made their products unforgettable.

Bible scholars often call Solomon’s reign the golden age in Israel’s history.  It was a time of unparalleled peace, prosperity, and growth.  Yet the Bible describes Solomon’s wisdom not in terms of his governmental policies, but his ability to shape Israel’s culture:

He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.  Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs from the wall:  he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.  And men of all nations…came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  (I Kings 4:32-34)

It is one thing to rule by establishing just laws; it is quite another to inspire the people to live at their best.  Solomon’s wisdom seems to have had this effect.

In other words, Solomon wasn’t just the king.  He was also a leading voice in the media.

Our generation likes one-liners, but Solomon’s proverbs usually came in pairs of matching thoughts.  This was the style that gripped his generation.

Sometimes the two lines reinforced each other; sometimes they contrasted.  But they were quotable, and they may have accomplished more than Solomon’s laws did to shape the prosperity of his generation.

There was more to Solomon’s impact than proverbs:

Songs. Link forgettable words to a good tune, and they become unforgettable.  Songs get into people and bubble up at unexpected times.

Stories. The Bible gives only one of Solomon’s songs:  the Song of Songs, one of the shortest books in the Bible.  This song is an unfolding drama involving many characters.  Many historians believe cultures are shaped largely by the stories they tell.

Science. Solomon may have simply reported dry scientific facts, but more likely he used these facts as parables that would bring out the best in his generation.

We can only guess what Solomon had to say about trees, animals, birds, or fish.  Nobody bothered to write these things down.  Of all of Solomon’s wisdom, the proverbs proved unforgettable.

But one other book was preserved:  Ecclesiastes.  Written at the end of Solomon’s life, Ecclesiastes is a cry of existential despair.  It shows the emptiness of success in a materialistic culture.  As a culture-shaping work, Ecclesiastes is an essay about what doesn’t work.

Few people have read Ecclesiastes.  Many in our generation can quote a few words that were used in a popular song forty years ago:  “To everything there is a season, and a time on earth for every purpose under heaven.”  But nearly everyone has heard this one-liner:

“There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Do you want to make an impact?  Three thousand years ago, King Solomon showed the way.  A proverb is worth ten thousand words.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2007, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com