Creative Collaboration

Cultivate teamwork in the arts.  Look for opportunities to make all your collaboration creative.  Even your most boring tasks can become a parable that will spark your creativity.

Collaboration – your work with other artists or with clients – can be a grind, or it can bring creative breakthroughs.  The difference begins with attitude.

It’s easy to resent using our talents to sell someone else’s vision or product, which often happens when we work with others.  But if that’s where the will of God takes you, the first step is to thank Him for the opportunity He has given.  It may be a grunt job that pays the bills, but as you turn to Him with gratitude you are opening yourself to a creative spark.

For Jesus often taught in parables.  The Greek word paraballo means “I cast alongside.”  Parables are thoughts that run parallel to truth.  They illustrate it; they shed light on it; they flesh it out.  Parables invite creative investigation.

Your grunt job may prove to be a God-given parable.

Over the years, I have often found that the challenges I face in one area of life give inspiration for another.  God makes my life into a parable that speaks into other areas.

I had used PhotoShop to help my wife with an art project.  She does the creative design, but I’m good at layout and making things line up perfectly.  As I worked with the many layers she had used in her document, it became a parable.

Later I was asked to teach on prophetic song.  I used the concept of layers to explain prophetic ministry: God speaks in several layers at once, touching immediate concerns but also revealing Jesus in His first coming, in His life within believers, and in God’s end-time purposes.

A man came forward that night to rededicate his life to Christ.  I learned he produces custom cars, and is famous for his eleven-layer paint jobs.

Then a few months later, as I prayed about my music I began to be challenged to layer several sounds on my key-board to give it a richer sound.  I’ll spare you the details, except to say I have spent many hours blending sounds, throwing out ten combinations for every one I keep.  Now I have taken the idea further and use two keyboards at once.

But the concept of layering was a parable God spoke to me as I helped my wife, doing some of the grunt work on one of her projects.  It spilled over from a relatively uncreative task to affect my ministry and my music – and words can’t express the value of God’s using the theme to bring a man to rededicate his life to Him.

Many are studying creativity these days, but most look to Arthur Koestler as a pioneer in the field.  In his book, The Act Of Creation, he said, “I have coined the term ‘bisociation’ in order to make a distinction between the routine skills of thinking on a single ‘plane’, as it were, and the creative act, which, as I shall try to show, always operates on more than one plane.”

People who seek the leadings of the Spirit learn to think on two or more planes at once. He teaches us to think this way.  The Holy Spirit awakens our creativity.

Sometimes you will meet people who stir your creativity.  Whenever possible, work with them or spend recreational time with them.

But often you will have to slog along with seemingly boring projects. As you look to God for inspiration, expect Him to use your drudgery to speak to you in parables.  The most tedious thing on your to-do list right now may release an avalanche of creativity.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2008, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Art In The Church

Use your art to serve the many ministries of the church.  And use it to take their ministry outside.

The final words of each of the four gospels present different aspects of the great commission Jesus gave the church.  Matthew tells us to make disciples; Mark tells us to win converts; Luke tells us to wait on God to receive His power; John tells us to feed, tend, and love His sheep.

How can your art serve these missions?  Here are more ideas than you’ll ever have time to use.  Find one or two you can adapt for your talents and opportunities.

Matthew – disciple people.
1. Write a short story (or poem or novel) that will build godly character in your readers.
2. Prepare a skit that will reinforce the pastor’s sermon.

3. Make prints or posters that will strengthen people’s resolve to follow Jesus.

4. Write a worship song that walks people through the process of making right choices in a time of trial.

5. Create multimedia presentations that will enhance the training materials your church is already using.

6. Interweave beauty with godliness so people will see the beauty of making right choices.

Mark – win converts.
7. Use stories to proclaim gospel truths.  Show, don’t tell.
8. Make prints or posters that will challenge today’s worldview and provoke a hunger for God.  Display them in a secular setting.

9. Prepare films for the public access channel.  They don’t have to preach; they can serve by awakening interest.

10. Use music.  If you worship passionately, you can bring God’s presence to people outside the church.  Go as a group or as a soloist.

11. Use the arts to get people interested in your message, then let the preacher take over.

Luke – wait on God for power and anointing.
12. Write and produce soaking music so the church can linger in God’s presence.

13. Spend time soaking.  Learn to receive artistic ideas from God.  Present the other ideas in this list to God while you soak; He will show you specific things to do.

14. Use visual arts to create a meditative culture in the church – a culture that watches and listens for wisdom and inspiration.

15. As you wait, ask God for metaphors.  He will show you how to make truth unforgettable.

16. As you wait, ask God for light that will cause people to see things of His kingdom.

John – tend the sheep.
17. Think of your art as a vehicle that conveys God’s love.  Don’t just tell about His love; show it.

18. Write a story that tells how God healed or redeemed something broken in someone’s life.

19. Paint a picture of the hopeful future God wants to walk us into.

20. Write a song that takes people to green pastures where they can drink by still waters and God can restore their souls.

21. Make a movie that will show the very personal nature of God’s care for all of us.

Bottom line – art isn’t meant to replace the ministries God has placed in the church, but it can strengthen and augment them.  Team up with the church as it sets about to fulfill the great commission.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2008, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Teams Can Grow Your Faith

If you do it right, teamwork can make your faith grow.  Shared success in a group effort, Christian or secular, can launch your own success.

I won’t try to tell you that your secular cohorts in a collaborative effort will lie awake nights, trying to think of ways to make your faith grow.  But I will tell you that He who keeps you never slumbers or sleeps, and He is busy creating ways to give you a testimony in the earth.

What is faith?  We could come up with a lot of good definitions, but I’m going to use this one:  Faith is a relationship with God that causes our lives to change, creating a testimony that glorifies Him.

We are saved by faith.  We hear the message of the gospel, believe it, and as Christ comes into our hearts He changes our lives.

In the arts, something similar happens as He comes in.  I have known several artists whose work changed right away when they believed the gospel – their paintings were less morbid, their blues less depressing.  This is where faith begins.

But as we grow into our destiny as artists, God leads us to take bigger and bigger challenges.  Life demands more of us.  Our standards rise.  We can’t get away with slapdash work.

At this point, we are likely to get into a rut. One drummer put it this way:  “Many people have years of experience doing the same thing over and over again.  But the only way to grow is to keep learning something new.”

A highly motivated person might be able to do this alone, but many of us find that God uses teams to get us out of our ruts.  It’s the acoustic guitar soloist who learns to play an electric for the church worship team.  It’s the poet who is asked to contribute articles to a newsletter.  It’s the graphic artist who works in a secular environment producing advertisements for the weekly newspaper.

God uses this kind of teamwork to shape our art.  The same God who will give us inspiration when we ask for it will also place us in teams He will use to raise our talent level.

It may or may not be a comfortable fit.  The worship team may have much more or less musical skill than you do; either will challenge you.  The newsletter may demand a style you don’t enjoy writing, or the editor may ask for frequent revisions.  Your graphic arts job may leave you wondering if your talent is really accomplishing anything in the kingdom of God.

God is using your team to accustom you to a higher level of quality and output.  Sometimes there are lessons of teamwork itself.  As you are faithful in the challenges He has given you, you can expect Him to move you on later to work at a higher level.

This is where faith comes in.  The Bible says we grow from faith to faith.  We don’t stay forever at the first level of faith we experienced when we came to Christ.  God wants us to grow up into mature faith that will make an impact on others.

Do you have a vision that God will use your art in some way?  Dare to believe that the artistic gruntwork you are doing now will pave the way to a new level of expression.

Few artists work well alone.  Many of the greats spent time with other artists, critiquing one another.  Many had to live up to the expectations of their patrons.  Consider your times of teamwork a gift from God, given to keep you from sinking into dull repetition or mediocrity.

And if you don’t have a team, ask God if there are other artists He wants to link you with.  “Iron sharpens iron.”  Your teams can get you ready for the next level of faith God wants to bring you to.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2008, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com

Keep A Journal

Keep a record of what God has done through your art. Include your own stories, as well as those of people your work has touched.  Your journal will help maintain your vision as a Christian artist.

To maintain a sense of vision as a Christian artist, it’s helpful to maintain a journal of how God has used your art.

This serves several purposes:  to encourage you when you feel like quitting, to keep you aware of what touches people and what doesn’t, and to help you maintain a vision of who your work is touching and what it accomplishes in them.  Let’s look at each of these issues more closely.

Your journal will encourage you. The principle goes back to Old Testament days, when God often led the Israelites to build a memorial to commemorate something He had done for them.   These memorials would build their faith as they recalled the great things He had done in their lives.

Perhaps you’re thinking, My journal won’t encourage me – there’s nothing to put in it!

Beginning artists won’t have any stories from others, but you need to include your own stories.  Within a few months, you should be able to report times when God gave you unusual inspiration while you were soaking.  Maybe you’ll be led to use imagery that later turns out to have a secondary and more spiritual meaning, and it will testify that God is working with you.  Perhaps God will guide you to get your work out into the marketplace, and you’ll have a testimony of how He opened doors for you.

As you get your work out to the public, you’ll begin to hear how it has touched people.  Again, keep a record.  Mine is a computer file – I can always add to my own notes in a Word document, but I can also store emails I have received.  It is encouraging to look back at the times when God has assured me that He is with me, and when others have mentioned that my work has made an impact.

Your journal will help shape your direction. Pay attention to what is touching people and what isn’t.  The comments you receive will help you understand what makes the strongest impact on people.

As a steward of a God-given gift, you can’t just do the work that makes you feel the most fulfilled.  If you notice that a certain aspect of your work is bearing fruit, focus on it, even if it isn’t your favorite part of your work.  This doesn’t mean you should stop doing the work you find more gratifying, but it does mean you should strike a balance between what feeds you and what feeds the people your work touches.

Your journal will help you keep your audience in mind. It’s not just a matter of how your work touches people – it’s also who your work touches.  If you have an inner vision of those who will draw from your work, you’ll have a different kind of artistic vision.

The two main commandments in scripture are to love God and to love people.  How would your work change if you had a mental image of the people you were producing it for?

I’m not suggesting that you become like an egocentric stage-performer who learns to play to the audience.  I’m suggesting that you become like a servant who brings a life-changing dollop of the grace of God to needy people.  This mental image – that you can bring something of eternal value to people through your art – will transform your work.  It may be something as simple as peace or joy, but when you have a vision of the grace you want to pass on through your work, it will become a labor of love.

So jot down what God gives you as you work, and keep a file of comments you receive from others.  Your journal will help you stay focused as a Christian artist.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2008, GospelSmith  ::  www.GospelSmith.com