do you feel artistic? well...you should.
When you think about the areas where people can serve at church, what might come to mind is children's ministry, tech, media, meet and greet, set up, tear down, etc. All too often it sounds like service to the church is not much more than fulfilling a “honey do” list to make Sundays happen. Don’t get me wrong: those acts of service are really important! But what if, as leaders, we were to view our “servants” as artists rather than as workhorses?
First we need to answer the question, What is art? I offer this definition of art: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination...producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”
I see art being very broad, regardless of whether you are a teacher, cook, athlete, lawyer, insurance salesman, pastor, or whatever…not just the more obvious painter, poet, writer, and photographer. These labels merely reflect occupations… “jobs”, if you will. But that doesn’t mean that the human behind each job isn’t creative in some way, even if their label might not indicate it. Art is beautiful because it shows the creativity of the human. Or in the Christian way of thinking it shows the creativity of the created, and only leaves the created to wonder just how creative the Creator is.
What if we viewed service to the church as using your artistic abilities in service to God and his church? What if we viewed the role of leader as being the Human Art Director? By that I mean, what would happen if we looked at the people around us and saw their skills and gifting as a form of art? What if we saw the person as art… and not just the thing they created or the skill they possessed? And as a leader, what if our job was to look at people in such a way that each individual had a skill or gift that needed to be exposed for the primary use of creating something…like art? I wonder what that church would look like, feel like, or sound like. I wonder how beautiful it would be to see all the different members coming together to create a masterpiece for all the world around to see. It reminds me of this picture that Paul paints of a body while describing the church:
You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, The Message)
I think in the end we find that art is passion and where there is passion, there you will find worship. It is just a matter of who is receiving the worship at that point: the object or God. Our place as leaders and members of the church is to redirect people’s passions so that worship to God is available and expressed in servanthood. At that point people become infectious…Worship becomes contagious…God becomes contagious…and the church becomes contagious.
What a beautiful thing.
heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts
First we need to answer the question, What is art? I offer this definition of art: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination...producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”
I see art being very broad, regardless of whether you are a teacher, cook, athlete, lawyer, insurance salesman, pastor, or whatever…not just the more obvious painter, poet, writer, and photographer. These labels merely reflect occupations… “jobs”, if you will. But that doesn’t mean that the human behind each job isn’t creative in some way, even if their label might not indicate it. Art is beautiful because it shows the creativity of the human. Or in the Christian way of thinking it shows the creativity of the created, and only leaves the created to wonder just how creative the Creator is.
What if we viewed service to the church as using your artistic abilities in service to God and his church? What if we viewed the role of leader as being the Human Art Director? By that I mean, what would happen if we looked at the people around us and saw their skills and gifting as a form of art? What if we saw the person as art… and not just the thing they created or the skill they possessed? And as a leader, what if our job was to look at people in such a way that each individual had a skill or gift that needed to be exposed for the primary use of creating something…like art? I wonder what that church would look like, feel like, or sound like. I wonder how beautiful it would be to see all the different members coming together to create a masterpiece for all the world around to see. It reminds me of this picture that Paul paints of a body while describing the church:
You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, The Message)
I think in the end we find that art is passion and where there is passion, there you will find worship. It is just a matter of who is receiving the worship at that point: the object or God. Our place as leaders and members of the church is to redirect people’s passions so that worship to God is available and expressed in servanthood. At that point people become infectious…Worship becomes contagious…God becomes contagious…and the church becomes contagious.
What a beautiful thing.
heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts
posted by Kyle DiRoberts at 7:13 PM
3 Comments:
I thought I was going to be simple and cool and just put something like "amen brotha!!"...but then look who beat me to it! ;)
I agree with ya for the most part bro. I truly believe that everyone has their calling (artistic calling as you might call it). Now the important thing to realize is that even though your ministry might change...you calling does not. So you have to look at what artistic calling you have been given as well as other. I am a firm believer in not just putting people in jobs just because there is a spot to fill, as so many organizations do. The worse thing that the church does is misuse people’s artistic calling. Now on the other side of things what do you do with someone that it is very clear that their artistic calling is not the job that they are in, but they think it is…I am one of the first to “fire” a volunteer because of this very thing.
Right on, brother! Awesome, awesome, awesome.
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