What Is God Doing With His Musicians & Artists Internationally?
by Grace Wiebe, May. 2005
It has been my experience as a musician and artist, especially
over the past decade or more as I've sought to encourage/serve Christian musicians
and artists around the world, that the Church (for the most part) tends not
to have a very in-depth understanding of:
+ the biblical perspective of music and the arts in the Bible and in God's
Big Picture;
+ God's roles/purposes for His musicians and artists in His Big Picture, and
indeed
+ GOD THE ARTIST
It also seems that many (if not most), Christian musicians and artists, themselves,
do not understand these vital realities in very deep ways.
As a result, although it has been changing over the past decade or so, music and especially other arts still tend to often be suspect in the Church, for the most part. There seems to be an underlying fear of the arts, which, I believe, is often due to the fact that Christians tend not to know how to judge art because they don't have a biblical understanding of the arts.
As a result of the Church's fairly widespread lack of biblical understanding in this regard (especially in the Western Church), Christian musicians and artists have generally not been mentored in their churches, and so have often tended to feel devalued, misunderstood, very alone, discouraged and often abandoned by their churches/the Church. As a result, they have often sought to find support in the world instead of in the churches and have lived on the fringes of church life/fellowship in Body life. If/when they have fallen, due to lack of needed encouragement or support from the Church, it has brought further problems - to the artist and to the churches/Church's view of the arts and artists.
It seems the Body of Christ, since the Reformation, has, in terms of the arts, largely 'thrown out the baby with the bathwater' due to past distortions in the arts, rather than seeking to see them redeemed and be used as God intended.
A crucial and foundational part of seeing this happen is to gain a biblical understanding of God's heart re the arts and His artists!
Often, because Christian musicians and artists do not have a solid biblical foundation on which to base their value/identity and on which to guide them in their journey regarding the arts, their lives have lacked the integrity and godly character that is needed to be faithful to God's call on their lives in a very difficult realm of life/work in this world. As a result, even the music ministry in many churches, for example, has been fairly ineffective in comparison to what it could be, or has perhaps even been rather detrimental to the churches/Church in some ways rather than what God has intended, since much of the potential of what God could do through them through GODLY lives may often have been hindered due to ungodly and unbiblical thinking/living regarding the arts.
Thankfully, increasingly, over the past decade especially, God has been in the process of waking up many Christian musicians and artists, churches, arts supporters and educators around the globe to the fact that the Church needs to have a biblical understanding of the arts, and that we as artists need to live lives of godly integrity/character and passion for Him if we are going to be as effective as God wants us to be in what He is calling us to be and do in this generation and for the generations to come.
Many of God's musicians and artists are also increasingly realizing the need to work in conjunction with the Church and the community in the marketplace, and realizing that we can't be as effective as God wants us to be if we do this as lone rangers. Therefore, many are increasingly networking, supporting each other and partnering together as the Holy Spirit leads.
Many are also seeing that the arts have often been first in their lives and that GOD needs to be first, and HIS purposes rather than their own personal artistic visions. They are realizing the need to be humble servants in contrast to the tendency to be self-serving artists who are seeking to build up their own egos or create their art largely for their own enjoyment. Artists are increasingly realizing the need to express their art in loving ways, and to use their art to express love for God and others, even though that may mean dealing with ugly, painful or even dark subjects at times, where the content/theme may not be beautiful, but still conveys truth, such as in dealing with social and justice issues.
Growing numbersf of artists also understand that in order to reach out to the lost in the marketplace, it is not always wise to use (at least begin with) direct evangelism approaches with or in their art, but to use (or perhaps start with) indirect approaches which invite further personal discovery and investigation by the art patron, and perhaps possibilities of developing relationships which can lead to friendship evangelism and more direct approaches, etc. There are, of course, appropriate times and places for the direct evangelistic artistic approaches as well.
God's artists are also beginning to grasp, more and more, that His purposes for the arts and His artists are FAR broader than they had ever imagined, and that there are MANY more ways to be significantly involved in the arts than to make a CD and do a tour or be on the worship team! If that is where God wants them, that's the best place for them, but God has MANY additional options to prayerfully consider as well, and many adventurous possibilities and plans for His musicians than only these ways of using the arts!
I have personally found, in my own experience as a musician/artist, that God is increasingly connecting my artistic gifts into many aspects of my daily life. Part of this is a growing number of unexpected open doors He has been opening to me to use my art to bless both Christians and non-believers alike, providing opportunities for deeper relationships and sometimes opportunities for deeper spiritual discussions to develop, as well! It continues to be a wonderful and wild adventure when we let Him lead us OUT OF THE BOXes we've often felt restricted and hindered by.
We as Christian artists have for so long tended to believe that the world's ways of using the arts are about the only ways that Christian artists, too, can be valued, significant and effective. Thankfully the truth that God's opportunities for His artists is basically that 'the sky is the limit' is beginning to dawn on people, since God's creativity and ideas have no end!
Increasing numbers of God's artists and musicians have a vision to impact (and are impacting) the marketplace through the arts, and many desire to use (and are using) the arts to take a stand for social and justice issues as they are realizing, in greater measure, that JUSTICE and RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE THE FOUNDATIONS OF GOD'S THRONE. Many artists are also desiring to contribute their gifts around the globe as a way in which they can help stand against the evils and stand up for righteousness, as well as help to support the many who are plaqued will devastating illnesses and disasters of many kinds. More and more are also realizing how effective the arts can be in networking with local believers in communities in order to help bring restoration and healing to the community - and used to open doors to living out the GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM.
Thankfully, too, God is waking up His artists and the Church to the fact that the arts are one of the best ways to influence postmoderns and aid in seeing cities and nations transformed by the power of God. It is the 'age of the artist'. As you are well aware, the arts have been and continue to be one of the biggest influencers of our current godless state around the world, and thankfully God is raising up great numbers of His artists and musicians around the world who have a passion to see artists and the arts redeemed for His glory in these days and to influence cultures internationally with HIS heart, instead of the current destruction we have been bringing upon ourselves through much current profane and degrading forms of art!
Artists are realizing that God is giving us another chance to use this great gift of the arts that He's given His Church - which is a part of His very character and close to His heart! - but which the enemy has stolen from us for a time….but He is raising up His artists again FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!!
The arts are also a huge way to influence people of various cultures, especially where the arts tend to be a major aspect of their societies - this is true even more greatly in reaching traditional oral cultures with the Gospel.
As well, the arts are a huge way to encourage and impact many around the world with disabilities such as hearing or visually impaired, or non-readers, etc.
IT IS TO THIS END that we are doing what we are doing in
seeking to encourage, equip, train, network, partner with and release God's
artists into all the God is calling them to be and do in this generation.
If this is something you also have on your heart and wish to communicate further,
contact us at the email address below...
GCWAC@DiscipleTheNations.org
-Great
Commission Worship & Arts Center