CONFESSION #11: The books that I read often impact my work as an artist. Even if my art isn't always explicit in its messages and themes, the gospel should always be explicit. I plan on talking more about being covert and overt in creative work as a believer in future posts, but this post is part of my Saturday Book Review Days for this 31 day series. Matt Chandler talks about the explicit gospel in his book by the same title. You can find it here. What I really love about this book is that Chandler explicitly (see what I did there) lays out the gospel. In Greek, the word gospel means "good news." And the word "gospel" in relation to Christianity means the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection on the cross and what that means for humanity. Chandler talks about the gospel in his book, and how it should impact peoples lives. If you're keeping up with this 31 day series, you've already seen a quote from this book. It was a part of the I Am a Sub-Creator post. "You and I are stymied in our own creativity. We can only create as sub-creators, and even then our best work is only sub-creation." I highly recommend The Explicit Gospel. It has impacted and grown my faith, but it has also helped with my perspective on creative endeavors as a Christian. Check it out, and let me know what you think!
This post is part of a 31 day series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
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CONFESSION #10: I easily forget that my art and creativity are not free from the cycle of daily life. For the past few days, we've been looking at Ecclesiastes 1 and how the words of King Solomon apply to life and apply to creativity and art as well. We've looked at how what we create is never new or original, and we've looked at how are creative works are impermanent. Today is focusing on the third main idea of Ecclesiastes 1, which is that all of life is an endless cycle. A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind and on its circuits the wind returns. ... What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1: 4-6, 9 Life is an endless cycle. We get up. We get ready. We go to work or school. We take part in activities. We Eat. We work out. We watch television. We read. We spend time with our families and friends. We go to bed. We start over the next day. The majority of life, apart from vacations and special seasons, is filled with repetition. We do some of the same things everyday. Creativity and the act of creating works of art fall into that repetition as well. We get an idea. We flesh out the idea. We start making our creative work. We get stumped. We find inspiration. We keep working on it. We finish it. We enjoy it for a little while. We share it with others. Then we want to make something else, and the cycle starts over again. This cycle can be maddening, but it can also be freeing. Some people look at endless repetition as a boring thing, and they desire to escape repetition. But repetition, like King Solomon writes, is a part of life. You can't escape it. The sun rises. The sun goes down. C'est la vie (That is life). However, you can make peace with the fact that this is a part of life. That repetition a lot of times is not a bad thing. We grow and get better through repetition. It's like an endless practice. Our art grows from repetition. Our creativity grows as well. Repetition can be a good thing (even though artists like to scoff at it). God made us for repetition, for diligence, and He made life to be lived in cycles. Our art and creativity follow suit. P.S. Even the seasons display God's design of life cycles. This post is part of a 31 day series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
Confession #9: I like to believe that the things I create will last forever. When I was in high school I read a book about Jane Austen that made me want to be a writer, but for a very odd reason. It made me want to be a writer because it talked about how Jane Austen essentially became immortal through her works. She may have died, but this book said that she would always be remembered. I wasn't a follower of Christ when I read this book, so this sounded like a pretty sweet deal to me. If I was going to die someday, I could at least live on through my work. My drive to create was fueled by a desire to be remembered long after my death. However, there is a flaw in this thinking, because no matter what I'd like to believe, my work is impermanent, just like Jane Austen's work. How do I know this? Because I have friends that don't even know the name Jane Austen. This is pretty sad to me because they're missing out on some witty literary classics, but it solidifies the idea that mankind's work will not last forever. The Preacher (King Solomon) talks about the impermanence of man's work in the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. ... There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. Ecclesiastes 1:4-5, 11 The major theme of Ecclesiastes is that everything is vanity, which means that everything is essentially meaningless. One of reasons King Solomon says that all things are vain is due to their impermanence. The things of this world weren't built to last. Look at the seasons. Look at human life. We live in a fallen and broken world that isn't permanent or everlasting. Ahh, but the artist thinks that she can escape this trap of impermanence by creating things that will last. So she dedicates her life to writing novels or making films or painting landscapes that will be remembered forever. And maybe they will be remembered for a time. But even a person's art cannot escape the clutches of impermanence. An example of this is one of my favorite films, Gone With the Wind. Most people my age have never seen this film. Most have never even heard of it. Gone With the Wind was made in 1939, and it was a revolutionary film for its time. It currently ranks sixth on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Greatest American Films of All Time. Yet, most Americans have never even seen it. A film that was once a hot topic has been resigned to the pages of fading history. The impermanence of created things. Even though I like to think that the things I create will last, I have to be honest with myself. Most of the things that I will create will not last past my lifetime. Even if I create something brilliant, and my work becomes famous, my work will not last into eternity. Even worse, I will probably even forget my own art. This is a sobering reality. But as an artist and a follower of Jesus Christ, I have a hope that far outweighs the bleak reality of the impermanence of things I spend so much time working on. He who raise the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Thou our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:14-18 The things that we make are temporary. We won't take them with us into eternity. This is the perspective that we should have as we create things. It frees us from putting our worth and identity into the things that we create. If you believe in Christ, you're free from striving to be remembered through your creative work. Jesus offers an inheritance, promise, and eternity far greater than the false hopes of being remembered by your work. This post is part of a 31 day series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
You can read the previous posts for this month here. Confession #8: I have this insane idea that one day I will be able to create a work of art (be it film or story) that is completely original and new. Yesterday, we began looking at Ecclesiastes, and how this book of the Bible has a lot to say about life but also art and creativity. Today and for the next few days, we'll be focusing in more on specific themes within the first chapter. And the first one is that there is nothing new or original on this earth (I'm kind of jumping the gun, because this is actually not the first theme we see in Ecclesiastes, but it has impacted me the most). What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which is said, "See this thing is new?" It has been already in the ages before us. Ecclesiastes 1: 9-10 There is nothing new under the sun. I first began thinking about this idea while taking a Shakespeare course in high school. Something that my teacher said is that most modern stories are based off of ideas from Shakespeare's canon. The Lion King? Based off of Hamlet. She's the Man? Based off of Twelfth Night. Most historical movies or movies about kings and queens? They have similar themes to Shakespeare's histories. Comedies? They borrow a lot of Shakespeare's comedic plot devices. The same can be said for tragedies. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 long poems. The man was busy, and he hit upon a lot of major themes and ideas in his years as a playwright. Right now, I feel pretty nerdy about my Shakespeare knowledge (I love the Bard!), but this information has always stuck with me. However, since becoming a Christian three years ago, I've learned that Shakespeare borrowed a lot of his material from other writers and a lot of what he writes about the Bible actually covered first. C'est la vie (this is life). As artists and creative people, we get this great idea, and we begin thinking about it, developing it. Then we discover that someone else had that same idea, and our time spent developing the idea is for naught. This happens to me all of the time. When I was in high school, I thought of a story about people that can be awake in their dreams and experience their dreams as if they're real life. I even wrote a screenplay on this story for my senior thesis. Have you heard of a similar story? Inception came out that same year, and my screenplay about dreams was crushed. Ecclesiastes speaks truth. There is nothing new under the sun. No idea or creative endeavor is ever completely new or original. This is sad news for the person that spends their whole life trying to come up with something completely unique and original. But this truth is freeing for the person that lives in light of it. If we live in light of the fact that anything we create will never be completely new or original, that sets us free from trying to achieve originality. We are free then to just create and even innovate. Honestly, some of the best movies and books I've ever experienced have used old ideas and themes and innovated them. An example of this is the film Avatar directed by James Cameron. When this film came out, people were really critical of it. They said that it was pretty much Pocahontas with blue people. And they're right. It is pretty much the story of Pocahontas. However, James Cameron took a known plot and innovated it. And it worked! Avatar is still ranked the number one grossing film of all time. Almost three billion dollars for a film about Pocahontas and blue people. So I hope this brings you encouragement as an artist and a creative person. There is nothing new or original under the sun, but God has given us the gift of creativity despite this fact. We can create things that impact people and bring glory to God even if they are not original. In fact, Avatar is a living testament to the fact that an old idea that is innovated can be impactful. God is the only truly original one, and that sets us free from the chains of unattainable originality and allows us to be creative and innovative. This post is part of a 31 Day Series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
The photo above was taken by a friend of mine, Kaitlyn Moore. CONFESSION #7: As an artist, I often get caught up in the vanity of my art. My church is currently doing a sermon series focused on the book of Ecclesiastes, and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Ecclesiastes has a lot to say about life, but it also applies to art and being creative. During this sermon series, I will probably be talking about the book of Ecclesiastes a lot, because it applies perfectly to some of the struggles of being a creative Christian. For this week in particular, I plan on focusing on Ecclesiastes and creativity. Ecclesiastes begins with talking about vanity. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 Vanity (noun): 1. Excessive pride in one's appearance, qualities, abilities, or achievements. 2. Something worthless, trivial, or pointless. If you read the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, you will find that King Solomon, who is the Preacher, lays out why all is vanity or essentially meaningless. His findings can be summed up into three main reasons why everything is meaningless.
These points apply to life, but they apply to art as well.
Creativity is vanity. It is essentially meaningless. In art and creativity, the same processes are repeated again and again. Often what is created isn't really new or original. It might be innovative, but nothing created is every truly new. And art or creative works are not permanent or forever remembered. The act of creating something can bring joy, but that joy is never lasting. After creating one work, an artist becomes dissatisfied and seeks to create something else, something even better. Endless repetition. Vanity of vanities. If art and creativity are vain, why does one create art? Why are people gifted with creativity? And why do people find joy, no matter how fleeting, in creating? Those are questions that will be touched upon over the next few days as we dive deeper into the vanity of creativity and created works, which is something that I really struggle with understanding. While this might be a bit of a downer (Ecclesiastes can be pretty depressing), it also offers hope in regards to finding the true source of joy and meaning. If everything is vain and meaningless, what is meaningful? What matters? The Preacher answers this throughout Ecclesiastes, but essentially what matters is faith in Jesus. And we'll be talking about that more as well, and how faith in Jesus intersects with art and creativity. CONFESSION #6: I like to think that I am an original and innovative creator, but compared to God, I'm merely a sub-creator. A few days ago, I focused on how God has made mankind in His image and given us the gift of creativity. Humans are creative beings made in the image of THE creative God. However, being made in the image of God does not mean that we are like God. What do I mean by this? Well, here are some of the attributes of God: - All knowing (Psalm 139) - All good (Psalm 31:19) - All loving (1 John 4) - All powerful (Genesis 18:14) - All present (Proverbs 15:3) - Unchanging (Malachi 3:6) - Holy (Isaiah 6:3) - Sovereign (1 Chronicles 29:11-12) - Righteous (Ezra 9:15) These are just a few of the many aspects of God. But if you go back through the list, you'll see that humankind is none of these things. We're not always loving. We're not always good. We can't be always present. We're definitely not unchanging. We certainly aren't holy. And there ain't no way that we're sovereign. We are made in the likeness of God, but we definitely can not compare ourselves to God. And this truth applies to creativity and making art as well, whether your art is painting, writing, filmmaking, gardening, building, or what not. As an artist and creator, God spoke things into being (Genesis 1). He created new and beautiful things out of nothing. Nada. Not even dust. He even made dust out of nothing. How mind boggling is that?? As an artist and creator, I can't speak things into being. I can't create new and beautiful things out of nothing. I am what Matt Chandler calls a "sub-creator" in his book, The Explicit Gospel. "You and I are stymied in our own creativity. We can only create as sub-creators, and even then our best work is only sub-creation." "God doesn't NEED material. He MAKES material." I highly recommend this book by Matt Chandler, because it explicitly shares the gospel, hence the title. But it also gives an accurate perspective of man's relation to God. In this case, man is a sub-creator. Let's meditate on this idea. Anything an artist makes is made from material that God has already created. Making a film? You're using people, sets, props, cameras, editing software, etc that was created by people, from material created by God. I like when Matt Chandler says that even our best work is only sub-creation. Our best work can never compare to God's best work. This truth is super cool (because God created amazing things from nothing and I will never be able to do that), but it's also really humbling (because God created amazing things from nothing and never will I ever be able to do that). As an artist, I am reliant upon the material that God has created and provides for me. It puts things into perspective for artists and those that enjoy art. This post is part of a 31 Day series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
Check back tomorrow, as we begin a few days focusing on perspective in the midst of creativity. CONFESSION #5: I often forget to take time to rest. Today is a Sunday, also known as the Sabbath day, or the day of rest. God made rest and God made the Sabbath day. So today, and for all future Sundays, I will have a blog post about taking the time to rest. It will be written on a Saturday and posted via online scheduling on a Sunday. But for today's Creative Sabbath, I'm going back to the beginning. Genesis 2. God created the world and then on the seventh day, He rested. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. Genesis 2:1-3 God, the Almighty and the Creator of the world, took time to rest. Even there is any being that does not need to rest, it is God. But He rests, because it is good and he took a break from his work. Therefore, we should do the same. In the future, I plan on taking a Sabbath day from my work. While my blog is fun for me, it's still work at times. For today's Creative Sabbath, I'm meditating on Genesis 2 and taking the time to rest like God rested. I'm also carving a pumpkin with some friends. Take a Sabbath with me and just enjoy a rest (and maybe even the fall weather while you're at it). This post is part of a 31 day series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
CONFESSION #4: Sometimes I get so caught up in doing things that I forget to do other things. Most of the time I forget to spend time with God. But sometimes I forget to sit down and write things to post. So this blog post is a day late (even though I made the post date the correct day) and a little short, but I hope you check out the book and the blog.
I'm a huge fan of books. I'm also a huge fan of weekends and taking time to rest. Therefore, on Day 4, a Saturday, I just decided to focus on a book that has really given me a lot of wisdom in film theology and it's giving me a rest from writing a deeper level post. As a film student in college, I'm often presented with a dilemma of what my theology on film should be considering oftentimes Hollywood goes against a lot of the Bible's teachings. A few years ago, a friend suggested a blog to me called Cinemagogue. The man that runs it is a believer and he loves films. So he watches films and reviews them and writes about how the gospel intersects with the messages that the film is trying to convey. I really recommend reading his blog. However, this man also wrote a book that has the same title as his blog Cinemagogue. You can check the book out here. This book focuses a lot on film narratives and how they are a reflection of our culture, but also how we should think about films as Christians. I really recommend this book for people that love films and for those that: 1. Want to be discerning with what they're watching. 2. Learn how the gospel impacts how we view films. 3. Are interested in developing a theology on films. I plan to talk more about my own thoughts on films in further blog posts and how God can use them for his glory, despite some iffy content. But this book is a really great start. James Harleman, the author, really presents a lot of great nuggets of wisdom, and his book and blog have really encouraged me to grow in wisdom. (This blog post is part of a 31 day series called Confessions of a Creative Christian) CONFESSION #3: I often forget that God is the one that gave me the gift of creativity for the sole purpose of glorifying Him. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1. Most Americans, whether or not they've read the Bible, know this verse. It's a part of our cultural literacy, which can make it seem not as important due to familiarity. But if you really think about it, Genesis 1 is significant. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. And these are just the beginning verses. Genesis 1 essentially says that God spoke the world into being. All He did was speak, and He created everything. How awesome and powerful is that? And then later on in Genesis, God creates man and woman. Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Genesis 1: 26-27 As human beings, we are made in the image of a creative God. He spoke the world into being. He made and created everything. If we are made in His image, we have the ability to create as well. We can't speak things into being (which would be super cool), but we can create works of art, music, buildings, babies, you name it. Ultimately, we were made to glorify God, but he gave us the gift of creativity to do just that. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows James 1:17 I often forget that creativity is a gift from God. Creativity isn't something that I've just developed through osmosis. It comes from being made in the image of God, the ultimate creative being. He has made me to be creative, just like He makes others to be gifted at math (which I'm not good at), with thinking logically, or with the many other gifts He gives people. Creativity is a gift. That perspective changes everything. It's no longer something that I can boast about by my own efforts. It's a precious gift that I am called to steward faithfully and use to glorify the God that gave it to me. This post is part of a 31 Day Series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
Confession #2: Sometimes, I believe this convincing lie that I can actually attain perfection as a person and an artist, and I have this ludicrous idea that my art will follow suit. It's true. I, like most of the modern world, believe the lie that I can achieve perfection in all things. But it's a boldfaced lie. I am a messy, broken, and imperfect person. My art is just as messy, broken, and imperfect as I am. And it's a beautiful thing. I can't tell you how long it has taken me to be okay with being imperfect, and I still struggle. For years, I felt enslaved by the standards of perfection that I placed on myself and the standards others placed upon me. Freedom from the enslavement of perfection was one of the first things that God used to draw me to himself three years ago. I was tired of trying to be perfect, and I heard the truth for the first time: I live in a fallen and broken world, and I will never be able to reach perfection. In God's terms, perfection is holiness, which is being without sin or stain. That is not me. I'm not perfect or even holy. I fall short of the glory of God. I lie. I judge others. I'm prideful. I get easily irritated with others, and I lose my patience. This is just the tip of the iceberg. But I believe a beautiful truth, the good news of Jesus Christ. On my own, I will never be able to stand holy and blameless before a righteous God. But Jesus, the perfect and holy Son of God, went willing to the cross, taking my sin and the sins of the world upon himself, so that those that believe in Jesus and his work on the cross can stand before God one day and become a part of His kingdom. (I'm not even perfect at explaining the Gospel, and I write run on sentences.) But ultimately because Jesus is perfect, I don't have to be. I'm free to be imperfect. I mean, I still want to grow in holiness, but I can't do that on my own. If I grow as a person, it's by God's work, not my own. If I'm patient with people, it's because of Christ's work in me. For our sake, He made him who knew no sin, so that in him we might have the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 I am a beautiful imperfect mess, and it's so freeing. It took me a long time to realize this same thing about my art. We live in a fallen and broken world. Our art and our work will never be perfect in this life. Imperfect artist. Imperfect art. There is so much freedom in allowing one's art to be what it is: imperfect. If you're a Christian, your faith will be refined. If you cling to the Gospel, you will grow in holiness, but you will never reach a stage of perfection in this life. The same thing goes for art. We can continually refine our art, and try to make it better, but it will never reach a stage of perfection. No matter how many tweaks I make to a video, how many times I edit a piece of writing, or how much I re-edit a photo on Instagram, my work will always be beautifully imperfect. At this point, I feel like I could sing Hannah Montana's Nobody's Perfect. But it rings true. No one is perfect. No work of art is perfect. Only Jesus is perfect, and that's all the perfection I need. This post is part of a 31 Day Series called Confessions of a Creative Christian.
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