The Gift of Art: Creators & Consumers

Related Texts: Psalm 139:1-4; 145:9; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Romans 1:18-20

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is the first of a multi-part series entitled “The Gift of Art” where we will discuss this incredible and sometimes mysterious subject of “art”, how it is a gift from God and how we can best use it for His glory.
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Being an Artist, or Creative, I tend to assume that most people won’t “get” what I create, or they won’t understand my personality when we interact. Though I think there is a large population who don’t read very deep into art, it’s actually pretty unrealistic to assume that I’m on a island in my thinking. I would even challenge the notion that I’m in the minority. God has given so many people the ability to think abstractly, like I tend to, who wouldn’t consider themselves “artists”.

Sometimes those of us who like to live constantly in an abstract mindset assume that other people won’t comprehend what we’re trying to communicate, when really all we need to do is let people know how it is that we think. Whether it’s by outright saying “this is an abstract thought…” or precisely walking people through our thinking processes, it isn’t that people can’t appreciate what we create or even fully grasp what it’s about- it’s that we don’t tell them that there’s an abstract meaning in the first place.

Being an abstract thinker is a gift that allows us to communicate in both very explicit terms and very implicit messages, but we don’t need to break down every implicit message into explicit terms for every single creation. That waters down art, and can make the beauty of complexity non-existent to other abstract thinkers. Instead, we should be creating art as simple or complex, as explicit or implicit, as God would have us do through how He designed us. Similar to how a music producer exists to help round out some of those edges that make a song so hard for the general population to swallow we also need to be aware of our audience as God has entrusted us with, but sometimes we have different audiences in mind for one creation than another. Other times, artists can create simply based on how God designed us to create. Then, producers can enhance art based on how God designed them to enhance art (for others). Which leads us to be able to trust God to use our creation to speak to a consumer based on how He designed them to receive and consume art. King David wrote a Psalm about the concept of intimately knowing us and how we think, among other things:

“O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.” // Psalm 139:1-4 (ESV)

David knew how intimately God knew him. He knew that God cared about every little action David took. He knew that God considered every thing that David thought about. He knew that God had inside access to the ways that David thought, processed, reacted, spoke, and responded to any and every situation. Scripture tells us about how easily fooled we are by our own hearts, and yet how clearly God can search our hearts and test our minds to determine what we need (Jeremiah 17:9-10).

As creations of God, we also are recipients of an incredible gift: being created in the first place! Psalm 145:9 declares that “His mercy is over all that He has made”. We are in that category as those that “He has made”! For a Creative, what an exercise in God’s mercy it is to be able to create like He creates! What a gift that we would have music, painting, film, spoken word poetry, and other forms of art that express and draw out emotions and deep realizations!

My wife and I love watching movies. She’s more of a film buff than I am, but we both really enjoy sitting down to enjoy a movie together. We watch all genres, we aren’t overly particular or avoid one specifically. We do, however, really enjoy horror movies. Hailey has a theory about why the horror genre is so appealing to people, at least specifically to the two of us. Her theory is that people have a desire to come to realization of and witness to our depravity as humans, and how dark the human condition and experience is. We relate to the darkness, because we all experience it. Maybe none of us have been chased down by Jason at a summer campground before, but we’ve all experienced being followed by our fears- terrified of what might happen if they get ahold of us.

Art that can speak to us so specifically, help us realize these types of truths, and move us emotionally to grasp them on a deeper level is absolutely a gift from God. It is with creations that the Hoy Spirit can tug on people’s souls and reveal truths to them even before they know who Jesus is (Romans 1:18-20). If art can move the common person, then we must create art that will move the common person toward an answer for the darkness of human depravity, that answer being a very uncommon savior named Jesus.

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Kevin McClure has been leading worship in the local church for over 10 years in different capacities of student and adult ministries. As a songwriter, musical artist, and worship leader he has had the honor of touring the United States both as a performer and worship leader over the better part of the last decade. With a heart to see believers learn how to take the act of worship beyond the setting of a group gathering, Kevin is incredibly intentional with his time on and offstage to help teach the practice of worship as a lifestyle. Kevin lives in Omaha, Nebraska with his bride Hailey and his two daughters, Everleigh (8) and Eliska (2). His favorite food is coffee (lifesource), loves bonfires, and is convinced that Jesus is a Chicago Cubs fan.