"Why Jesus Makes Art"

I was recently directed to this video by two Christian artists who conclude, "Jesus is the hero. You're not. This is the best news you'll hear all day." Their simplification of creativity and warnings against thinking wrongly about the nature of art clarify some of my anxious thoughts.

First of all, they speak insistently against making art as sacrifice. This surprised me at first (I couldn't possibly be seeing writing as sacrifice, could I?) but upon reflection it was a good word. Especially since I have been reading Hebrews for the past two weeks. In chapter nine Paul describes pre-Christ sacrifices as inadequate, even powerless, obsolete -- mere reminders of sin (and of the shedding of blood that was to come) rather than true cleansers of it. But Jesus is a faultless high priest who lives forever, and so can always intercede for us, and a truly perfect lamb, better than any and all sacrifices combined.

So what does this mean for my anxieties about writing? I think most importantly it means I cannot heal a guilty conscience or a fearful heart with the sacrifice of my time and effort and talent. I can't use writing to earn God's attention or favor. I can't produce "good works" (hehe) to earn significance or to make up for all the ways I've been lazy, unfruitful, unloving, and selfish in my life. My purity, my strength, and my significance must all come straight from my Master and Redeemer. Otherwise I'll be like those people Jesus talked about who call him "Lord, Lord" with great affection -- but don't do as he says.

The artists in the video described the two purposes of art and two common misuses. The first purpose: worship ("love the Lord your God with all your strength, mind, heart, and soul"). Worship thanks and enjoys the Creator, the Giver of creativity. It is the opposite of sacrificing to Him, since your status in His eyes does not change, only the level of your pleasure in and awareness of His goodness.

The second purpose: mission, by which we image-bearers reflect the character of God out toward others ("love your neighbor as yourself").

If we aren't loving God or loving people in these ways through art, we will fall into one of two traps: religion or hedonism. Religion creates a bubble around Christians and God (or Artists and Genius, in the case of people who worship art), excluding the world at large. This puffs people up and produces a small, tightly-knit subculture, but does nothing for God, who prefers a humble heart to the best created things any day. Hedonism creates a bubble around the individual and makes everything for and about Me -- production only for the sake of my own consumption, sacrifice only for self-satisfaction.

The speakers, who have been in the arts for many years, were ultimately very blunt and very helpful. "You're gonna make work, it's going to suck, it's going to not honor God sometimes, because you're going to be fallen and screw up, so you repent and you keep going. What you don't do is quit and go live like a monk somewhere and start a Christian Hollywood... You go back on mission, you repent and apologize, and you know that Jesus loves you, and you make good stuff. And that stuff won't be your god."