The Danger of Being a Christian Creative

"You can give your life to the mission field, but that doesn't automatically mean you have given your life to God."
-Paul Washer

I recently watched this profound sermon, yet with a deceptively simple message, from Paul Washer about the heart of a true missionary. Personally, I believe that every Christian creative who takes the great commission seriously is also a missionary in their own way.

Doing right but missing the point

If you're a creative, chances are you are intelligent in some way. You look at the world differently. You're basically an entrepreneur––creating something out of nothing. No doubt, these amazing abilities that we have are reflections of the deeply wonderful character of God as our Creator.

When we get used to combining the right sounds as a producer, singing the right notes as a singer, making the right strokes as an artist, and even saying the right words as a speaker/preacher, it's probably easy for us to pat ourselves on the shoulder for a job well done and call it a day afterwards. Once we've mastered our craft, we reach a level of comfort in our creative process. 

But here's where we need to be vigilant: If you're not careful, mastering your skill might feed your ego more than your spirit. 

Okay, I know that was a bit harsh. By all means, celebrate your growth! Thank God for it, and don't miss a day without doing so. But when all is said and done, humble yourself again, and don't let your soul ever believe that any excellent work you've created was because of you.

And yes, we must take hold of this radical belief. We can't afford to give credit to ourselves, because a little leaven leavens the whole bread. Once you've stopped relying on the Spirit for anything you do, you've missed the point. 

But catch this: I said once you stopped relying on the Spirit would you have missed the point in creating––it's a matter of the heart, and of the mind. You could create your least popular song or video, but if you did it with a humble reliance on the Lord and finished right when He said that was enough, despite what you think of your work, then that is holy excellence. The value of your work is determined by what God says, not what the analytics show.

Creators can find it hard to love

Do you see the danger? Even if we hail ourselves to be “Christian creatives" (a label I often use myself), we could so easily disqualify our work when we make our creating about ourselves. 

Believe me, I hate this about myself. When I get so focused on my craft, it's hard to appreciate peers in the same field as me. It's hard for me to appreciate songs by other musicians, or content by other Christian creatives. Instead of appreciating the excellent and holy work of our family members in the Body, we silently criticize their works, find reasons to believe that we are superior, or out of insecurity seek to imitate what they're doing, hoping it elevates us in some way, even though that's probably not in line with our unique calling and who we are. 

Self-absorbed creatives find it very difficult to love. We need to kill this sin.

Create as a dying man to dying men

I plead with you, my beloved creative in Christ, to humble yourself before the Lord and soak yourself in His word for more hours than you create. A car cannot run beyond the fuel it has in the tank. You cannot create without the Holy Spirit. You have no reason to create apart from Christ.

Let's stop creating just because it's cool. Have a bigger vision, my friend. It doesn't matter if you don't have that vision for yourself––ask the Holy Spirit. He would gladly show you who you should be creating for.

It is better to create thoughtfully for one person, than to put something out hoping to get the general public's approval. Let God inform your work, not the world's superficial ideals.

Christian, you don't have all the time in the world. We are on borrowed time. Our bodies are wasting away along with the world and its desires. We are surrounded with people who are dying, both in their bodies and souls. The next time you create, make it count. Make it count, even if God had only one person in mind to reach through your work. Do it for them.

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