What Do You Think? - Christians and Creativity

Ok, all of you creative types. Musicians, artists, writers. A friend emailed me a link to this article from Relevant Magazine yesterday. It was an interesting read and brings up some questions that are good for discussion. I've taken the liberty of putting a few quotes from the article below to discuss if you feel so led.

The article can be found in its entirety here.
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"The true artist displays to the world a manifestation of the inner meditations of their heart and mind....In community that is caring and healthy, an artist brings not only beauty and inspiration but also powerful observational skills and spiritual awareness. We can become a source of joy, blessing and the voice of God in other peoples’ lives.”                        

- Linnea Gabriella Spransy is an award-winning painter and leader of the artist community at the Boiler Room.

What do you think about that? Should the arts play a role in pointing other people to God? In what way? How should creative individuals view their role as believers? Is there a ministry there?

"Large-scale production can create a beautiful environment for people to worship in...I make services that I would want to go to.”

- Whitney George is the creative director of Church on the Move in Tulsa, Okla.

I admit, there is much I left out of this guys response, including the fact that he admits that a large scale production environment isn't for everyone. But what do you think about that? Are churches putting too much emphasis on the "production" of worship? Does production, big or small, play a role for you personally in how you worship? Do you think the church does a good job at bringing art into worship? Is is well executed?

 "Our challenge is just, don't worry about the business component—worry first about the Kingdom."

- Chad Johnson is the founder of Come&Live!, a nonprofit mission organization that joins hands with artists and “musicianaries” to provide guidance, direction and accountability. 

How do artists who are followers of Christ measure success? Is is possible to be accepted into the art community, be commercially successful and be a believer?

"Ultimately, I wanted to create a piece of art that would be taken at face value, that would be judged because it's a piece of art, not because a Christian created it or didn't create it. I believe God has made us to create things—that's what I want to do."

- Nathan Clarke is the founder of Fourth Line Films and the director of the award-winning documentary Wrestling for Jesus.

Is it fair for art to be judged based off of whether or not it was created by a Christian? Is one more influential than another? Can spiritual, Godly things be found in art that was created by people who don't know Jesus?

"The question I have to ask is, 'Did the medium serve the content?'...It happens when we don't think of the story before we figure out how we're going to tell it...We don't start with a turntable and projection and say, 'OK, now we have these things, what are we going to tell?'... I think what ends up happening is that the medium trumps the message because we want to be relevant..." 

- Blaine Hogan is a former actor and the current creative director at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago.

Do Christians do a good job of being tasteful with technology and art? Have churches elevated the medium over the message? Is it possible to find a healthy balance, and if so, how?

All quotes were taken from the Relevant Magazine article, "Is There A Place For Creative Christians?"