Loving God, loving art

As Christian artists, we have to learn to love the Creator more than the gifts that He has given.

We have to learn to love God more than the talents that He has given us.

The truth is, it can be hard for those of us who are glorified for what He has given our bodies and minds the ability to do. But God will not share His glory, so sometimes He asks the singer to be silent. He asks the dancer to be still. He asks the painter and the photographer to put down the brushes and cameras in their hands and to use their hands and eyes to seek His face.

You see, when we create, we are acting in the image of the One who first created. We are imitating our Father, who showed us what to do when He first created us. But often, in our creating, we become fixated on the clay being fashioned into a jar in our hands, and we say, "What a beautiful jar I am creating! How amazing that I could make this! How my neighbours will love it!" And they do love it, and we become known as "the one who makes beautiful pottery," and we forget that God is the Potter, and we are the clay.

It is good to be an artist. It is good to use the gifts that God gave us, because when we do, He is happy. We are fulfilling one of the parts of the design that He planned for us.

But when we forget that we are, in reality, made to be a reflection of God, to reflect glory back to God, and not to receive glory ourselves, we thwart God's design and steal His glory. We make ourselves like God and use God's good gift for the Enemy. Whatever is not used for God is used for the Enemy.

It is so easy for us, and for me, specifically, to forget for whom I sing, for whom I photograph, for whom I act, etc. I don't do it for my own glory. I don't do it to make my name more famous, or even to please the people around me. Any glory that I receive for it disappears in an instant. But all of the glory that God receives for it lasts for eternity, because God's glory goes on forever.

Sometimes I still don't know how to respond when people tell me they like my photography. I tend to say, "God gave it to me," and people just smile and nod and think, "What a cliche Christian answer." But it's the truth. I recognise that God gave me the gift of photography, and I don't want to steal that glory from Him. I have no suave way of giving Him glory and not sounding ultra-holy.

I just wish I had that problem in other areas of my life, as well, where it is so easy for me to forget that God receives every ounce of glory.