Comments on: A Letter To Andrew and Other Young Artists Injured By The Church

By: Pocket Revolutionary » The Artist in the Church

Pocket Revolutionary » The Artist in the Church — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:42:49 +0000

[...] iMonk has a great letter to artists in the church that made me think of my uncle Omer. permalink | trackback uri| [...]

By: bluejean

bluejean — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 09:25:31 +0000

Mike, I read this a bit late but you know, I’m a photographer. I take pictures for a living and I’m proud of that. God gave me the talent, and the insite and it took me YEARS to be able to call myself an artist and to really grasp what that meant. I’m still walking out in it. I refuse to be put into some preconcieved idea of what a good Christian is. I was created by God the way I am and if they have issue with that, take it up with Him.

I used to live in Chicago. Tell him to visit JPUSA- Jesus People USA. They are an incredible bunch of artistic Christian folks LIVING the life and reaching out to help others. Incredible people (I had the honor of spending a summer there). Just network with these guys and you will be blessed!

As a fellow photographer, welcome to the fold brother. Just keep your spiritual apeture wide open k?

By: Michael Lee

Michael Lee — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This is a fantastic letter. I’m moving into a different stage of life, one where I will have the joy of fostering artists within a church commmunity, and I’m going to post this on the wall of my office as a reminder of what that vocation means.
.
Let me add one thing: seek a wider audience. You may never be geographically close to those who understand and appreciate what you do (although in Chicago you’ve got pretty good odds) but the internet has opened up the possibility of wider audiences, especially for art that is conducive to digital distribution. Works like this (http://addisonrd.com/WordPress/?p=150) wouldn’t find an audience in our local church, but once it enters the blogosphere, people who are geographically distant can appreciate and interact with your work.

By: Steve S

Steve S — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Great thoughts, Michael. Very great thoughts!

steve

By: Steve S

Steve S — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

(Oops…just noticed that the previous comment was from a “Michael” as well. I was referring to iMonk, but Michael Lee’s thoughts are good, too!)

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Monk…while we disagree from time to time when I stop by here (disagree is merely a mental position on my part), yet I find in you in so many ways the Spirit of Christ alive and well. I mean that not to sound so surprising to me, but as a joy to find one who continues to show me he is not “bound” by dogmatic, doctrinal wrappings that the Church, as a whole, has grown in her own garden and utilized to suffocate her members. What good counsel you give this young man. I do not “do” a whole lot of fiction, but am a great fan of Chaim Potok who writes of life within Judaism. I came to him via “The Chosen”, but your words here remind me of “My Name Is Asher Lev”. It deals with the same scenario of which you speak and I’d recommend these books to anyone. Peace, my friend…….

By: Wyman

Wyman — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Well said Michael. Couldn’t agree more! Reminds me of when C.S. Lewis was asked if we need more “Christian writers.” He responded: “No, we need more writers who are Christian.” Seems to me that we Baptist kind of miss this distinction a little, thus the limited range of our artistic endeavors. Somewhere along the way we must get it into people’s minds that there is more to art than Thomas Kinkade (sp?) and more to literature than Tim LaHaye…but I digress.

Anyway, until I see Dostoevsky in the fiction section at LifeWay, I shall conclude that art is dead among us Baptists. I am not holding my breath.

By: Brian Pendell

Brian Pendell — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

This isn’t just for artists — it’s also for software developers and OR analysts such as myself. I’m doing my best to follow God with my vocation, yet I am continually being pushed by churches to “discover my spiritual gifts” — i.e., if I’m not in one of the “approved” ministries (pastoring, teaching, mission work, leading a Bible study) then I must be in rebellion or something.

Same with my wife. My wife is a very different person and does not fit into easy categories. But that hasn’t stopped people from trying to push her into the nursery, something for which she has no aptitude and utterly detests.

Wasn’t this part of the original reformation? That there are no “sacred” callings, and that God has callings on farmers and fishermen and lawyers just as much as he does on preachers? Wasn’t that one of the precious gifts Martin Luther left us? Have we done away with the office of priest merely to set up the office of “full-time minister” in its place?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

By: Kent Sanders

Kent Sanders — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Very well said. As a teacher at a Christian college I recognize that we are often too narrow in the vocational options we present to students. What a great reminder that people should follow their calling and gifts, not a narrow definition of “ministry” with only a few options.

By: Kent Runge

Kent Runge — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Oh to have had you in my life to write me a letter like this when I was 20…

Each exhibit of my photography, each photograph I sell reminds me that I’m communicating a visual gospel through the images I create of nature. Photography is my testimony.

So many people have commented: “I’ve never slowed down enough to look at the small things that I see in your work.”