How to glorify God and bless others: the gifts of exhortation and encouragement for artists
(part five)
Have you ever wondered how to better unite your love for God and your love for art? This is the fifth post in my series on how artists can use their spiritual gifts to bless others through their art. (Read the earlier posts: Intro post, Evangelicalism, Leadership, Teaching)
Encouragement/Exhortation
Encouragement/Exhortation- To lift people up and set them on [God’s] way.
“Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing… And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone.” [1 Thessalonians 5:11, 14.]
Life as a Christian is hard. We face hardships from outside us, like
-persecution,
-discrimination and hostility,
-isolation because of beliefs,
-sickness and health issues,
-strife in our families,
-loss of people we love.
We face internal struggles like
-doubt and distraction,
-anxiety,
-temptation and our own weakness.
It is easy to get beaten down in our faith and lose sight of the joy we are promised.
At the same time, there are Christians who have the spiritual gift of encouragement and exhortation. This is a God-given ability to lift others up when they feel overwhelmed with life and set them off in the right direction. It’s twofold of nudging people to do the right thing and to lovingly convict them when they are doing the wrong thing.
One of the tools these Christians can use is art. I’ve seen this most prevalently in writing, music, and film. As an example, I find the movie Facing The Giants to be both encouraging and convincing. I am convicted of having lackluster faith, of esteeming the world’s idea of victory over God’s plan, and being afraid of what God’s asked and equipped me to do. At the same time I am encouraged to read my Bible more and put my trust unwaveringly in God, even when things look hopeless. I am reminded of how He knows what’s best and has a plan for my life, that He will use my weakness for his glory.
I would caution artists who make encouraging works to remember to stay grounded in truth. We are prone in this to drift towards feelings-based encouragement which, while not inherently bad, quickly leads to other issues. Encouragement grounded in truth, not feelings, is more God-honoring and effective in the long run.
Another pitfall of the exhortation-minded artist is a tendency to offer unsolicited advice, which can look like nit-picking or critiquing. Even though the advice may be annoying, in this case it comes out of a loving desire to see the recipient improve and create to their full potential.
If you’re on the receiving side of this advice: Remember it is given out of love and that it does not, by any means, indicate that your work is bad or somehow doesn’t measure up. Often it means they really like the work (they just forget to say so.)
If you’re on the giving side of this advice: Remember that it can come across as judgemental or critical, and pay attention to sounding uplifting. For me it’s helpful to:
-give a “critique sandwich,” (starting and ending with something you like;)
-limit my critique to one thing, even if I see six other things;
-ask, “would you like advice/critique/input on this work” and if they say, “no thanks,” respect their wishes.
An artist gifted in encouragement may be tempted to compare their impact to artists with other giftings. They might have a hard time because what they do often passes unnoticed. It’s often one-on-one, or not in a traditional (read: “marketable”) form.
My grandmother makes cards and gives them to friends and family members. Both the care of making the outside of the card and writing the inside of the card are art forms, but these cards don’t get displayed in a museum or sold as books. She doesn’t get paid for sending cards. But the encouragement is invaluable.
Even if your work only touches one person, it is glorifying to God. Even if your work isn’t salable, it is priceless. Even if you never see the result in this life, it’s worth the time that you put into it.
Thank you so much for reading. And hey, if you want to give me a gift this holiday season, have you considered telling others about Flight Patterns? This link is really easy to share and it would mean a lot to me: https://linktr.ee/desireeflaming. Thank you!
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