I love The Austin Stone. Talk with me for a while, and my church will come up as a subject. I love how they want people to mature and become strong in the faith.
The worship team longs for the same. They want believing artists to hone their abilities. More importantly, they desire them to grow in humility.
Art is not meant for the artist alone, though it benefits them. Art is for service. Art follows the greatest commandment: it loves God by glorifying him, and it loves others by bestowing beauty, grace, and compassion.
The team gives aim to the aspiration with a manifesto that comprises ten parts.
- We esteem the Word of God. God’s Word is the best word. It reveals his heart. My good words stem from how deeply rooted they are in his.
- We depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. I require the Spirit, every minute of every day, for in him I find life and peace. I need his direction, his wisdom, his inspiration, and his imagination.
- We love and worship Jesus above everything else. To love is to know intimately; to worship is to submit. I follow Jesus in loving obedience. He is the only priority that matters.
- We are a community of shepherds. As a Christian artist, I have an obligation to shepherd people’s hearts toward God, the Great Shepherd. I invite people to worship through sharing beauty and calling attention to it. (Eugene Peterson and Luci Shaw offers words of wisdom in this area.)
- We choose comradery over comparison. Art flourishes in community, not isolation. I recognize that God made each of us with different gifts, talents, and tastes so as to build up his bride, the church. We prism his grace, like a stained-glass window being formed under his guidance and care. (John Piper speaks of prisming grace, as does Peter.)
- We choose servanthood over stardom. As a Christian artist, I serve others and work toward Jesus being glorified. I follow Jesus’ example of humility, who humbled himself by becoming a man and dying upon a cross.
- We are not moved by applause or criticism. My identity rests not in my art but in Christ. I am a daughter of God, first and always.
- We value excellence in everything we do. God calls me to be a master craftsman, and a master pursues excellence in all things: mind, heart, body, and spirit.
- We focus on character over competency. A gentle heart trumps a magnificent poem, essay, or drawing. Because I create out of the overflow of my heart, I must guard its development toward one after God’s own.
- We consider others more important than ourselves. Philippians exhorts me to consider the interests of others, not only those of myself. C.S. Lewis applies here. “To even get near [humility], even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert. […] Probably all you will think about him [the humble man] is that he seemed a cheerful intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. […] He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.” Humility causes me to relinquish my “rights” so that I focus on what matters: God and others.
The ten tenets may seem lofty, but they aren’t. God calls all believers to uphold and model them. They mark the life of one who loves God and has been called according to his purpose.