As a creative, writer and musician I’ve often had to wrestle with public appeal/ opinion and doing art for arts sake. (Read using your ‘gift’ because you have it)
So to quote Brandon Morse : “The thing is, I can’t help but wonder what my faith would look like if I was subjected to the church culture of today with all its lights and sounds and performances that seem more made to make money than make a difference, tell a story, or resonate with emotion.
The church is likely going to beat this dead horse for a while and people will continue to leave the church and lose faith. At some point, something has to break and a change has to happen.
Christians can survive without good cinema made
by Christians , but it absolutely needs good music made by Christians. The sooner this collapse of the modern Christian trend happens, the better.”
So I know of many good artists and have good friends who are making authentic honest music without going all ‘Gungor’ on us. Don’t stop looking, just search for the authentic artists like ‘Judah’ as one example who have their one hand in the Bible and the other deep into their art.
So what about singing songs on a Sunday at your local church? Yes, they give us a unifying voice to share lines of melody mixed with beliefs and emotions. But what beliefs and can we even trust our emotions? I’d rather sing fresh arrangements of the hymns of old and new songs from a very small handful of current writers than take up 20min singing along to my own version of bland acoustic cafe style trite coming from big name writers. Most times you’ll get greater encouragement from someone reading scripture and sharing how God saved/ rescued/ forgave/ redeemed / healed/ showed His love and mercy in a humble authentic way that invites you into the same real dynamic journey with God.
So I also know of new fresh creative filmmakers who are creating brilliant cinema. So not all is lost!
It’s just time we stop following the money to dictate our own creative direction and courage to represent Biblical truth in genuine and authentic Psalmistic style ways. (Read: the honest revealing constant tension between this world and the next) So just maybe this global pandemic is a chance for the creatives to clean their brushes, bring out the new canvases, wipe down the piano keys, start on a fresh page with new guitar strings and CREATE FOR ARTS SAKE!
Begin Again 