Wise-Hearted Ones: Ministry of Imagination
The Gift and Responsibility of Creativity
I believe the Church has forgotten the artist’s call.
We, as the collective Church, have forgotten what artists were ordained to do. We’ve forgotten that they’re not here to be bridled into manipulating people to think or do something. And we’ve forgotten that God has called artists to help us to learn to see with the eyes of our hearts, with the mind of Christ.
Too often in Christian circles the calling of artists has been limited to art for use in church or creating “churchy art.” But those are neither the limits of what glorifies God. The scope has to be widened considerably to include every part of life, especially the public square, if it’s going to have any effect on the larger culture we are called to create and live in.
As an artist of faith, I’ve struggled my whole life to justify and integrate these two pieces of myself, not realizing that they are woven together by design. My artistic gifts and my artistic sensibilities are intricately tied with a knowledge of God. It is through my creative lens that I’ve “gotten” something of who God is.
There is something truly unique and special about the gift of creativity which carries with it not status and honor but responsibility — the responsibility to make.
What if we, like theologian Walter Brueggemann, saw artistic work as a “ministry of imagination?” We’ve seen in our Wise-Hearted Ones podcast series that the Bible encourages a vision for artists as Tabernacle makers — artists who create in concert with God to make the Holy visible in our daily lives.
The arts are a language, given to us as a gift from God — a way to connect and communicate beyond where logical thought and words can travel. An artist committed to using their gift of creativity through the leading of the Spirit is an artist that sees their calling not as a means of building themselves up. But rather he or she sees their gift as just that — a gift given for service to the people of God for the glorification of God.
I truly believe that God is raising up artists, creatives, and makers to make His presence visible. He’s filling them with His Spirit, gifting them, and calling them to discipleship and commitment to serve in this same way as He did those in Exodus.
If the Israelites desperately needed to be shaped by the tangible presence of God in their daily lives, why should we think we are any different now? Wouldn’t it make sense that now in the 21st century when more than ever we are cocooned by images and media that God would raise up an army of creatives, fill them with his Spirit, and make Himself known in ways that church services just don’t even have the opportunity to anymore?
So… what’s next?
If the Church in the West has forgotten the call of the artist to work in the world as culture makers, it would be wise for us to look around and identify the seedling artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians, authors, poets, and dancers that God has planted and is even now raising up so that we may prepare them for the work to which they were called.
If you’re an artist called by God, I want to affirm your call. I want you to look at the story of the wise-hearted ones we discovered in Exodus and see a way forward. It’s a way of faithfulness, humility, clarity, and freedom — one that is deeply rooted in disciplined practice and accountable community.
The point is — to be really good as an artist as God intended, you must apply the wisdom of the heart. Be who you were created to be — a child of God, while making what you were created to make in service to God.
The way to wholeness as an artist and a person of faith is to recognize that these two pieces of yourself are already integrated by God’s design. One makes the other possible. And the fullness of your call comes to fruition only through living a deeply devoted “wise-hearted” way of life.
Look deeper at what it truly means to be a Christian artist in the ninth episode of the Wise-Hearted Ones: Ministry of Imagination. Listen to Ministry of Imagination >
Be. Make. Do. is an educational podcast with a conversational format that conveys the foundation of the soul|makers path. To prepare the next generation of culture makers, Lisa Smith shares her unique perspective gained from over 20 years of mentoring and ministering to artists.
Host Lisa Smith received her BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA and worked as a professional actor for many years before attending seminary. Seeking a way to merge her calling as an artist and a person of faith, Lisa went on to receive her MTS degree from the John Leland Seminary in Arlington, VA. She teaches classes at the John Leland Seminary, Wesley Theological Seminary, and Virginia Theological Seminary on the subjects of worship, theology and arts. Lisa is currently working on the soul|makers curriculum to equip artists to serve as prophetic critics and imaginative visionaries in the world.
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