The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
Lay Down Your Life or Pursue Your Art Dreams?
Can pursuing your dreams as an artist coexist with the biblical principle of laying down your life for the sake of the Kingdom? Join me as we explore this profound question through the heartfelt inquiry of Janie, a student grappling with her artistic calling and faith. Uncover the powerful realization that your unique talents and creative passions are not only compatible with your spiritual journey but are essential expressions of God's kingdom. By embracing our identities as beloved children of God, we can transform our understanding of self-denial—not as an abandonment of our dreams but as an alignment with divine purpose.
Discover how religiosity doesn't demand the suppression of individuality but celebrates the vibrant diversity of artistic expression in both the church and broader community. This episode is a call to all artists and creatives to recognize and embrace their God-given dreams and assignments beyond traditional settings. Let us empower you on your artistic journey, encouraging you to thrive in your craft while living out the life God has uniquely designed for you. Connect with our community on Facebook, Instagram, and matttommymentoring.com, and join us in nurturing the energy and excitement of your creative sanctuary.
Join us inside the Created to Thrive Foundations Course and Community for just $27/mo at http://www.matttommeymentoring.com/foundations
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist the podcast, where we hope you connect with God to bust through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love and really live the life you know. God created you to live as an artist in His kingdom. I'm Matt Tama, your host. Let's get started. Well, hey, my friend, it's Matt, so glad that you're with me here on the podcast. You know we do such incredible things in our Foundations course community, inside of our Creative Thrive Artist community, one of which is doing live Q&As all the time to make sure that our students are actually getting the answers that they need quickly to the things that are holding them back. And one of the things I've noticed, especially in our foundations courses, as people are coming in and wanting to kind of realign their life with a kingdom foundation get rid of the old as the old adage goes stinking thinking of the old ways they've thought and renew their mind to the truth of God's word and really create a foundation and habits to grow in the Lord and in their artistic calling. One of the things that a lot of people struggle with and it was a question the other night was Matt, how do I know that this calling that I have as an artist is from the Lord. And what about all the scriptures that talk about laying your life down and don't trust what's in your heart, and all this kind of stuff. How do you reconcile that? And I answered that pretty extensively for a student of my name, janie, and I, just as I was listening to it again, I thought you know what? This would be a great podcast episode and so, without further ado, I want to just let you hear the raw audio from the live Q&A and I hope that this answers some really clear, gives you some really clear answers to a question that really, you know, holds a lot of people back in their artistic journey, and hopefully this will begin to give you the confidence to really step out in who God has called you to be, without all this fear, shame and religious mumbo jumbo, baggage that often holds people back. All right, so here is the answer to that question.
Speaker 1:Matt, you talk about the vision that God gives us to be an artist. This is hard to truly receive, through the filter of a skewed teaching that she feels like she's had in her life, of Jesus's words when he says if you want to follow me, you must deny yourself. Take up your cross, follow me, lay down your life. That's words. When he says if you want to follow me, you must deny yourself. Take up your cross, follow me. Um, you know, lay down your life. That that whole thing, and? Um, so how do you reconcile that? Anybody else struggling with, like, how do you reconcile this? Lay down your life, but go after your dreams. Like what is it? Which is it man, which is it? So? I would say this the way. I could talk for hours and hours of this. So, deborah, I'm not going to do that. I'm just like I'm not going to do this. I'm just, I'm just going to give you a little bit.
Speaker 1:The first thing I would say is this the biggest revelation that you can get in your life is a deep, visceral revelation of the love of God and of your position as sons and daughters. For me, that is foundational and it creates the lens through which you see everything. Because when you encounter the love of God and you understand that you've been adopted, you've been reconciled, redeemed and restored into the fullness of God, and you understand that you've been adopted, you've been reconciled, redeemed and restored into the fullness of the kingdom, that you are seated with Christ in heavenly places, that you're a citizen of heaven, that you're God's son, god's daughter, you're a child of God with rights and responsibilities, benefits and blessings. That changes everything. Rights and responsibilities, benefits and blessings. That changes everything. There's nothing that you can do to change the love of God over your life. Whoa, that's a big, big change and it creates a lens through which you see the world.
Speaker 1:And so the things that I'm saying, I'm saying from that place, because I believe from that place, that perspective, that when Jesus is talking about denying ourselves and calling us to surrender our life to him and take up our cross and all that, I believe the heart of that, the spirit of that, is I want you to lay down your self-centered desires, I want you to lay down your way of wanting to do it, your prideful ways of doing it, and I want you to take up mine. Well, first of all, I would say that happened when you got saved and, second of all, that's a daily choice that we're making as we ask the Holy Spirit to form us and make us into the image of Christ. Right, that's what sanctification is about. Right, every day, daily decisions to die to myself, to take up my cross and follow him. But that does not. It's more about, I believe, putting the will of God in the kingdom of God first. But listen, all of that happens through your unique design. Does that make sense? I hope that makes sense when the kingdom of God works in you and then works through you. The kingdom of God is manifesting itself through you, through your uniqueness. Again, if God moves through Deborah or Irene or Mike or Sherilyn or Karen or me, it's going to be expressed differently. Same heart, same will of God, same word of God, same promises of God, but it gets expressed because we're all made and wired differently. Does that make sense to everybody?
Speaker 1:I think here's a big thing that religiosity will tell you. Religiosity will tell you that God's after man. He wants clones. There's a lot of churches that want to produce clones. They don't want you to be who you are. They want you to be a Christian like they are. And so they say to do that, you got to dress like this, talk like this, act like this, not do this. They've got the. Anybody ever been to those churches you got the religious list of. If you want to be one of us, you got to be well. That's the antithesis. That's the antithesis of the nature of God and creativity, right, right. So God is endless in how he wants to express himself and that is reflected in how he has made us.
Speaker 1:And so I just think that, you know, it's really, really, really important to understand that when Jesus is saying, lay down your life, you know, follow me. He's saying, hey, I want everything that I have for you. I want all of my nature and my light and my life and my transforming power. I want it to fully come through the you that I created you to be before the very foundation of the earth. I want the full you, the full package, redeemed and restored, to shine and to be bright and to be the person that I called you to be, because when you do that, you make room for the glory of God to be made manifest in your life. Whoa, I'm going to have to take an offering. I mean, this is good. No, I'm just kidding, but this is really good news, right? And so she went on to ask a couple other questions. She said so can I trust my own dreams and my own desires and my own hopes in being an artist and my joy in creating? Can I trust that those things are his vision for me, not something that I must give up to follow him.
Speaker 1:Well again, how many of you grew up when you know I was so scared when the missionaries would come to church, right the mission, like once a quarter. The missionaries would come and they're wearing their missionary shirt and they're talking about they sold it all and went to Africa and praise God for all those people. But I'm sitting on the back row going oh God, please don't call me to Africa. But you know what? God didn't call me to Africa, he called them to Africa. God called me to be an artist and God calls some people to be a business person, and God has called some people to be musicians, and he calls some to be in five-fold ministry in equipping the saints for the work of ministry, and he calls some to be moms and some to be dads and some to be entrepreneurs. We've all got a place in the kingdom and the work of ministry for people that are in five-fold ministry. Their whole job is not to make clones, their whole job is to equip you to do the thing that God has called you to do.
Speaker 1:And so I just believe again, when you got saved, all of you got saved and as you walk with the Lord, he places his desires in your heart in alignment with your unique design for your unique assignment. So I would just flip the script and say your dreams are not in opposition to God. Your dreams exist because of God. Right the passions and the design and the vision those are from God. Religion and fear and shame and all the stuff that we've been working through in this foundations course, those are the roadblocks of the enemy places in our life that want to block us from walking in the fullness of who God has created us to be. And that's why I'm saying when you get free and you start renewing your mind to the truth of who you are in Christ, and then this is the way I say it as your identity in Christ is established, your unique design is uncovered and your assignment is revealed. I'll say that again when your identity in Christ, son loved by God, all the, when your identity in Christ is established, your unique design is uncovered and your assignment is revealed.
Speaker 1:So many people are out there trying to do things for God with no thought to who they are in Christ or how God's uniquely wired them. They're only trying to keep up doing the religious tap dancing show and doing it like everybody else is doing it, rather than leaning into the thing that God has actually called them to do. Now, last part of this question, she says so are my desires to be an artist, his way of calling me to be one? Absolutely, absolutely. Because why? You love Jesus, you're with him every day, you're wanting to hear his voice, you're in worship, your heart is leaning toward him. Of course and here's the thing that I would say and I could go off on this, but I'm not going to go off on this but your calling as an artist can bless the church, but 98% of the time I just made that up a lot of the time, a lot of the time, your art and your gift as an artist can bless the church, but it's for the marketplace. Why? Because that's where the doggone people are that need what it is that you do.
Speaker 1:And if the only way that you're contextualizing your creativity is within the four walls of the church or within a ministry context, listen, if that's what God's called you to do, awesome, go for it, love it. But so many people don't step out beyond that because nobody's ever given them a context for it. And that's the whole thing that we've been doing all these years is saying, hey, god's got a plan and a purpose for your life as an artist, and if part of that is in the marketplace, there's some knowledge and wisdom and understanding that you got to get in how to build a body of work, market yourself, get out and build a business, all that. That's what we do in the mentoring program. We've been doing that for years and years very successfully, but we're bringing those two things together. But a lot of Christian artists stay frustrated because they feel like they want to do more with their art but they've never been given a context of how to do that, and so they feel stifled or locked down in the context of just a ministry setting.
Speaker 1:And so I would just three three scriptures I'll give you and um Janie and this is for everybody else in, just in regards to this conversation. Number one Psalm 37, four core verse in my life delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you a bunch of religious obligation to weigh you down and make your life suck. No, it did not say that Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the what, the desires of your heart. How many of you grew up hearing things like this? God will only give you what you need, not what you want. Yeah, where is that? Delight yourself Again.
Speaker 1:When your heart is completely his, he can trust your heart to release to you everything that you need to do to flourish and to thrive and to walk in the abundance that God designed for you from the very foundation of the earth Abundant. We got a whole lesson coming on this. I'm not going to teach it. But abundance walking in the abundant life from the very foundation of the earth Abundant we got a whole lesson coming on this. I'm not going to teach it, but abundance walking in the abundant life, both eternally and now, has always been the plan of God for you and for me. That's the way he set it up. So, as we're surrendered to him, we align those purposes and plans.
Speaker 1:And again, your desire to create and be an artist is not separate from God. All right, it's an expression of how he's working through you. All right, huge Number two Ephesians 2.10. I've already taught on this in the course, but I'll just say it again it is for his workmanship you were created in Christ Jesus, for good works prepared by God beforehand, that we should walk in them. Well, guess what, if you're wired as an artist? Guess what the good works that God prepared for you to walk in just might I don't know just might be you being an artist, just might be you showing up in the studio and doing the thing that God created you to do, and that when you do that, you see God show up not only in your life but through your life.
Speaker 1:Number three Romans 12, 6. We all have different gifts according to the grace that's been given us. Again, your gift of creativity is a gift from God that came on board with you when you were created by him. All right, it came with the package. We all get a choice with any gift that God gives us, right? We can point it in this direction, for our own self and our own whatever, or we can point it in the direction of glorifying him, and again, this is all in the context of you love Jesus. You're going after him, your heart's submitted to him. You're feeling this calling as an artist. Of course this is who he's created you to be. Of course this is how his kingdom gets manifested through you, and when you do it, he's glorified and you get to walk in the abundant life.
Speaker 1:Come on everybody, take a run, take a lap around the sanctuary. I mean, hey, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me today on the podcast Listen. I hope it's been a huge encouragement to you on your journey as an artist. Hey, also, before you leave, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of the other episodes of the Thriving Christian artist podcast, and also be sure to connect with me on Facebook, instagram or at my website, which is matttommymentoringcom. Until next time, remember, you were created to thrive. Bye-bye, thank you.