Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Running A.M.O.K. Creative Arts Ministry:
Why Do Artists Get a Pass?
by D.C. Weiss
A few days ago I was doing some set painting at a local theater and a few of us stage parents and the director were talking about how directors often would rather work with nice people who work hard and cooperate. As opposed to working with more talented people with bad attitudes and work ethics. However, occasionally a person is just so talented that those around them put up with their attitudes for the sake of the performance. This brought to mind a question: Why do artists get a pass? I mean let’s face it, we hear the stories almost daily of celebrity artists (actors, musicians, etc.) who exhibit some extremely antisocial behavior, but for some reason we tolerate it, buy their products and make them rich. We would be mortified if our children behaved in the fashion of some of these folks and yet we tend to write off the “sins” of the talented because they ARE talented. Why the double standard?
I mean we’ve all heard about bad behavior and general weirdness excused due to the “artistic temperament.” We’ve all heard of a tardy (yes, I know this article was two days late), lackadaisical and rude attitude being excused by simply saying, “What do you expect, he’s an artist?” I know some artists will say, “But nobody gets my vision. I’m misunderstood.” So are lots of people, so again I ask, “Why do artists get a pass?” Could it be talent? Sure some people hold them in awe because they can do something that others think they can’t, but everyone is talented.
As a part of the artistic world, I’ve often said there have been hundreds of times I’d trade my artistic gift for the ability to fix my own car. While people may respect our abilities as artists, when the bottom falls out of the economy, we move to the bottom of the food chain pretty quickly. Is it possible to be an artist and still be a kind hearted, level headed, well adjusted, responsible, polite and punctual human being? Lord, I hope so.
And as a follower of Jesus Christ, anything else we do is superseded by the fact that we belong to Jesus. Translation—we don’t get the pass. No one does. After all, I can’t picture Jesus walking around with the attitude of, “Look, I can turn water into wine and raise the dead. You’re lucky to have me and I’ll act however I darn well please.” No way! He was humble as he performed incredible miracles and we, as his followers, should model this same humble attitude.
We all have our struggles. We all have our weak moments and none of these criticisms are meant to be judgmental, but too often we let our talents and the praises of men go to our heads. So check yourself. Are you believing your own press releases?
The Bible says, Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment… It further says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (Romans 12:3, NIV; James 4:6, NIV).
Which one are you? Your gift comes from God and is to be used to His glory.
You might be asking, “Why is this so important?” Because God has entrusted us with an awesome mission. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that when God reconciled us to himself through Jesus, he entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation calling us to be Christ’s ambassadors. In other words, we represent Jesus with our lives. As children of the ultimate Creator, we need to not only be excellent artists, we also need to be excellent people, representing Jesus as He is, as best we can. Tear up your artist pass and show the world Jesus.
This article was originally posted to Dream Builders Ministry in Motion's Ezine
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Why Do Artists Get a Pass?
by D.C. Weiss
A few days ago I was doing some set painting at a local theater and a few of us stage parents and the director were talking about how directors often would rather work with nice people who work hard and cooperate. As opposed to working with more talented people with bad attitudes and work ethics. However, occasionally a person is just so talented that those around them put up with their attitudes for the sake of the performance. This brought to mind a question: Why do artists get a pass? I mean let’s face it, we hear the stories almost daily of celebrity artists (actors, musicians, etc.) who exhibit some extremely antisocial behavior, but for some reason we tolerate it, buy their products and make them rich. We would be mortified if our children behaved in the fashion of some of these folks and yet we tend to write off the “sins” of the talented because they ARE talented. Why the double standard?
I mean we’ve all heard about bad behavior and general weirdness excused due to the “artistic temperament.” We’ve all heard of a tardy (yes, I know this article was two days late), lackadaisical and rude attitude being excused by simply saying, “What do you expect, he’s an artist?” I know some artists will say, “But nobody gets my vision. I’m misunderstood.” So are lots of people, so again I ask, “Why do artists get a pass?” Could it be talent? Sure some people hold them in awe because they can do something that others think they can’t, but everyone is talented.
As a part of the artistic world, I’ve often said there have been hundreds of times I’d trade my artistic gift for the ability to fix my own car. While people may respect our abilities as artists, when the bottom falls out of the economy, we move to the bottom of the food chain pretty quickly. Is it possible to be an artist and still be a kind hearted, level headed, well adjusted, responsible, polite and punctual human being? Lord, I hope so.
And as a follower of Jesus Christ, anything else we do is superseded by the fact that we belong to Jesus. Translation—we don’t get the pass. No one does. After all, I can’t picture Jesus walking around with the attitude of, “Look, I can turn water into wine and raise the dead. You’re lucky to have me and I’ll act however I darn well please.” No way! He was humble as he performed incredible miracles and we, as his followers, should model this same humble attitude.
We all have our struggles. We all have our weak moments and none of these criticisms are meant to be judgmental, but too often we let our talents and the praises of men go to our heads. So check yourself. Are you believing your own press releases?
The Bible says, Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment… It further says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (Romans 12:3, NIV; James 4:6, NIV).
Which one are you? Your gift comes from God and is to be used to His glory.
You might be asking, “Why is this so important?” Because God has entrusted us with an awesome mission. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that when God reconciled us to himself through Jesus, he entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation calling us to be Christ’s ambassadors. In other words, we represent Jesus with our lives. As children of the ultimate Creator, we need to not only be excellent artists, we also need to be excellent people, representing Jesus as He is, as best we can. Tear up your artist pass and show the world Jesus.
This article was originally posted to Dream Builders Ministry in Motion's Ezine
