Creativity, Art, Propaganda, God, and the reasons Why.

This was spurred on by Jordan's (blog here) question: what is the difference between a Christian artist (artist in any way, say painting, music, etc.) and a non-Christian artist? He challenged his readers to 'think outside the box'. I'm not quite sure what box he's talking about, but I do have some thoughts on the subject.

First, we have ALL been created in God's image. I believe that part of God's image is the ability to create. What I mean by this is that I believe we are all blessed with creativity, whether it be in music, art, creating spreadsheets, whatever. This is a blessing which has been bestowed upon all humanity, whether we choose to acknowledge God as the instigator of the creativity or not.

Second, All humanity is motivated by something. I don't believe we ever do anything for 'no reason'. There are always reasons. The two central reasons most people do something are
1. To please themselves, or
2. To please someone else.
this is true for, I would say, the vast majority of the population.

Now, to my argument. I believe that the main difference between a Christian artist, and a non-Christian artist is motivation. Someone who is not attempting to live their life for Christ is either trying to please themselves (selfishness, egocentricity) or trying to please those around them. Someone who is attempting to follow Christ's teachings is trying to please Him.

How does this spell itself out in art? Well, many Christian artists have used this train of thought as an excuse to create 'Christian Propaganda', essentially ads for Christ. This has been done throughout history, some very good, some very poor. That's not what I'm talking about here.


As a follower of Christ, I believe that He impacts my life in a very direct way. Take a flower, for example. As a Christian, I view a flower as an example of God's creation, of His amazing work here on earth. An atheist surely appreciates the beauty of the flower as much as I do, but for him, there is no attachment to the supernatural through that flower. It's just a flower.

Now, if I take a photo of that flower, for me, It's because I want others to be able to see God's glory the way I see it, that I have something important to add to this jigsaw puzzle we call life. What they see in that photo is entirely up to them, but the purpose, the motivation, for that photo being taken was to use the gifts that God has given me to show His glory to others.

Here's the catch: if an atheist took that photo and assuming we two had similar skills in photography, the photos would be nearly identical. If you put them side by side, you would not be able to tell one was taken by a Christian and the other by an Atheist.

So what's the difference? I believe it all comes down to motivation. The Why. Why do we do what we do? Is it to please others, to please ourselves, or to please God? As Christians, I believe we should be slowly moving towards Him, using our gifts and talents for Him, and giving Him the glory. that doesn't mean that we must all run out and join a seminary, but it means we must give Him the glory in our day to day lives, and start living our lives as if the greatest being in the universe loves us unconditionally. As we learn to please Him, we will do what He says. If we do what He says, we will be learning to please (or bless) others. Through pleasing others, we will in turn be pleased (or blessed).

The Why is the only thing that seperates 'us' from 'them'. We have found the path in the darkness, or it has found us, and we have chosen to follow it.