Can My Art Become An Idol

You know, if you love making art as much as I do, it’s really easy to wonder, “Hey!  Is my love of art and creating art crowding out my passion for Jesus and my desire to worship Him?  Is it becoming an idol in my life?  I don’t know if you have ever thought about that, but recently Tina, one of our Podcast listeners, asked me that very question.

Fear By Any Other Name Is Just Fear
Sometimes the enemy will disguise himself as wisdom when it’s just plain old fear.  When I hear a question like this, I find that it’s often rooted in a place of fear: Fear of messing up, fear of not doing it right, fear of disappointing God, and others.  

It’s born out of a wrong mindset that is all too prevalent in the church and the Christian art community. This false idea that “Unless you do it exactly like this, or get exact permission to do this much but not that much, then you are somehow going to do it wrong.”

Bottom line, God isn’t like that. I really believe that God cares so much more THAT we create than WHAT we create, or even how much we create.  I believe that it brings God joy when we do the thing that He has called us to do. 

It is like the quote that I included in “Unlocking The Heart of the Artist” from Saint Irenaeus that says, “The Glory of God is man Fully alive.”  That is, as you do the thing that God has called and created you, nothing else could bring greater glory or greater joy to the Father. So instead of a fear-based approach that is borne out of a faulty mindset, I want you to embrace this confident heartfelt belief in your art that says, “Yeah!  When I do this thing, it is what God designed me for,” and that brings Him glory.

Art Is A Vehicle for Grace
If you are struggling with this question, then I want you to embrace the fact that art is a means of grace.  It’s one way we can experience the grace, love, and manifest presence of God in our life. This grace is not only for ourselves but also for others as God uses our art to reveal and release His nature in and through us. 

Always keep in mind that it’s God who created and called you to be an artist. It’s His artistic expression that He desires to bring to life through the talent and skill He gave you. The Father desires to bring you into this Spirit-led creative process, one that impacts and changes not only you but others as well.

Again, nothing brings Him greater glory than for you to be able to do the thing that He has called you to do. That, my friend, sounds like the exact opposite of idolatry.

Keep Your Eyes on The Creator, Not the Creations
For all of us who are believers, art should never be the entire focus of our lives. Art for art’s sake isn’t why you were endowed with your unique set of creative gifts and talents. Rather, art is a vehicle through which we experience the love of God, hear His voice, and allow His beauty, life, and life to flow through us to others.

When anything in life becomes an idol, three things come to mind: 

• That idol becomes the center of your focus and becomes an object of your worship. 
• It becomes a source of identity. 
• It becomes the place that we receive power.

If the thing you create and the artistic passions you pursue begin taking on a life of its own and separating you from God, then yes, that could be a problem.  Anything that supplants your relationship with Jesus and His Lordship in your life absolutely can become an idol.

The secret to staying on the right path is to want to make sure that you see these beautiful things, these gifts that God gives us not as an end in themselves. Art, as I shared earlier, is a vehicle God uses to draw us close to Him. He uses it to transform our lives while He moves through us and the works of our hands to transform others.  Art that accomplishes this is not an idol.

I hope this helps as you continue to create with Him. If so, take a moment to share it with a friend, share it on social media, and comment below!

Thanks for reading