Today’s post is a guest post from Jon Barnes, a good friend of mine. I wouldn’t be who I am today without the hours that Jon poured into me while I was in high school. Jon is one of the most creative people that I know.

In Part 1 of this blog we took a look at some of the reason why Christian artists/creative’s fizzle out in their craft or never really take flight. Make sure you read Part 1 covering community, mentoring, sacred/secular tensions and busyness and then pick it up here:

Laziness

Some Christian artists don’t create art because they have become lazy, plain and simple. They’ve lost touch with their first love, have allowed staleness to overtake them, or settled for too little in their pursuit of creative expression. They’ve lost the hunger and forgot the deep satisfaction of iron-forged creative dedication. Maybe they’re like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite and are living off the art of their past, stunted in their craft and not willing to push forward. Laziness takes root and slowly, over time, cools the creative fires.

Losing Touch With the Mission

This one is huge. Why do we create? What are we doing in this world?  Who are we as followers of Christ?  The core questions of our identity as both creative people and followers of Jesus should be the driving factors in what we produce. And if we lose touch with our mission we lose touch with our art. Usually this obstacle goes hand in hand with an ever-decreasing interest and time spent in the word and a lack of intimacy with Christ.

Fear of Reception (Christians)

Another reason that Christian artists don’t create is due to fear of what other believers will say about our creations. This fear can be paralyzing and often comes from a bad experience or past precedent. It may stem from a question of form (music style, artistic nudity, subject matter) or message (political, stories of abuse, theology), but most certainly is focused around a “what if they” idea regarding how e think our art will be received by our church, peers, etc.

Fear of Reception (The World)

The other side of the “fear of reception” coin is the fear of how the rest of the world will accept us (or not) when they see, know and understand the Christ-driven ideas behind our art. This is a genuine fear that keeps many creative Christians on the safe side of things and is also a manifestation of the fear of man. The antidote is getting in touch with our calling and reminding ourselves that God created us for a purpose and our gifts are no accident.

And there are more potential reasons as well. Significant personal loss, struggles of faith, health issues, anger at God; there are many reasons why Christian creatives do not tap into their fullest potential and the reasons can often be complex, inter-woven, and deeply emotional.

Friends, I’m calling these out as someone that struggles as well.

This ain’t easy. There’s no roadmap. But hear this- stay hungry.  Pursue your craft with excellence and unparalleled ferocity. Ask yourself what one thing is holding you back from wild creative success and ask the Lord to give you the wisdom to step past it.  We’re creatives. Life is short. Go and make.

Have you experienced any of these challenges in your life as a creative person?

Bio:  Jon is currently Director of Communications at a Baltimore-area marketing and communications firm and has enjoyed a wacky buffet of careers over the years including youth pastor, law firm unicorn trainer and running his own design shop. When he’s not dreaming of fancy cheeses he’s creating videos for his YouTube channel or re-enacting scenes from Knight Rider episodes with his 2 boys. Jon and his family live in Ellicott City, MD. @pumthuggee. www.pumthuggee.com