People look at the radical new idea and aren’t sure whether they love it or hate it.
But they can’t stop talking about it. That’s one way we know it’s art. The worst thing, for the artist, is for the work to be ignored.
With a bit of practice anyone can do a paint-by numbers, build a house just like the one down the street, copy the recipe exactly. Follow the pattern, use the cookie cutter, replicate the original–nothing wrong with that, if you’re making cookies or houses or pot roast. Repeating what the other guy already did is great for lots of activities.
But it’s not art.
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:18-19)
God is an artist, a creator. He doesn’t make copies. He does new things, like making streams in the wasteland and changing lives.
God’s always doing radical new things in our lives. They spring up all around us. The question, as the scripture asks, is whether we’ll stop and look around long enough to perceive what He’s up to.
And, when we do see it, will we love it or hate it? Because God’s art involves profound change, if we take it seriously. And change makes us a lot more uncomfortable than that crazy sculpture nobody seems to understand.
The artist doesn’t care, as long as we don’t stop talking about it.
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I believe the FREEDOM TOUR experience is an example of God’s art. He brought a group of people together in a setting in which discomfort was inevitable. He used that time to do new things, to provide opportunities for deeper relationship with ourselves, each other, and Him. He opened new doors, some of which we likely failed to perceive. He showed us the powerful rewards (and a few difficulties) of living and working closely in community. Our conclusion:
Community is hard.
That’s okay. As long as we don’t stop talking about it.
I’ll bet your communities are difficult sometimes, too. I’ll bet your churches, families, work teams, and friendships aren’t always smooth sailing, sunshine and roses, wind-at-your-back experiences. I think that’s just how it is when we allow the artist to do a radical new thing in our lives. We have to trust that He knows what He’s doing.
I think He understands our discomfort. I think He knows it’s hard.
He just wants us to keep talking about it.
h/t to seth godin for inspiring this post