I frequent a Christian music discussion board, and the question "Does the world need more Christian artists, or more artists who are Christian?" came up. I responded with my belief that the world can always use more Christians, and more quality art. Here's a post I made about why, as believers, we shouldn't settle for mediocrity in what we do:
PaulDA wrote:
>>Blindman wrote: What the world doesn't need, and this is a sentiment already shared by several in this thread, is more mediocrity.
> I hear this quite a bit on here. But i don't think the average record buyer is looking for 'great art'.
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> And just who is going to decide what is mediocre and what isn't?
> Talk about being judgemental!(not you 'Blindman', but in general).
There's one extremely qualified person to make the call on the mediocrity of someone's work, and it sure isn't the average record buyer. It is the artist himself. Let me give two examples:
A few years ago after Steven Curtis Chapman released his Signs of Life album, I read an interview with him where he talked about the making of the album. The album was released in late '95 or early '96 (I think), some time after dc Talk's "Jesus Freak" and Jars of Clay's self-titled debut albums had been released. To paraphrase, SCC said that when he listened to the high level of musicianship and songwriting in both Jesus Freak and Jars of Clay, it made him realize that in the past few years of his career, he had grown somewhat stale musically - he had relied on his tremendous talent to put out some quality albums, but he realized that they weren't the best that he could do because he had neglected to practice and improve on his skills with the guitar. So, for Signs of Life, he got together with a few well-known studio guitarists and honed his skills, striving for excellence in an area where he had judged himself to not have given his best. This, I believe, is an example of not settling for mediocrity in oneself.
In a later post, PaulDA wrote:
Quote:
> God doesn't care how we sound when we sing to Him. He doesn't think like that.
> 1 Cor 3:19, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.
> God only cares if you praise Him and do things for Him, that is what counts, not 'how great you sound' by human standards.
It is true that how we "sound" to someone else doesn't matter to God. The question is how we praise. Worship is an attitude of the heart. If we look at the parable of the talents where the servants take their master's money, put it to work, then present it back to him, it is quite apparent that what God is looking for is not "Is this quality in the eyes of men?" but "Is this the best you can do?"
My second example:
I am a worship leader at my church. From an earthly standpoint, I do plenty of what PaulDA refers to in Psalm 47:6 - "Sing praises to God". I know that God accepts me for who I am and accepts whatever I can offer. Why then, do I still practice guitar, schedule band practices? Why do I look for new worship songs that express new ways of praising God? Theoretically, my team and I could just show up on Sunday morning, plug in our guitars, and play whatever, and this would fulfill the "Sing praises to God" command. However, this would not be our best.
God didn't withhold His best from us - He put his best work into the creation of this world which he then gave over to mankind, and He gives His best work ever - Christ dying on the cross - to mankind. How can we do anything but strive to give our best in return and not settle for mediocrity?
I'll repeat the question that I had at the end of my first post: What kind of art has He called you to create? I work in the software industry. Because I've been redeemed by the work of God in my life, I want to give my best in my programs and scripts. As a youth group counselor, I want to hone my teaching to be the best that it can be. As a musician, I want to give the best of my musical talent and skill. As a friend, a brother, I want to make my relationships the best and closest that they can be. My point in saying that the world doesn't need more mediocrity from Christians is to say that Christians should have the most reason not to settle for mediocrity in ourselves. I think that if we strive for this, there will be more quality art in the world - and the world can look at that and see the One we're creating it for.
PaulDA wrote:
>>Blindman wrote: What the world doesn't need, and this is a sentiment already shared by several in this thread, is more mediocrity.
> I hear this quite a bit on here. But i don't think the average record buyer is looking for 'great art'.
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> And just who is going to decide what is mediocre and what isn't?
> Talk about being judgemental!(not you 'Blindman', but in general).
There's one extremely qualified person to make the call on the mediocrity of someone's work, and it sure isn't the average record buyer. It is the artist himself. Let me give two examples:
A few years ago after Steven Curtis Chapman released his Signs of Life album, I read an interview with him where he talked about the making of the album. The album was released in late '95 or early '96 (I think), some time after dc Talk's "Jesus Freak" and Jars of Clay's self-titled debut albums had been released. To paraphrase, SCC said that when he listened to the high level of musicianship and songwriting in both Jesus Freak and Jars of Clay, it made him realize that in the past few years of his career, he had grown somewhat stale musically - he had relied on his tremendous talent to put out some quality albums, but he realized that they weren't the best that he could do because he had neglected to practice and improve on his skills with the guitar. So, for Signs of Life, he got together with a few well-known studio guitarists and honed his skills, striving for excellence in an area where he had judged himself to not have given his best. This, I believe, is an example of not settling for mediocrity in oneself.
In a later post, PaulDA wrote:
Quote:
> God doesn't care how we sound when we sing to Him. He doesn't think like that.
> 1 Cor 3:19, For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.
> God only cares if you praise Him and do things for Him, that is what counts, not 'how great you sound' by human standards.
It is true that how we "sound" to someone else doesn't matter to God. The question is how we praise. Worship is an attitude of the heart. If we look at the parable of the talents where the servants take their master's money, put it to work, then present it back to him, it is quite apparent that what God is looking for is not "Is this quality in the eyes of men?" but "Is this the best you can do?"
My second example:
I am a worship leader at my church. From an earthly standpoint, I do plenty of what PaulDA refers to in Psalm 47:6 - "Sing praises to God". I know that God accepts me for who I am and accepts whatever I can offer. Why then, do I still practice guitar, schedule band practices? Why do I look for new worship songs that express new ways of praising God? Theoretically, my team and I could just show up on Sunday morning, plug in our guitars, and play whatever, and this would fulfill the "Sing praises to God" command. However, this would not be our best.
God didn't withhold His best from us - He put his best work into the creation of this world which he then gave over to mankind, and He gives His best work ever - Christ dying on the cross - to mankind. How can we do anything but strive to give our best in return and not settle for mediocrity?
I'll repeat the question that I had at the end of my first post: What kind of art has He called you to create? I work in the software industry. Because I've been redeemed by the work of God in my life, I want to give my best in my programs and scripts. As a youth group counselor, I want to hone my teaching to be the best that it can be. As a musician, I want to give the best of my musical talent and skill. As a friend, a brother, I want to make my relationships the best and closest that they can be. My point in saying that the world doesn't need more mediocrity from Christians is to say that Christians should have the most reason not to settle for mediocrity in ourselves. I think that if we strive for this, there will be more quality art in the world - and the world can look at that and see the One we're creating it for.
posted by Bob at
2:14 PM
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