Last week, I was featured on a podcast called the 1000 Question Christian podcast, where I was asked a series of questions on Checkpoint as a church model, digital churches, and tackled a controversial Biblical text. At the end, the host of the podcast gave me a chance to share one piece of advice to share with the listeners. I don't know the audience of this podcast well, but, given that this episode was directed at church planters, innovators, etc., I thought I would base my advice off of that.
My advice was this: own your creativity.
This is intentionally broad, as we are all doing creative things of different shapes, sizes, and colors, but the point remains the same. In our current culture, it is tempting to feel the need to only create something worthy of being sold on Etsy. Or make videos seen in the hundreds of thousands. This mindset has led to the phrase that irks me to my core: I'm not really a _______.
I'm not really an artist, I just like to paint. I'm not really an author, I just like to write. I'm not really a pastor, I just like loving people. I call an absolute foul on this line of thinking. Just because you might not consider yourself on the objective talent level of someone famous for their art doesn't make you less of an artist. If you paint, you are an artist. If you write, you are an author. Own that mess and move forward.
As a people (and, yes, as a church), we have become so obsessed with titles, elitism, classism, and hierarchy that it makes me sick to my stomach. Just because someone has more followers, more support, more recognition - guess what: that doesn't mean their own mess don't stink, as my inner Southerner would say. So name it and claim it. You are a creative work of a Creator God. Be proud.