I noticed something interesting while on tour. Every venue I played there were flyers up of other Christian artists who either just played the same venue or who were about to play in the coming days and weeks. I guess I always knew there was this kinda “circuit” that Christian bands played but it never became as clear as it did when I joined the circuit myself. I noticed something starting to happen each time I saw these flyers. At first, I would get intimidated by the fact that I was just one of the many artists out there trying to make a name for myself. Certainly, Christ didn’t call us to this mindset but the thoughts were there nonetheless. One day, it occurred to me: I felt called to pray for these artists. If Christ truly is the center of what we are doing then why not serve and support them any way possible. The worst option would be to worry about competing in a popularity contest. We’re in this together.

How many Christians have we seen that have not been encouraged, loved or even corrected for that matter? It would have been really helpful to get an e-mail from someone who was further down the road than I was; I would have loved to receive advice on how to deal with the challenges of being a touring musician. (Although I do have a couple of friends who’ve been around this whole scene and whose wise words are invaluable to me.)
Fortunately, communities are being built in various areas that are connecting artists together who can uplift, pray, challenge, and simply encourage one another in Christ. I came across this beautiful passage from one of Madeleine L’ Engle’s books while dealing with these issues on the road. This passage speaks about Art and the role it plays in our lives.

“A great painting, or symphony, or play, doesn’t diminish us, but enlarges us, and we, too, want to make our own cry of affirmation to the power of creation behind the universe. This surge of creativity has nothing to do with competition, or degree of talent….This response on the part of any artist is the need to make incarnate the new awareness we have been granted through the genius of someone else.”
(A CIRCLE OF QUIET)

We need each other. We need to let go of control and be vulnerable. I am so thankful for the artists who are out there walking in faith. I want to be in their lives as much as possible, and I want them in mine. I welcome that vulnerability. I know that being open to inspiration from other artists (of all kinds- writers, painters, composers) will only strengthen my own art.

Warmly,
Chris

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 6:14 pm and is filed under Artist Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.