“Work as unto the Lord”- Colossians 3:23
“The only one truly excellent, the only source of excellence. We are declared excellent only by his decree with His system and the only accurate response is awe…So we make lofty art. You see the presence of good art will unconsciously refine a community, and poor art will do an incalculable harm. It’s only accomplished in the light of His excellency, it’s too high, it’s lofty.”
– Propaganda
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog describing my battle with depression on the Race and the only true Hope that can free me from it. Probably for the first time since Central America, I felt real inspiration for the blog and worked hard on it, felt good about it when I published it. And, after reading it, a friend of mine wrote me and she said, “by the way your blog was really good. It was like a different person wrote it”. Now, this was intended as a compliment, and I took it that way, but it was also convicting, because it woke me up to how half-heartedly I had done some of my other blogs. I used to love writing in high school and even got some awards for it and wrote a couple articles published in newspapers and magazines, so I’d say I’m pretty good at it. But on the Race, I’ve been a little nonchalant about it and just tried to get them out there so that my supporters could see.
You might ask, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a blog” or “What in the world does this have to do with Jesus and the Kingdom? You know, the reason that you’re even on the Race”. These are all good and fair questions that need to be asked, so I want to take time in this blog to answer them.
So, let’s take a look at the first question, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a blog”. I want to start off by pointing out that a blog is a form of art, and so I’m going to lump it into that category. As most of us know, art has a HUGE impact on our society. It is said that it reflects and even shapes culture. And I’m not talking about just paintings on a wall, though that is a form of art. I’m talking about music, movies, graffiti, architecture, literature, cooking, drawing, etc. All these are types of art and all reflect and shape our culture and society. I could give thousands of examples throughout history of art affecting all different areas of life, for better or worse, ranging from the music revolution during the Vietnam War to “gangster rap” and our urban neighborhoods, and from Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa bringing hope during the Renaissance to the abstract art of today’s increasingly relativistic culture. All of these have influenced and even changed the culture in their respective domains, for the good and bad. As the hip/hop poet Propaganda aptly stated- “You see the presence of good art will unconsciously refine a community, and poor art will do an incalculable harm”. These are just a few examples of what we have seen proven true time and time again throughout human history: the art we make has a profound impact on the culture surrounding us, so we would be wise to do it well. A great example in modern day society is our idea of love. Many people have no idea what love TRULY IS, evidenced by the way we talk about it and by the high rate of marriages coming apart at the seam. As the Texas Pastor Matt Chandler put it in an Easter sermon, “I know you don’t know what love is because you love tacos!” Comedic, maybe, but also sadly true. And while we laugh at ridiculous rom com’s, our high divorce rate and the way we window shop when we date shows that we actually buy into this Roman notion of Cupid and love that say our feelings are what really matter and that we can fall in and out of love, a concept far removed from the Biblical notion of love that says “love is not self-seeking”. And this romantic, emotional notion of love has been implemented in almost every aspect of society, as we see it permeating our music, television, artwork, and literature, until it becomes as it is now: the accepted and believed form of love that tears down so many families and relationships because the “feelings aren’t right”.
So the art we make, whether buildings or music or whatever, matters. It permeates every aspect of our daily lives and seeps into our brains as part of our experience of what life is.
Let’s jump to the next question. What in the world does all this have to do with Jesus, the Kingdom of God, and what you, Andrew Chambers, are supposed to be doing on the Race? This is a good question, and hopefully this next section will connect the two.
If you’ve read any of the New Testament, you will notice that Jesus was a man highly involved in society. He was constantly in and out of cities, the center pieces of civilization, visiting synagogues and temples, Pharisee’s houses, wealthy weddings, prostitutes, tax collectors and the like. He was a man of culture, because He came for the people. And He gave a striking description of the Kingdom of God in Matthew 13:33:
He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
Ok, so maybe not exactly striking unless you’re a 1st century Jew. But, what He is describing is a very little substance being put into a substantially larger substance and mixed in until “it was all leavened.” Until the larger substance is totally changed. And the parable before that talks about the smallest of seeds being sown in a field until it grows into the biggest of garden plants.
Are you catchin’ my drift yet? Jesus was saying that the Kingdom of God is taking over the world. The whole world. It will permeate every part of culture and society, renewing it and making it better. The way it was supposed to be. Jesus is killing the notion of secular vs. sacred that we have constructed in order to keep God out of the parts of our lives that we want for ourselves. Our music, our jobs, our games, our poetry, our artwork. He wants to conquer and renew and redeem all of these things. The heavenly Kingdom is for all of earth and all of life, not just Sundays in a church building. He wants every part of our lives, to make it all better. He wants hip/hop, Jay-Z and Kanye. He wants our movies, Leonardo Dicaprio and Angelina Jolie. He wants the coffee shop we go to. He wants the part of our job that we hate because our boss is greedy. He doesn’t want us to boycott life and just make “Christian” versions of all these things. HE WANTS THESE THINGS TO BE TRANSFORMED AND RENEWED into heavenly, kingdom worthy things.
And this is why we do excellent work in all that we do. Because the glory of God is at stake. Because how are we supposed to transform art and make it better if the art that we produce is mediocre? How are we supposed to inspire and encourage a better way to work if the work we do is mediocre? People in the “secular” realm need to be so impressed with the work that Christians produce that they can’t keep it out. They can’t stick in a little box and label it “Christian” movie, or in a little sub/genre on iTunes entitled “Christian/Gospel”. Let me be clear. I am NOT saying that Christians should water it down and simply try to break into the mainstream by lessening the message. No. Never. We live for the glory of God and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. What I am saying is that our Gospel saturated work should be so good that the so-called “mainstream” takes note and is so impressed that they are unable to keep it out, and that they see how great Jesus is through our work.
And I’ve been very encouraged by the way some Christians have been stepping into this responsibility lately. Memphis Teacher Residency is an organization dedicated to training excellent teachers to train and put into Memphis City Schools. It’s run by Christians who love Jesus and therefore seek to bring justice to our education system. But one thing that is unique about MTR is that the schools are under no obligation to hire MTR residents, there is no contract saying they have to. But, almost all of the residents are hired after their residency because people notice the difference. They care about bringing the Kingdom and so they do excellent work. The hip-hop artist Lecrae, who is a Christian, recently won a Grammy for his latest album, “Gravity” and has been featured on stations such as MTV and BET for his work. And it’s because he’s good. NOT because he is a Christian. But through him doing excellent work, Jesus is being proclaimed and sections of hip-hop are being impacted. And the same thing is happening with his label mate, Andy Mineo. People are taking notice because of the quality of work.
These are just a few examples in the entertainment and education world of Christians doing excellent work and thereby bringing the Kingdom to their sphere of influence. I could give you hundreds more.
All of this is to stay that what we do does matter, no matter what sphere of influence we are in or what part of society we affect. And we have a responsibility as ambassadors of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5) to be excellent representatives for our King in all of our work and play. This is my encouragement to you, Christian, to represent Him well, knowing that there is a good and eternal purpose behind all that we do for the Kingdom. So be excellent.
Through Him and for His Name’s Sake,
Chambeezy
