Artist and Creator

9/1/18            Seamus      (video)                       about 23

It’s interesting how different perspectives of God try to exalt man to a position only God can fill.  At the first temptation to eat of the forbidden fruit, it was  claimed “…when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  The intelligent, the rich, the powerful, the popular – all are tempted to replace God rather than submit to Him.

But what about the artistic?  One would think the artist should have a special insight into the heart of God by sharing in God’s creativity.  A street corner conversation with Seamus, a local artist, helped me to understand how art might lead one away from a right understanding of God, to believe God doesn’t exist or is insignificant or uninvolved if He does.

How could this be, when there are signs of God’s awesome creativity all around us?  I think it’s because many don’t know the difference between being an artist and being the Creator.

Seamus had an interesting comment about how so many people react to his artwork, sometimes negatively, and can become very provoked by it even though he as the artist has already moved on and started a new project.  It made me realize that if one looks at God as “artist” rather than “Creator”, their perspective of God becomes very limited. 

We are made in the image of God, so we can see aspects of God in who we are and what we do, but they are limited.  So an artist can only rearrange what already exists in creative ways, but as Creator, God has made everything from nothing and provides the ultimate examples of creativity that artists strive to emulate.

A human artist can move on from his work, as Seamus observed.  Indeed, he must move on once it is finished, but God remains intimately involved with His creations because He is not only the Creator, but the sustainer of all that exists.  Colossians 1 tells us that God “…is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”  The one who created the physical laws that govern all created things also enforces those laws, from the farthest reaches of the cosmos to the most intimate detail of the smallest particle.

If an artist begins to think of God as only an artist like himself, he might take the “watchmaker” approach, thinking that God has just wound up the universe like a watch and is now standing off at a distance to see what will happen and how people will react.  But Jesus tells us that God is intimately involved with His creation, including our own lives:  “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

If an artist limits his concept of God to being a fellow artist, it tends to downgrade God’s magnificence and puff up one’s own importance in comparison.  But a more complete understanding of God as Creator and Sustainer can help us all realize just how small we really are, and how wonderful it is that God wants intimate and ongoing involvement in our lives regardless.

PS – Seamus graciously allowed me to record our conversation, which can be seen in its entirety HERE