This is part 2 of a series inspired by a conversation we had during one of our recent AP team meetings. We discovered some powerful truths about creating in godly community as we unpacked what we can’t create alone. We hope these articles inspire you to consider how Jesus might be inviting you to practice communal creativity.
Community is at the foundation of the Christian faith. You can’t sit through many church services without being told that you need to get into a small group or a life group or what have you. You hear about the twelve disciples and that iron sharpens iron, or how important it is to have a Paul and Timothy in your life. And that’s all true. Deep down we know that following Jesus requires the wisdom, encouragement, and accountability of others. The narrow road isn’t meant to be a solo trek.
Even in other areas of life, we see the necessity of community to get where we want to go. Whether it’s colleagues and networks in our careers, or coaches and gym groups in our health goals, we understand we can’t grow alone.
But then there’s our creative practice.
Creating can be quite a solitary pursuit. None of our paths look the same. Each of us have our own skills and dreams we’re chasing. It’s easy to become absorbed in our personal craft. Isolated in our imaginations. Determined to achieve what we said we would for years now.
And so the pressure builds.
Creative work can become crushing when it feels like it’s all up to us to produce. When we’re short on talent, time, and funds to execute the grand vision in our heads, we can get anxious and scramble, or stare at the blank page and never start. Discouragement sinks in as creating goes from a joyful pursuit to an impossible mountain to climb.
Go do something great for God
Growing up in the church, I wasn’t given much instruction on what to do with my creative gifts. If you were a musician, the answer was easy: go make some worship music. But there was no blueprint for a visual artist like me. The best I got was, “Go do something great for God”. What did that even mean?
As an 11-year-old, I heard “great” and thought big. An almighty God wouldn’t be impressed by a crayon doodle on the refrigerator. He might applaud a giant masterpiece on canvas, though. The expectations for my art instantly shot up and left me intimidated to say the least. But then came a comforting thought straight from scripture itself: I can do all things through Christ. If He wanted me to create something extraordinary, He’d surely help me do it.
The next ten years, I focused on school and dabbled in all kinds of creative mediums. Dancing, drawing, card-making, baking, knitting—you name it. They were fun hobbies to fill my spare hours. But when I chose a creative major in college (advertising with a graphic design minor), things suddenly got serious. Creativity shifted from something I did from time to time, to the core focus of every day. And if that wasn’t enough, I picked up painting during the pandemic and attempted to sell my art online.
Yes, I knew God gave me creative gifts, and I was determined to use them to do something “great”. With Him by my side, I couldn’t possibly fail. That is, until I stalled at 600 followers on Instagram and started to burn out in my freelance graphic design business. I kept praying for momentum, for breakthrough, for a miracle. I didn’t know what God was up to or where I’d gone wrong. All I knew was I felt overwhelmed and unequipped in my creative calling.
Alone isn’t the only way
The church may not offer creatives much of a script to follow, but our digital world sure does. It says all you need for creative success is some wi-fi and a phone. Share your work, gather an audience, and sell, sell, sell. It works. We’d all stop trying if it didn’t. Building a platform is a well-worn path to pursuing your creative calling at this point, and there’s certainly a lot of good that can come from it. But it’s also rather lonely. And I’m curious if by choosing this default playbook, we’re missing out on other sustainable and life-giving strategies to grow and use our gifts.
Looking back at my first attempts to build momentum as a creative, I realize the wall I hit was actually an invitation from Jesus in disguise. It was painful to face failure and disappointment, to acknowledge my limits and my pride. To unpack the lies I’d lived for so long about what I should be able to achieve. All this time, I thought I wasn’t good enough or the Lord didn’t want to bless me. It turns out that wasn’t true at all. I needed a shift in perspective. I expected His plans for my creative work to only require Him and me, but He had something more delightful in mind.
Our culture tends to highly value, perhaps even worship, the illusion of self-sufficiency. The status and freedom that comes with being a leader or your own boss. But we often forget there’s a lot of pressure that comes with building something by yourself. You get the satisfaction of every win, but also feel the brunt of every loss. Even having the Creator by your side won’t make you impervious to the comparison, doubt, and discouragement that comes with creating alone. This doesn’t make you any weaker than other creatives who seem to be thriving while doing their own thing, though.
Perhaps it’s a sign that God is leading you to create in a different way.
Some miracles are group projects
Over the last year or so, I’ve experienced more opportunities, visibility and momentum in my creative work than ever before. It’s been a string of quiet miracles that, to my surprise, have come without more hustle or better strategy. Actually, doing more had little to do with it. Instead, I’ve seen God move through unexpected connections, random DMs, and genuine friendships. He’s brought like-minded creatives together to partner in each others’ flourishing.
Our Creator can do the impossible on His own, but he seems to enjoy turning them into group projects as well. That’s what I’ve been pondering recently while re-reading the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. A story of our Savior doing a miracle within a community:
“5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:5-9
Now, I’ve always read this scripture as a reminder to trust in God’s supernatural provision. That He can do so much with our few ordinary loaves and fishes. But the Spirit highlighted something I’d never seen before in this passage. I noticed how opposite Philip’s and Andrew’s responses were to Jesus’s question. It seems that Philip’s approach started with what he could hypothetically do to solve the problem, though he knew it wasn’t feasible.
Andrew had a different reaction.
He looked to who was nearby and what could be of use right in front of him, though not necessarily in his hands already. It’s as if he knew he didn’t have the answer, but imagined someone else might. It was awkward, it was minuscule, but Jesus blessed it.
If I’m honest, most of the time I think like Philip when it comes to my creative calling. It’s not even about having a logic-driven brain or being a realist. I just immediately jump to the conclusion that whatever Jesus is asking me to create has to be accomplished all by myself. And when it’s risky and difficult and costly (which it often is), I quickly become deflated by that impossible task. I want to be like Andrew, who thought differently. Who didn’t assume the solution had to come from him alone. Who wasn’t afraid to get others involved and ask for help. Because creativity is especially beautiful and nourishing when it comes through collaboration.
Creativity multiplied in community
Following the Lord in your creative calling can be overwhelming. There’s a weightiness to it that you can’t deny. You sense His invitation to feed people’s souls through your art. Part of you trusts His provision, though the other part wonders how and from where it will come. Maybe you’ve received a vision for a project you have no idea how to pull off. Maybe you have a burden to use your gifts to address a social issue or serve a certain group of people, but you don’t know where to begin. The roadmap remains unclear despite so much prayer.
As you’re discerning your next steps, consider who around you might be part of the answer you’re seeking. You may have received the assignment, but that doesn’t mean you have to complete it alone. Yes, God’s Spirit will empower you if that’s really how it’s meant to be. But there’s a unique multiplication of joy, innovation, and excellence that He produces when we create together. He takes each of our small offerings of craft and presence and turns them into a creative feast.
Join us LIVE on Substack Wednesday Aug 12th at 5:30pm PST to explore how creativity is multiplied in community. We’re so excited to have a collaborative conversation, so come ready to share about the joys and challenges of choosing to create together instead of alone!