Advice for Christian Creatives
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Recently, Revival LA, a movement of Christians committed to building gospel-centered culture in Los Angeles, hosted a Creative Night. It was a space for Christian creatives to worship, dialogue, and hear from two incredible creative professionals, Brian Ivie and Matt Sallee. Brian is a filmmaker, director and screenwriter most known for his documentary films, Emanual and The Drop Box. Matt is the bass lead and backing vocalist of the a cappella group Pentatonix and praise leader for Expression58 Worship.
As host and Revival LA founder, Dustin Lang, emphasized during the event, the first thing we learn about God in the Bible is that God is a creator. Not only did God create a world for us to enjoy, one of our first callings as humanity is to join in the act of creation. Creative professionals, you are living out one of the first biblical commands in your weekly work. As you continue on this journey of good work, here is some wisdom from Brian and Matt that they have learned along the way.
Define Your Success
The entertainment industry is full of dreams, both realized and unrealized. As you reflect on your work and your level of success, make sure you’ve defined what success actually is. There are characteristics that the world defines success by, revolving mostly around money and fame. Discern if lack of earthly wealth or notoriety is really how you want to define failure for yourself.
What drives the work that Matt and Brian do is less about immediate results, and more about wanting to present good work with eternal impact when they meet God face to face. You might not be where you want to be, you might even be struggling to get work, and it’s hard not to feel discouraged at times. This is a similar journey for most creatives, filled with seasons of doubt, comparison, struggle, and waiting. You are in good company. In the valleys, let that eternal perspective be your lingering hope, and on the mountains, let it remain your driving motivation.
Make God’s Voice the Loudest
If your work is to be centered around eternal goals, God’s voice has to be at the center of your life. Listen for God’s voice past your own self-doubt, knowing that God often dreams bigger and differently than we do. Seek out God’s voice above outside criticism, while still having the humility and wisdom to learn from it when possible. Be led by the Spirit amidst stress and difficult interactions, remembering that ends don’t always justify means.
There will be an ebb and flow of doubt, disappointment, critique (even from fellow Christians), stress, and much more. Through it all, return to God’s voice. Brian heavily emphasized how key it is for him to make space for quiet and spiritual practices in order to hear God, and encourages creatives to prioritize the same in their weekly routines. This is how he’s able to better navigate decision making, criticism, and loving people well along the way.
Don’t Over Spiritualize Everything
This might sound like surprising advice for Christians. While our faith is what sets us apart and defines our approach to life, there is wisdom in acknowledging the realities of the world. For example, even though we may feel strongly called by God to do our work, we still have to work hard and will face obstacles like everyone else. Sometimes a closed door is from God, but a lot of times it just means we have room to grow and improve in our work.
Another big tension creatives feel is defining your message. Many feel the pressure to always directly point to the Gospel in their work. It’s a reality that the audience shrinks when we do overtly Christian work, but it’s also true that good art done by Christians does not have to be overtly Christian. It’s not an impossible choice between being faithful or excellent. If you are doing your work well under the guidance of God’s voice, your work is both. So keep going. Keep listening, keep dreaming, and keep creating.
Watch the full event here.