As a Christian, as an artist, as a canyon.

There can be an over-arching conversation if you go to church a lot. "That didn't look good enough. It needed more of (this)." "Really? I think we should add more to it to glorify God!" "Come, we could be so more original than that. We need to follow the creative God we serve by being more creative!" There are no true.falses to any of these statements, either. Where we come from can dictate what we do. Artistic people will BE artistic, whether you give them a stick or a canvas. Or a guitar for that matter. Others of us will do what we can to express ourselves and give glory to the things that matter to us. So naturally, in a church setting where there are artistic people you will find such a flourishing of something that is different and expanding. That's how artists work. We look at what we have and say, "but what if it looked like this??" and then move into making that a reality. The fault comes when we try to force everyone else to operate on that level of mentality. Not everyone works the way an artist does. Or an engineer. Or a nurse. Or a philosopher. There is difference everywhere, all around us, and each has its place. I have experienced God in a basement of an old building that smelled like mildew. I've experienced the Holy Spirit in the Phillips Arena in one of the richest cities in the world. I've experienced Him beneath the stars, beneath my own roof, in a group of hundreds and with a dozen friends. I've had all the lights, all the equipment, and sometimes nothing. There have been art projects, paintings, designs, the flare, the flash. And then dirt. Grass. A thunderstorm for my back-track. My point is that we have what we do for a reason: Give God fanatical Glory. Whether it was too much or too glitzy, if that's what you walk away with then the problem is the focus. I've heard it said that the best church service is the one you don't even really remember much about, because you were in the presence of God, His Son, and the Spirit. What the building was, what the stage looked like, how the drums sounded... That stuff is irrelevant. It begins to divide when we let the appearance take control. When we aim at making what we do look good so we look good, the great debate of what we can do better for us becomes a canyon to our faith. Constantly trying to outdo the newest or the coolest can act like a river in a canyon, slowly eroding and separating the opposite shores. It will not be instant, but before long God's name will just be part of your lyrics in the pursuit of the applause. The whole focus should look to God. The focus in whatever is done and however you do it should begin with the question, "How are people going to say GOD IS AWESOME in it?" I'm not a fan of drum cages, but you know what? If that is what it takes to put more emphasis on God, so be it. It's not my performance. I don't want people to remember my name at the end of it. I want them to know Him through what i do.