SONGWRITER AS CREATOR (Identity)
- Creator God has given us a ‘creator’ identity (Gen. 1)
- We have the breath of God and bear God’s image
- Francis Schaeffer referred to us as the ‘little creator’
- The creator in us is a person alive to God, alive to people, and alive to place
- Christians err when we think only the invisible is worth something. God created the stuff of life! Get away from this Greek & Gnostic idea that the physical is not of God.
- Building blocks of creativity: Image of God & Spirit renewal>Soul Personality>Creativity (music/language)
- Songwriters encounter life and then express it through music (mood) & lyrics
- Songwriting is an art/craft but it is first an expression of our identity as ‘image-bearer’
- We’re supposed to take the ‘stuff’ of God’s creativity and create with it ourselves
- Our expressions of creativity echo back and forth between blessing people & glorifying God
- Our true work is to be an image bearer of God…not just working for the weekend
- Values of a Kingdom Songwriter
- Kingdom songwriters are in the business of fostering a holy, kingdom imagination. Imaginations that dream for the glory of God and the good of others…without discounting the good pleasure of creating.
- Kingdom songwriters are good citizens…of their community, church, stage, region, etc. There is no sphere of life that is hidden from the view of God. Bring on the big songs that cause the mind of God to bear on people.
- Kingdom songwriters have the ability to do good creative work in the world and in the church while becoming more like Jesus and not less. We are bent on making a name for ourselves
- Kingdom songwriters need a humble ambition to excel at artistic ability out of reverence for God.
- Kingdom songwriters need to respect the art form of songwriting. Know about it. We want pilots to have put in thousands and thousands of hours in practice. You need to write a lot of songs to get to great songs.
- Kingdom songwriters have the wisdom to ask first, “What is good and not first what will succeed or make money?” Christians have an unusual lot…we could be hated by everyone yet be successful because we lived obedient to God. People pleasers to not make good songwriters.
- Kingdom songwriters need a commitment to truth telling narrative in all its forms. There’s no greater calling than to stand before God and say, “You are WHO You say You are.”