His True Image: why the art really matter still! And how our creativity relates to our cities!

From an article I’m working on about seeing and being in love with cities: Mending the imaginations of our neighborhoods and cities into His True Image.

I’m in love with cities!

“Each city and country has its gifts, and struggles, and unique broken but redeemable reflections of certain aspects of The Real. Finding their particular nuances and what aspect they reflect of God, has become part of my spirituality.” (from a book on the theology of cities, I’m reading; to disciple the nations you have to know them and love them first like people!)

Cities are like people to me-on a journey of becoming, in need of love and revelation to know themselves, just like us. I like walking alongside them, and enjoying what they already know, and seeing what they need. Listening to them on their own terms, not mine. Trying to hear them for what they truly are, not through my projections or needs on them.

In my life, I’ve fallen in love with many cities…

Each city reflects unique aspects: Antwerp has creative curious friendship; berlin a strong house for all nations and bold leadership-arm of God stuff; Prague, that sweet song of solomon fragrance, a lover’s attire, and a place of mystical exchanges in conversation; Austin, creative incubator, entrepreneurial catalyst haven…each city has their gifts and their struggles to become. It is a joy to get to know so many places well. So many places still yet to know and love in this life. Perhaps we never finish in loving…

Of course, like people, our very strengths unredeemed are also our greatest weaknesses, or areas of life which are hardest to live out. So the biggest wounds are often where the greatest strengths reside. I like looking there first to know and listen. So a place of friendship, can become insular; a place of leadership can become presumptuous, a place of curiosity can become mentally unstable etc—but just on the other side of these shadows, is the redeemed identity, standing in the Light, and reflecting upwardly. I like to bring salt and light right there. So I can see who the other really is.

I also like to think of how individual’s stories who live in a city, relate to the city’s biography. How our personal stories relate to our city’s narrative has always fascinated me. Why am I here in this place at this moment of our journeys. What developmental stage is my city at, and my own—how do they match and where do they not? I love asking these sorts of questions as I travel.

I have an insatiable appetite to love more places people and things, and to come to know God through them, and let them be loved by God into their true shining..let’s take off our outer masks and get to know one another deep to deep friend. I’m in love with what that outer expression is coming from! As Van Gogh said, “The way to know God is to love many things deeply.”

“We are trying to encounter and mend a fuller image of who God is by seeing and loving one another and places more precisely-to see things true, helps them to become truly themselves, for God’s perception heals places. We are doing a repairing of the imagination—how we image God, one another, and the earth itself. One way to do so, is to see one another more accurately through His Eyes. When we see well, we are engaged in healing the imagination of Reality. To baptize our imaginations is an act of healing for the world. When we see accurately, we help things be more truly themselves.”

When we were told to disciple the nations, it included cities. We were to disciple them into all three Names of God—the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Part of this holistic baptism into all three Names, is to see one another in love. We see through His Love, this lens made for the aperture of the spiritual imagination. We must wear it, or put it on, so we can see one another more as He does. This is the use of the imagination in discipleship. Blessed are you church, Jesus says through Peter, for The Father has revealed this to you. The Father had revealed the true identity of Jesus to Peter, so He could see that He was The Son of God. We are equally blessed when the Father shows us the true Identity of His Son, and as He reveals the true identities of one another through His lens of Love.

This is a key part of the role of imagination in discipleship of the nations. The baptized imagination sees more as He sees, the true identity of other. And can therefore call it forth and bless it into His Name. He is healing the nations through the imagination. We are no longer just using the imagination to carry gospel information, we are actually allowing Him to look out through the imagination and heal the nations. The sanctified imagination is part of what Christ uses to heal the nations. the cities, and the world itself.

Ultimately, we have to get a clear picture of who God is. When we do, we will see what parts of His Life are reflected in others around us, and our cities. And which parts are still being brought into alignment with His True Image. Then we ourselves can start to try on our eternal images, and we can help others put on theirs. By starting to wear our eternal clothes, we begin to imagine ourselves more as He sees us. By helping others try on theirs, we get to partner with Him in healing the nations!

Practices: When we pray, write down or draw what we see about whatever or whomever we are praying for. Gather them, and ask the Holy Spirit to amplify them towards a fuller picture, to fill in the poem of its true being.

Then our seeing becomes a way of getting to appreciate how God sees.

When we walk around our neighborhoods ask Him to draw your attention to things which represent the aspects of Him He wants to draw out and bless in that neighborhood. And which sins still need to be confessed for that area to become a clearer reflection of Him!

When we prayer walk our cities, start to enter His creative dialogue with her central symbols or meeting places. Be part of mending the imagination of your city! See what He wants them to be, if the patterns of sin were removed. Pray and confess those blocks of sin in each place which keep Him from expressing Himself more accurately.

Praxis:

You can do this in small groups or by yourself.

Try to paint or draw, dance, photo, or write how that place would look whole.

There are many other exercises I use, but these are a few.

I often take a camera and sketch pad out as I walk through a neighborhood. I try to photo basic objects which represent the identity of that place. If your neighborhood had three basic symbols to represent itself, what would they be. I focus on that, and then ask Him how He sees them, and try to make my art in response to His answer. Or as a response to what He reveals. The art often becomes an answer. My technique may not be perfect, but the conversation itself reveals things to my spirit about who this place really is, and who it wants to be! That is entering His making it more whole, or healing.

Creative prayer walking, or walking with your imagination engaged in your relationship with Christ, can change the atmosphere of your sphere or domain of influence—your neighborhoods and cities can become a clearer reflection of His True image there. We become reconcilers of the cultural expressions with the core identities of our cities. That integration process is the same which happens on a personal level as you allow God to talk to you through your imagination, or in your creative process. Most artist don’t think about their art making as a place of meeting God, but it is meant to be.  As you do so, you find that you yourself also become clearer, and more clearly formed, in this creative collaborative partnership and dialogue with God in mending the imagination of people places and things.

One of the purposes of art is to encounter and know and therefore end up loving God. This is the purpose of every area of Life, but is often overlooked with the creative aspects of our relationship with God. Ask Him to help you meet Him in your creativity. You will be surprised by the increase vibrancy of your own imagination.

The Romantics made the mistake of idolizing the imagination. But since the enlightenment, or before, the church has made the mistake of distrusting the imagination. If you throw out the imagination in your relationship with God, you miss out on much of who He is. Creativity has His Life in it, and that birthing power. We need that force even to re-imagine God Himself. We need our image of Him corrected firstly. One way to begin this process is to make art with God.

Jesus is Lord over the whole Person. God is One, and wants to love our whole selves. Our creativity is included in our relationship with God! Most artist don’t contextualize their creative process in their relationship with God. But that is exactly where it flourishes most. There is also an overt relationship between art and healing.

In graduate school I studied arts and healing. What was missing there was the key Jesus Factor. But when we bring Him into the center of the creative process, when we ask Him to baptize our imaginations, we do find that He heals us through our creative activities. The arts can become both part of our healing, and the healing of the imaginations of our cities!

Some artist are so talented, that they struggle to put their talents on the altar. Others are so intimidated by their own creativity that they never get playful with God and their gifts. Most artist struggle with the need to be seen in their process, and often an acute sense that they were born as outsiders or observers, and often they don’t know why they are in that marginalized position. Of course, Jesus loves the freaks and marginalized, so He is always there waiting to meet them. I’ve discipled artist for over 20 years now, and some of the patterns are the same.

The general enemies in the art world, celebrity culture or entertainment spirit, witchcraft and sorcery are all obvious in most art school programs. How do you value or contextualize your art making process. Is it number of successful gallery shows, is it becoming famous, as it often is for musicians for instance; is it having collective books of your work, is it meaningful collaboration with your heroes? There are many gauges of success offered in art school. But rarely is the depth of which you met and where formed by God the highest aim.

The general enemies for artist in the church world have been named well. Using the arts only for evangelism, to decorate the building rather than express the church’s core identity; the prostitution or using the arts as propaganda for God; the worship entertainment machine, which uses artist’s gifts to entertain people in order usually to get higher numbers in the pews etc. Christian artist have to find a way to place their creativity in a larger Kingdom context, in order to not grow bitter or boxed in by the church’s poverty of imagination concerning the arts. Of course, much has changed in the church over time in regards to the arts, and there is positive expansions of imagination going on even within her more institutional walls. Still, the artist must find a way to keep art making as part of their authentic spirituality, and not get lost in the narrow purview the church often has towards the arts.

I work with people in both the art world and the church world, both ultimately have to contextualize their creativity in their personal relationship with God and in His Kingdom. Since my father is a minister and my mother an artist I have grown up knowing both worlds intimately, and tried to integrate them in Him, and His Kingdom. Since, Jesus is Lord over all the realms and the whole person, and the church and the art world, we are free to create as those in His Image. But we often have no clear spiritual context for our creativity. I see this struggle for christian artist as well as others. The challenge is always to bring your whole self to the One God. And be in relationship and conversation, allowing His Holy Spirit to guide you into understanding and interpretation of your creativity. That is true across the board.

Over the years, I’ve met many very high impact artist and leaders in the arts; some have been part of leading cultural movements. Many of these, still do not have a full understanding or context for their creativity and how it fits into their personal spirituality. I like helping them find His Kingdom context for their creativity. Something bigger than worldly versions of success. And bigger than the church’s “use” of the arts. He is growing the imagination of the church to see how creative He actually is, and how He enjoys dialoguing with His People through their creativity.

Prayer is creative! And a place where His Imagination touches ours. Prayer itself then can become a place where you get to know more of who God is, and how He sees yourself, your home, your neighborhood, and your city. Prayer becomes a way of getting to know and therefore love God more! And your place becomes a medium through which you come to appreciate all He sees. For the eyes of Lord are always watching, and caring for what He Himself made, knows, redeems and loves.

Jesus is Lord over the art world and the church, His Body. His book in which He revealed Himself is a work of art, and we ourselves are said to be His masterpiece poems (Ephesians 2:10). Our very identities are His art. Thus, we are free to create with and in Him in order to be more fully formed into His Nature.

The fuller incarnation of His Imagination in His People, is one of His goals in our times. He wants us to see and create with Him and in Him. When we do, you will see some of the greatest art of all time emerging. Here it comes. He is birthing and incarnating His Imagination more intensely in His People in our times. If they are not open, He will use anyone open to download His Images and Perceptions onto earth!

He wants to incarnate in our imaginations more intensely in our times. This is happening as the darkening of imagination through pornography and false advertising, propaganda, and banal uses of the imagination are increasing—the wheat and tares grow together; the darkness increases, but so does the Reality of His Light! God wants to enter in to our creative dimensions, and make us more fully human in this key area. The arts are not just for artist anymore. They are part of His deeper incarnation on earth, and are a place i which He is preparing a way for His Kingdom to come.

From an article I’m working on about seeing and being in love with cities: Mending the imaginations of our neighborhoods and cities into His True Image.

I’m in love with cities!

“Each city and country has its gifts, and struggles, and unique broken but redeemable reflections of certain aspects of The Real. Finding their particular nuances and what aspect they reflect of God, has become part of my spirituality.” (from a book on the theology of cities, I’m reading; to disciple the nations you have to know them and love them first like people!)

Cities are like people to me-on a journey of becoming, in need of love and revelation to know themselves, just like us. I like walking alongside them, and enjoying what they already know, and seeing what they need. Listening to them on their own terms, not mine. Trying to hear them for what they truly are, not through my projections or needs on them.

In my life, I’ve fallen in love with many cities…

Each city reflects unique aspects: Antwerp has creative curious friendship; berlin a strong house for all nations and bold leadership-arm of God stuff; Prague, that sweet song of solomon fragrance, a lover’s attire, and a place of mystical exchanges in conversation; Austin, creative incubator, entrepreneurial catalyst haven…each city has their gifts and their struggles to become. It is a joy to get to know so many places well. So many places still yet to know and love in this life. Perhaps we never finish in loving…

Of course, like people, our very strengths unredeemed are also our greatest weaknesses, or areas of life which are hardest to live out. So the biggest wounds are often where the greatest strengths reside. I like looking there first to know and listen. So a place of friendship, can become insular; a place of leadership can become presumptuous, a place of curiosity can become mentally unstable etc—but just on the other side of these shadows, is the redeemed identity, standing in the Light, and reflecting upwardly. I like to bring salt and light right there. So I can see who the other really is.

I also like to think of how individual’s stories who live in a city, relate to the city’s biography. How our personal stories relate to our city’s narrative has always fascinated me. Why am I here in this place at this moment of our journeys. What developmental stage is my city at, and my own—how do they match and where do they not? I love asking these sorts of questions as I travel.

I have an insatiable appetite to love more places people and things, and to come to know God through them, and let them be loved by God into their true shining..let’s take off our outer masks and get to know one another deep to deep friend. I’m in love with what that outer expression is coming from! As Van Gogh said, “The way to know God is to love many things deeply.”

“We are trying to encounter and mend a fuller image of who God is by seeing a loving one another and places more precisely. We are doing a repairing of the imagination—how we image God, one another, and the earth itself. One way to do so, is to see one another more accurately. When we see well, we are engaged in healing the imagination of Reality. To baptize our imaginations is an act of healing for the world. When we see accurately, we help things be more truly themselves.”

When we were told to disciple the nations, it included cities. We were to disciple them into all three Names of God—the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. Part of this holistic baptism into all three Names, is to see one another in love. We see through His Love, this lens made for the aperture of the spiritual imagination. We must wear it, or put it on, so we can see one another more as He does. This is the use of the imagination in discipleship. Blessed are you church, Jesus says through Peter, for The Father has revealed this to you. The Father had revealed the true identity of Jesus to Peter, so He could see that He was The Son of God. We are equally blessed when the Father shows us the true Identity of His Son, and as He reveals the true identities of one another through His lens of Love.

This is a key part of the role of imagination in discipleship of the nations. The baptized imagination sees more as He sees, the true identity of other. And can therefore call it forth and bless it into His Name. He is healing the nations through the imagination. We are no longer just using the imagination to carry gospel information, we are actually allowing Him to look out through the imagination and heal the nations. The sanctified imagination is part of what Christ uses to heal the nations. the cities, and the world itself.

Ultimately, we have to get a clear picture of who God is. When we do, we will see what parts of His Life are reflected in others around us, and our cities. And which parts are still being brought into alignment with His True Image. Then we ourselves can start to try on our eternal images, and we can help others put on theirs. By starting to wear our eternal clothes, we begin to imagine ourselves more as He sees us. By helping others try on theirs, we get to partner with Him in healing the nations!

Practices: When we pray, write down or draw what we see about whatever or whomever we are praying for. Gather them, and ask the Holy Spirit to amplify them towards a fuller picture, to fill in the poem of its true being.

Then our seeing becomes a way of getting to appreciate how God sees.

When we walk around our neighborhoods ask Him to draw your attention to things which represent the aspects of Him He wants to draw out and bless in that neighborhood. And which sins still need to be confessed for that area to become a clearer reflection of Him!

When we prayer walk our cities, start to enter His creative dialogue with her central symbols or meeting places. Be part of mending the imagination of your city! See what He wants them to be, if the patterns of sin were removed. Pray and confess those blocks of sin in each place which keep Him from expressing Himself more accurately.

You can do this in small groups or by yourself.

Try to paint or draw, dance, photo, or write how that place would look whole.

There are many other exercises I use, but these are a few.

Creative prayer walking, or walking with your imagination engaged in your relationship with Christ, can change the atmosphere of your sphere or domain of influence—your neighborhoods and cities can become a clearer reflection of His True image there. As you do so, you find that you yourself also become clearer in this creative collaborative partnership with God in mending the imagination of people places and things.

Prayer itself then can become a place where you get to know more of who God is, and how He sees yourself, your home, your neighborhood, and your city. Prayer becomes a way of getting to know and therefore love God more! And your place becomes a medium through which you come to appreciate all He sees. For the eyes of Lord are always watching, and caring for what He Himself made, knows, redeems and loves.

I ONLY do what the Father is doing. That was Jesus’ ministry on earth! He was able to discern between His own desires to help everyone, and The Father’s calling and parameters on His Life. Here is what I am giving You to do today. I will only do what The Father has on me today to do. That is our practice or praxis. The circumference of our ministry or Kingdom influence changes seasonally, but we are meant to live within those pleasant lines of our inheritance, and many times, it is a discipline to do so. But this is how we bear the most fruit. We only do what we see the Father doing in our season. We stick to the alloted lands He has given us. This is to shift from just obedience, into stewardship and cultivation. This is how we bear the best fruit.

Diary: an entry from somewhere at sometime, neither of which i recall.

I have favor with internationals and artist. Over and over. I always want to lead them to a context for their creativity and culture in His Kingdom. I wish at times, i had an art gallery so i could show everyone’s work, and disciple them directly through the symbolic, as i have many in the past. I miss that way of creative discipleship—so much can happen directly through the art, when God shows up there. Or some art parties to invite them to. In the past, when i ran creative communities, it was easy to make happenings where spiritual dialogue organically take place; this season is more internal, ruminatory. Still I love the remarkable ones. Remarkables. Those I am drawn to. I like to bless them. I still find them, and they find me, everywhere i go. Even when I am writing in public, the table fills with people wanting to share their art, and be seen, and exchange their unique cultural perspectives. I still love being that kind of father and friend. I like being a royal international father in and through the arts, but i do miss having a gallery house of some sort to contain the type of creative discourse artist need to trip into the Kingdom. Some types of people are discipled best directly through the symbolic. I miss offering that particular container. Still, each season carries its uniquely contoured blessings.

Our tendencies towards idolatry must be daily toppled!

What idolatry really is? When we elevate our soul solutions above His Spirit’s solutions for our needs, we idolize our own reason or soul capacity above God. This is the most basic form of idolatry. I can meet my own needs, and I know how to handle this apart from Him and His Word-our soul is lifted up as god. This is what i call internal idolatry. Of course, even ministry itself can become an idol we lift above God.

 Idolatry has never changed in essence. It says, I have needs, and I can figure out how to meet them without God. I don’t need God or a higher power, i’ve got this, and can meet my own needs. Ironically, the first step in healing, is always, I need something higher than me to help!

If my needs are for intimacy, i can choose my own way of meeting my needs—pornography, affairs, partial covenants, leaning into unordained relationships for intimacy etc. God gives us what we really need, when we take what we think we need instead, we move in the ways of idolatry!

I don’t need a loving God to bless and meet them. I’ve got it. Some dying part of us says.

Idolatry is not just lifting up a literal idol, it is thinking that my soul is as high and wise as God’s Spirit, and can solve it’s own needs. It’s pride of being human.

It is elevating soul solutions above His leading and true solutions. It’s false doctrine because it says, i can solve my own problems apart from God.

Let us not give in to idolatry of any flavor. When we think we can solve and resolve our own problems, we elevate our soul above our own and His spirit. It’s a mistake.

It’s not always intentionally sinful. But as when the Israelites, built the golden cow, exactly at the moment while Moses was downloading the Laws and Ways of God on the mountain—that is still our recurring sin! It’s a pattern of being human. We have needs, and we think we can meet them without any help! In this sense, it is disguised pride. All the ways of sin are present in the Garden story of Adam and Eve.

 But idolatry is ugly and punishable. It’s ugly because it is basically pride. It says ok,, even though God has told me not to eat that, i think i could be enlightened by doing so, thus i will eat it, and even convince others to eat it. That was the first rebellion for humans, and it appears that other creatures had already rebelled against Him before this. As Satan was already trying to convince humanity that God was wrong about what they really needed.

Much later, the priest who allowed that golden calf to be built, were severely punished and a new line of priesthood had to be invented! We need to take care of this issue of raising our soul solutions above His spiritual ones. We are not God. He is. And when we do this regardless of what we are trying to solve, we move in dark ways.

This is why our faith begins with faith in the Most High. Not my ideas, but His, not my solutions but God’s. And He has been clear to us about His solutions to the problems of human life.

When we hear the word idolatry, it sounds so ancient. But it describes a pattern in the human soul of lifting itself above its Maker. In the garden, we began by setting out own will above His. My own interpretation above God’s.

  We all still have a tendency to do this constantly—to make up our own life and solutions to it-without or apart from God. There is always a danger for us in this. And we have to tend our souls accordingly. We were born with a tendency to idolize, to put things, including our own ideas above God and His truths.

David told his soul to be still and listen, and be led. That is a way to overcome idols. Let the spirit be the leader. Be still and know your God, and follow Him into this action.

We have to practice sitting with and in His Spirit and putting off the old man-toppling the idol of the false self, as Paul taught us. Even internally, we have an idol of self which has to be daily torn down, so we can discover His version of our true selves!

We have to bring our spirit’s into alignment with His, and agree to rule over our own bodies and soul’s thoughts in Truth. We do so in His power and through faith that He who called us, is able to also cause us to stand!

To cloth ourselves in Christ, and to put on His Mind where two metaphors Paul offered us for the spiritual activity necessary to discern. Let us be willing to do both. Clothing is covering, Christ is a type of clothing, which, when we wear Him, we find our true contours, the shape we were meant to be! We begin to be comfortable in our own skin, and able to discern what is like Him and what isn’t.

Putting on His Mind is sight and knowledge and accurate spiritual perception. We will need both Him as our clothes and Him as our thoughts and perception to make it through our times and to recognize when we are building or participating in idolatry and when other are. We have to be the ones who lift up only The Head. That is where He is taking us in Him.

Thomas Merton used to hide out in anonymous city churches to be alone with God.

City churches, even or especially if ugly, but hopefully aglow with candlelight. He write of the impossible posture of the statures, they somehow helped Merton be nameless and in that secret place with The Father. He liked to find solitude in them. He spoke of needing these places without the pull of needs or even presence of man, to find that nameless deep place in Himself where he just was dwelling with The Father. I relate to that need to find places outside the roar of voices where we meet all of humankind in silence and the love of God. I like that space actually, even though i am an extrovert and really like people. Probably more than Merton did. My poems are all written in people, and I’m ok with that. The love of God contains all the other things we actually need in life.

A few more thoughts on ministry!

The poor are not always meant to be fed by us! Father is always feeding them, but not always through us.

Our ministry cannot be led by other’s needs, it must be led by Him. We are not healers, He is! If He wants to heal someone through us and our own gifts, then that will flow out of our relationship. He will tell us, hey, I want to teach you something about Myself through your helping of this person or that place.

We move in that same way Jesus did while on earth—we try to only do what we see our Master doing. When we do, we meet and get to know Him through helping others! We do not get thrown off by ministering to others, because it is no longer out of our own soul power, but flowing out of our relationship with Him. “He is the third between us and other’s needs!”

 In order to truly bless the poor sometimes, we are lead to be heading towards the Cross (our own healing) instead, or Jerusalem (knowing who we truly are in Him), or to partner with Him in whatever way He is leading. This isn’t easy for those who feel called to, and constantly aware of, and sensitive to those in need around them. And yet, as many who are truly led by Him are becoming the sons and daughters. We are those who regardless of our gifts and sensitivities are meant to be led by His Spirit in blessing others.

When Jesus was on earth, He did not just go heal everyone, He sat with His Father and waited to see what part He was meant to download in each situation. That’s our model. There are many needs around us daily, but we are the ones who are meant to meet Him through all we do.

As one minister friend put it:

“We cannot be guided by other’s needs. We must be led by the Father to move in Jesus’ way. It is easy to think that our gifts can be applied anywhere, harder to let them be used with and in Him to give Himself to others. Once we realize our gifts, we want to give them everywhere at once, but Jesus model is to offer them over and again to His Father, and say, where would You like to plant my gifts today.”

That’s the practice. The poor will be with us always, the needs of others will never end, but we are those led by the Father, and becoming the Sons and Daughters of the Most High.

We try, in Him, to only do what we see the Father doing, regardless of needs around us—this is a real challenge for those of us who are able to sense the needs of others around us; yet, we too, must be led by the Father.

One sign of this, is when we are actually meeting God and amazed by Him and His Ways as we give to those in need (which, in the end, we all are!) If Jesus would have ministered only to needs, He would have never made it to the Cross. He cared, but was not distracted by all the wounded souls around Him. He knew, if He followed the Father, He would end up blessing all of them in the end.

When we meet God in helping others, it is symbiotic-we are mutually blessed! Us, by experiencing how amazing the Father is in His nuanced kindness to each person, and those we bless in Him, in how remarkably concerned He is with both of us.

Ministry is a mutual blessing. It transforms all involved, in a way which makes us all mutually amazed by Him! And His Burden is light to us. He shares a moment of the weight, so we realize that He Himself is carrying it.

My burden is Light (which is heavy for Him, but light for us! He showed me this clearly in a vision where I was trying to carry His light—many candles on my shoulders, but, in the vision, the metal container for the candles was teetering on my shoulders, then He told me, you can’t carry my glory, but I can!) Let me, but you can empathize with Me, and I’ll meet you in this space of co-carrying the burdens! But we are not meant to carry it! But He already has, and is still!

I have a friend who told me, “I used to get depressed after helping others. I was carrying their needs and bearing their burdens: then, i realized that He was the only one who could do that, and I got freed up to get to know Him through helping others. It was a big breakthrough for me in understanding how Jesus and I are meant to work together! I don’t have to heal others. He does. What I get to do, is partner and facilitate His presence into each situation, and watch Him do it, and be co-amazed with the other person, at how deep and thorough His Love is!”

We are just co-bearer’s of His Cross. Little examples of those who chose to follow His! We are mini-priest, His little lovers, who get to co-bear His Cross, as our little crosses. Take up your little cross as a way of knowing His Enormous Burden which He already and continuously carries. All our helping others is about knowing how deeply He loves and cares for others. As caretakers, we get to know the Greatest Caretaker who laid down His life for others. We are privileged to move in His Way, as tiny examples of His sacrificial Kindness!

Ministering to need versus ministering from and in Him! Ministry should be overflow from our growing intimacy with Jesus. What leads us in ministry? Is it really about getting to know, love and therefore overflow His Life into others; or is it something more selfish-like the need to feel helpful. Is our ministry soul led, or truly led by His Spirit and our growing intimacy with God. Who would you be, if He asked you to fast from all ministry? This is a question a mentor asked me, which started making me meditate on my real spiritual motivations for helping others.

The poor were with Him always, but He only did what He saw His Father doing!

Jesus did not let His ministry be led by the immediate needs around Him, He was thinking much more long term, and He was looking constantly to His Father and their relationship, to see what each day was meant to be.

We cannot let our ministry be led by the needs of others, we must instead be led by His Spirit. As many who are led by His Spirit are becoming the sons and daughters of God. The poor will be with you always. If Jesus would have ministered led by need, He would not have made it to The Cross. We too must not be led by other’s needs, but rather by His Spirit.

Having ministered for years and walked with many in ministry, i see this as a huge need and warning. There are always those who need around us, but we are to be the ones who are looking to The Father, then He will share His ministry with us for that person, if He choses, and we choose to partner with Him. It is soulful or soul led to go and use our gifts willy nilly, or as we choose. Jesus instead, only did what He saw the Father doing. So should we.

We feel good when we help others. And God likes to help people. But we cannot get our validation from our ministry. We get our validation directly from The Father, and He gives us the things we are meant to do along our path (Ephesians 2:10).

The good works prepared beforehand to be our way, He knows. He can reveal what these good works are, as we follow Him! We cannot just offer our own good works to Him and expect Him to bless us and be pleased.

We must do the actual good works which He has prepared for us! That’s a key to living ministry of His Life to others. Our ministry is a medium through which to get to know and Love God firstly and fore mostly. If we are not firstly meeting Him, we should not be ministering. When we do, we minister a false image of God to others. We misrepresent Christ to others. And they may feel helped, but we have not helped them eternally, or seeded their deeper heart or inner man.

I have seen this pattern of people getting their validation from helping others over and over. And I myself did so in my 20’s. I knew my spiritual gifts, but not yet how to follow God. So I used them to help others in order to feel good about myself. That is the opposite of Jesus Way. Jesus knew who He was when He laid down His Life, and He knew what He was doing. He was not doing it to validate His Own Identity, He knew He was a king while being treated as a thief. He was not victimized by the Cross.

In our days, the needs of others is increasing as the earth shakes ever more violently. Thus our focus on the Father must grow even or acute and specific. Many are doing more overt spiritual practices daily to keep the “main thing, the main thing.” Our relationship with God is much higher in importance than our ministry, and it is what we must be daily cultivating. Our growing intimacy with God is really all that matters. If He allows us to minister His Life to others, then wonderful, but for first we must be growing in His Life. He knows when to make us guardians of other’s souls. And He gives us His Authority to do so, in His Timing. But we are those hidden and grounded and founded in His Actual Life. This is our core spirituality.

Each of us has a path or way, according to Ephesians. Part of this way is caught up in the true church, His Body. But there are specific ways each of us are made to participate in that great spiritual organism, which is His House, Our Head. Our paths, are revealed by God as we seek Him daily.

We are all called to minister His Life, but first He ministers His Life to us. Jesus often retreated to the garden prayer space to be with His Father. He modeled our basic spirituality in doing so. He gave freely to all those who asked, but He also knew who The Father was giving to, and how. And those He gave more deeply to, and exactly what the Father was giving them. Our discernment is meant to reveal what is of Him and what is not of Him—what is in rebellion or transgression.

The ways of the world, the laws of death are always around us. And we, as ministers are displacers of death with His Life. We get to be salt and light-those who preserve and bring understanding; but we must do so from the firmness of our relationship in and to and with Him. Jesus modeled this clearly. He did not just go around helping everyone, and throwing out every dark spirit. He addressed what The Father was addressing through Him daily. Some days, He only taught His friends. Others, He delivered people from darkness or healed them. Others, He taught in the temple. He knew what to do daily, as His Eyes were always fixed on His Father.

The ways of death have to be weeded out of us daily. And in certain seasons of our own lives, that is His main concern. Other seasons, He offers us, firstly to His Own Body or House, and then outwards to those He is drawing in. But our main concern remains, to know and love and be formed, and in-formed,  by God.

We are His lovers firstly, then we come to love what He is loving, and in the way in which He is loving. His Sheep hear His Voice, because they are with Him constantly, and speak in His nuances and tone. That tone is love. God is able to love all those you cannot. And God will give you in and from His Own Heart, those you are meant to minister His Love into! Sometimes these folks are poor other times rich, but they are the ones you are given to minister His Life into, from the overflow of your ongoing conversing with Him.

Another way to approach this topic of not ministering only to need, is to focus on allowing ourselves to be given as gifts from The Father to the Son. If that is our primary mission, then when His Son chooses to give us outwardly to others, we are once again happy to be given. But our primary activity is to become gifts worthy of Jesus. If and when He wants to give us away, what another wonderful day, and way of knowing and communing with Our Lord!

In short, our core motivation in ministry needs to flow out of the formation of His Life in us—our deepening friendship with Jesus and His Father, is our basic purpose in life. To be in Him, is to begin to love what He loves and want to serve with Him, as He is a servant. But we must know the Servant, in order to serve In and with Him, and not just in our own power or desire, or need.

We must know His Life first, in order to serve and impart His Life to others. This is how we keep our ministry motivations pure in Him. And it is a basic practice for those  in His Ministry, to return often to our first Love and Lover! Keep allowing Him to purify your motivations for ministry. Are they really flowing from and in Him? Are there any parts which are not? This is the core spirituality of ministers. It is not just being good at helping others meet Him or find their real questions, which it is also, but more importantly, it is to know and deepen our union and love of Jesus and His Father, in the grand power of His Holy Spirit! Then we can consider discipling His Being into others.

If you could not help anyone, would you still know who you are in Him? Was how one of my mentors put it. It’s a good question for those who like to help others and serve Him. Am I really mostly concerned with getting to know God, or doing good things in His Name? To know and love God and to love one another, was Jesus summation of all the law. The first —to love and know God, is primary! When we do this, we will find ourselves engulfed in His Love for others! He shares His cares with His Beloved, which we are, in His Son. Us caught up in Belovedness, become lovers of all He adores!

One way to go about this ministry purification process practically is to ask yourself, am I meeting and getting to know God through helping this person. If so, often He is meeting you in ministry. If not, you are probably just using your gifts for your own enabling or self ignobling purposes not His. Paul taught us to be careful how we spiritually build. Not just to build well, but build with and in Jesus—whatever is not actually in His Spirit, will be burnt away like straw burns! Things which last, are things actually in Him and participating in His Life! So, this is part of taking care of how we plant and build in other’s lives.

There are stages of spiritual growth, where He Himself gives you as a gift to the Body, or to others-it’s barely an honor when it happens, it’s experientially very humbling. Leadership is always a matter of knowing how incapable you are of doing any good in your own power—it is utter dependence, and requires much death to self. It’s not enviable, but when you meet a true elder, you can tell they have died so many times in order to live. Like John the Baptist, they have decreased that He may increase in them. So you feel mostly Him, when you around them. Ironically, you also feel they are very much themselves. That’s what eldership or later stages of maturation of His Life in people look like.

I grew up in ministry, so saw how much inner death is required to really allow it to continue to be your authentic spirituality and not just some religious job. It’s not easy, and to allow Him to elevate your authority in Him, is very humbling. The world wants to quickly elevate based on need and gifts. But Father elevates in His Own Ways for His Own purposes. Always, though great leaders, have this characteristic of thankfully returning to their own personal relationship with God, regardless of how He is using their outer life to help others.

You will know when those stages are reached, and you are starting to get to know Him in true ministry of His Life to others. You will already be close enough friends, that you will sense His leading you out into His Own Fields. But even there, like David, you must keep returning to this core friendship, especially as you move into king and queenly parts of His Life. When you begin to co-minister His Life with Him, you are getting to know Him as Ruler, King, Pastor, Shepherd, Teacher…He guides you into ever deeper parts of who He is over time. Be led by Him alone, and not your own spiritual talents or gifts, and He may plant them one day in soil which lasts forever! Be led by Him, not other’s needs.

Why does this matter? Because we as those who have chosen to follow in Jesus way, constantly being refined in our deepest motivations, even for serving Him. It’s very easy in any type of helping profession to be drawn out from your true life in Him, to use your gifts for your own purposes. When you have spiritual gifts, you are a steward of something from God. And the way to care for and cultivate a gift is to keep returning to the Giver.

In our times, people reward charisma or great gifts of healing or spiritual talents…these are not true trophies. The true trophy is the Life of Jesus implanted in us, which shines like a Light in a very dark place. His Glory is over half of our true ministry on earth. To the degree it is formed in us and increasing; that is, to the degree we are growing in His Glory—from glory to Glory, we will bless all around us. We are light glowing air-fresheners on this planet. And our job is ultimately to be bright and fragrant! The world tends to value talents or gifts rather than identity. God, conversely, is more concerned with who we are, and who we are becoming in and through the Life of His Son in us, than what we do in this world. Doing flows from being. Being has to be prioritized. Is our actual inner being being daily baptized into His Name or Identity. That is what God looks at.

Anyone can be a celebrity, even a “spiritual” celebrity. But few have a Godly reputation, one that God Himself bestows! King David had one, even with his brokenness, God chose to spotlight His Life. Abraham had a life like that, so he could be called a friend of God. What an honor. The world accolades for the wrong reasons, and elevates things before it is time. We need to be very careful to allow Him to do all the spiritually promoting, especially in our celebrity culture.

Our friendship with God through Jesus is our core spirituality. From this precious friendship, comes all true lasting ministry. It is wise to cultivate that friendship above all else. If you get to minister with Him, wonderful. But it’s always Who your with and in which matters most!

In meeting a traumatized artist…

When I meet an artist who has been traumatized, as most have, i like to listen, and sense who they were, when they were safe to be themselves. And work from there.

For me, to go a bit behind the mask and offer something which matters (like an interview when two people understand one another’s struggles to be-a real encounter in safety requires enough trust to expose ourselves-so we must be real with one another. That’s the setting where Love can enter.

To go into their art often helps-to discuss what’s going on creatively, and meet them there.

We experience our personal terrors, but behind the coping masks which we put on, there is the real self yearning to be seen, loved and known. To love on the person just behind the mask. That interest me.

We are all masked. But depending on the levels of trauma we have known and embodied, we have more clever or layered masks. I like to see people as they are, off stage, and just being who they were meant to be. Lots of my life, is about hearing confessions as a result, so a person can get towards a moment of true encounter.

Some more thoughts on ministry!

The poor are not always meant to be fed by us! Father is always feeding them, but not always through us.

Our ministry cannot be led by other’s needs, it must be led by Him. We are not healers, He is! If He wants to heal someone through us and our own gifts, then that will flow out of our relationship. He will tell us, hey, I want to teach you something about Myself through your helping of this person or that place.

We move in that same way Jesus did while on earth—we try to only do what we see our Master doing. When we do, we meet and get to know Him through helping others! We do not get thrown off by ministering to others, because it is no longer out of our own soul power, but flowing out of our relationship with Him. “He is the third between us and other’s needs!”

 In order to truly bless the poor sometimes, we are lead to be heading towards the Cross (our own healing) instead, or Jerusalem (knowing who we truly are in Him), or to partner with Him in whatever way He is leading. This isn’t easy for those who feel called to, and constantly aware of, and sensitive to those in need around them. And yet, as many who are truly led by Him are becoming the sons and daughters. We are those who regardless of our gifts and sensitivities are meant to be led by His Spirit in blessing others.

When Jesus was on earth, He did not just go heal everyone, He sat with His Father and waited to see what part He was meant to download in each situation. That’s our model. There are many needs around us daily, but we are the ones who are meant to meet Him through all we do.

As one minister friend put it:

“We cannot be guided by other’s needs. We must be led by the Father to move in Jesus’ way. It is easy to think that our gifts can be applied anywhere, harder to let them be used with and in Him to give Himself to others. Once we realize our gifts, we want to give them everywhere at once, but Jesus model is to offer them over and again to His Father, and say, where would You like to plant my gifts today.”

That’s the practice. The poor will be with us always, the needs of others will never end, but we are those led by the Father, and becoming the Sons and Daughters of the Most High.

We try, in Him, to only do what we see the Father doing, regardless of needs around us—this is a real challenge for those of us who are able to sense the needs of others around us; yet, we too, must be led by the Father.

One sign of this, is when we are actually meeting God and amazed by Him and His Ways as we give to those in need (which, in the end, we all are!) If Jesus would have ministered only to needs, He would have never made it to the Cross. He cared, but was not distracted by all the wounded souls around Him. He knew, if He followed the Father, He would end up blessing all of them in the end.

When we meet God in helping others, it is symbiotic-we are mutually blessed! Us, by experiencing how amazing the Father is in His nuanced kindness to each person, and those we bless in Him, in how remarkably concerned He is with both of us. Ministry is a mutual blessing. It transforms all involved, in a way which makes us all mutually amazed by Him! And His Burden is light to us. He shares a moment of the weight, so we realize what He Himself is carrying it.

My burden is Light (which is heavy for Him, but light for us! He showed me this clearly in a vision where I was trying to carry His light—many candles on my shoulders, but, in the vision, the metal container for the candles was teetering on my shoulders, then He told me, you can’t carry my glory, but I can!) Let me, but you can empathize with Me, and I’ll meet you in this space of co-carrying the burdens! But we are not meant to carry it! But He already has, and is still!

I have a friend who told me, “I used to get depressed after helping others. I was carrying their needs and bearing their burdens: then, i realized that He was the only one who could do that, and I got freed up to get to know Him through helping others. It was a big breakthrough for me in understanding how Jesus and I are meant to work together! I don’t have to heal others. He does. What I get to do, is partner and facilitate His presence into each situation, and watch Him do it, and be co-amazed with the other person, at how deep and thorough His Love is!”

We are just co-bearer’s of His Cross. Little examples of those who chose to follow His!