Your Christian Testimony as ArtExpressing your Christian testimony, to advance the Kingdom of God, is crucially important in your role as an artist. Your Christian testimony is as unique as your fingerprint, and wields more power that you will ever fully understand. ( Click on image to enlarge) In life’s journeys, hard lessons are learned slowly - things don’t always go our way. People disappoint. Continual assertion of our rights becomes tiresome. Tragedy and inexplicable pain visit us, circumstances become oppressive and God seems far away. You are not alone - I have had those trying times too. Eventually we were forced to face our own imperfections, first with disgust and then resignation. When a sort of helplessness set in, the miracle of our Christian testimony began.
Someone told us about Jesus and we were ripe for His work in our lives. No longer cocky or certain of our ways, we were finally ready to accept Him as 'The Way'. Our Christian testimony is about the transformation that He brought into each of our lives – a change that we were powerless to effect ourselves. So how do we tell about this in our art? If we were to speak or write about it, we could distill it into an effective short speech or a concise essay. Art, on the other hand, being non-verbal is a limitless medium for expressing this testimony. To tap into this bottomless well of creative story-telling here is a simple exercise for you to try. Your Christian testimony can be a study in contrasts, just as your life is. Who were you before and who are you now? • Write out as many adjectives as you can come up with that captures some of these contrasts. Make two lists that are a 'before' and 'after' snapshot of you. • Work rapidly as you do this; do not edit those that seem absurd or far fetched. Simply write out everything that pops into your mind. • Look for quantity and don't worry about repetitious adjectives. Include them all. Make a game of it – how many can you come up with before you find yourself running out? I'll let you take a peek at my quick (partial) list of adjectives - a description of my life before Jesus –(remember in both my lists, I am not implying that I have completely overcome in all these areas - how I wish that were true!!) I was Self-centered, hopeless, futile, meaningless, purposeless, lazy, without vision, unkind, cruel, selfish, thoughtless, tactless, rude, mean, wasteful, idle, lost, bewildered, fearful, fretful, helpless, rash, forceful, competitive, stingy, miserly, ignorant, stupid, disrespectful, nasty, sloppy, harsh, self-righteous, boastful, proud, self-indulgent, greedy, covetous, pitiful, judgmental, sad, tired, depressed, flat, dry, worthless, timid… Now here is a peek at the list that truly delights me. It is who I am becoming! I am Hopeful, joyful, redeemed, fearless, energized, determined, persistent, courageous, hardworking, healed, free, unconcerned(about temporal circumstances), gentle, more generous, more compassionate, more tolerant, peaceful, powerful in prayer, strong, steadfast, eternal minded, wise, smart, stoic, stalwart, loyal, faithful, innocent, bought with a price, destined for the throne, patient, free of grudges, purposeful, important, created special, loved, cared for, watched over, held, prepared, unmoved.... I have changed much, and there is much growth to look forward to! This exercise helped me become gratefully aware of the wonder of my Christian testimony. Such change could never have happened without the supernatural work of His Spirit in me. If you are new to the faith, don’t worry. Welcome His Spirit to change you, and He will. As you do this exercise, consider it the master list of your Christian testimony. Frequently you will find yourself thinking of a new word to add to it. It may be something that you struggle with, or some new way discovered within you, which to your amazement, is now Christ-like. This simple exercise is more powerful than is at first apparent. What you have done is to describe the foundations of your Christian testimony. This surely pleases God, because you have just honored His encouragement to ‘ Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’.1Pet 3:15 Taking the time for this exercise has forced your brain to do the work of evaluating and truthfully assessing the work of Christ in your life. By keeping the output to staccato words, written rapidly, your brain has had little time for grandiose or pretentious reflections. Truth resides where it can be quickly accessed and this exercise forces that. Your own list of adjectives will form the verbal foundation of your Christian testimony. Set this aside, because something unusual happens next as you return to your art. Instead of standing paralyzed before a blank canvas asking yourself ‘what shall I paint (or create) today?’ you will find these words pop up in your mind, begging for abstract, visual expression. You will not have to refer to your list - it is already a part of you. In the acrylic painting on the top of the page, I chose to express the very change that I have described. It came slowly, at great cost to my Savior and of enormous worth to me.
The process is depicted in the two images below. I hesitantly searched out the image on top of the page, holding in my heart, my love for this kind and gentle Savior, who gave His all for me. I hope that you work on the exercise described above and begin creating art that is rich with meaning, telling your unique and powerful story.
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In each stage of the work, I had no clear direction on how to proceed, it was a thoughtful process of discovery. 
