I have a large poster that I had one of our interns make for me last year that was just this verse, also all my volunteers have a bracelet with this verse on it.  This is probably one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  John Acuff calls it “God’s love letter to artists” This is verse I use to cast vision to my volunteers about why we do what we do.

So, WHY do we (tech people, worship leaders, ect..) do what we do?
First WHAT do we (tech people) do? I think it’s important that we stop seeing our ministries as just tech and worship and realize that everyone in the room is working together to create art that makes the worship environment what it is. As technical artists that is what we should be striving to do create a compelling worship environment, and way we do that is with art. I’m going to take a play out of my executive’s playbook and go to the dictionary.

Noun

  1. The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture,…: “the art of the Renaissance”

  2. Works produced by such skill and imagination.

Everything in the tech world is an “application of human creative skill or imagination”When you read Exodus 31 It occurs to me that God has a special place in his heart for the “creation of his creation” if you will.  Otherwise the tabernacle would not be filled and covered with art it would have been something else, besides “artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.” which is all  “expression or application of human creative skill and imagination” We see this continued in 1 Kings 6:20-22, my friend Mike Sesler has a great post on this verse.  Read the verse and listen to how much Gold was use in the temple. Today we do the same thing, we just use a different medium for our art.  Instead of gold an fine cloth it’s displaced air and light, which is really what all audio, video, and lighting can be boiled down to.

So that covers WHAT we do, but now back to the original question WHY? Why put all this art in the tabernacle, why cover the temple walls with gold? Why gift technical artists with the skills they have?

I think it’s because God wanted people to know something amazing was going to happen in His Holy places.  I think He wanted people to walk in and immediately go “Wow!” and wonder why someone went through all the trouble and all the expense. I also think it sends a very subtle message that what is going to happen in those places is a BIG deal.

So what are you doing to make your weekends a compelling worship environment?  What art are you creating regularly?