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Hey guys!

Here are three things to spark your inner missional flame:

💥 INSPIRED BY

Building Trust In Institutions

One thing we learn from the Apostle Paul about being incarnational is this: you are constantly bending yourself to the social structures you dwell in. For example:

• The animists thought Paul was god-like (Acts 28)
• The Pharisees platformed Paul in synagogue (Acts 17)
• The disciples feared Paul as a new convert (Acts 9)
• The philosophers entertained Paul's ideas (Acts 17)

With each social setting we encounter, the category of “artist” isn’t always what we wish it were defined as. In order for artists to build trust with others, we need to learn our place in our respective social settings and serve from those positions.

It is usually the case that I have the place to persuade when others see me as an equal. A Doctor won’t accept one's medical opinion without the initials “D.R.” in front of their name.

If I am perceived as being in a higher position than those I’m with, my prestige alone carries a certain kind of trust. If Lebron James came over for dinner, you might welcome him, but he’d still be LEBRON JAMES, famous athlete. When this occurs, we need to humanize ourselves with others, building a different kind of trust.

If I am lower in status than someone, I have to prove myself according to how they define that. This usually means lifting burdens as they perceive as burdens. This was how Timothy was to Paul. Time and sacrifice builds trust here.

Whether it's your local church, your job, your hobby groups, you’ve got creative flexibility with achieving this trust-building.

🛠️ EQUIPPED BY

Your Arts Machete

In Psalm 56, the arts act as the saint’s tools for making thanks:

Praise through poem-writing acts as the Psalmist's thanksgiving sacrifice. He lays it at the alter, ready for usefulness among God's people. The personal artistic-testifying acts as a form of theologizing for our imaginations. Coming to Christ means entering a community of formative, artistic, expression.

If your baggage upon conversion were a dense forest, your art-making is a machete to pursue Christ’s glory.

🚀 SENT WITH

Rick Rubin on first meeting the Avett Brothers

-Matt