“No such thing as a Christian artist,” says poet Joel McKerrow

A friend sent me a link to an article lately with the above title, featuring Joel McKerrow, a brilliant spoken word artist. His thoughts regarding faith and art are applicable to anyone who works in the arts and the media. You can read the entire article here, but for now, here are a few quotes:

McKerrow is adamant that he is not a “Christian artist”. “We have done a disservice to the world by having a Christian music scene; a Christian artist scene. People who follow Jesus should be artists who are Christians.”

“My hope is that my spirituality comes across in my music and in my poetry, but I think it comes across in a subversive way. My spirituality and my faith and my understanding of God and life and Christianity – they affect everything to do with my artistry, but I wouldn’t want to call myself a Christian artist,” says McKerrow.

If more Christians adopt the same approach as Joel, we'll end up being a lot like yeast in dough*. Our way of living, and essentially Christ in us slowly permeates our surroundings - subtly teaching people how to live, as Bill Johnson would say.

*Matthew 13:33