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We are WALKING MIRRORS, all of us. Every woman and man since Eden bears the Image of the Godhead;[1] that will always be our dignity and privilege. And it will always bear upon us a burden of stewardship—it is what makes the treason of our sin so devastating. Angels can, and have, forfeit the glory of the holy Presence with very different consequences than humans can.[2] They were not chased down by the Hound of Heaven;[3] they were simply condemned to the everlasting fire currently prepared for their demise.[4]
We, however, we Image-bearers—we get chased down. Sought out. Apprehended. Redeemed. Adopted. Shepherded. Governed. Fathered. Betrothed.
Our story really begins to shift into its most interesting chapters when we are promoted from the already-incredible dignity of bearing His Image, to also bearing His Name—though this is a cost we must count,[5] because we’re told so early on in the Holy Writ to not do so in vain.[6] This law isn’t (primarily) about what you say when you stub your toe. It’s about how you live, and to whom you belong. If a woman marries and takes her husband’s name, she is laying down her prior freedom to be and live with another man. She is now her beloved’s, and he is hers.[7] They literally share the same name. So we are then betrothed to the Lover of our souls, gloriously adopted children of our Father,[8] and bound to the Name we called upon for everlasting life.[9]
It is when Image-bearers become Name-bearers that we are then, in Paul’s words, “obliged”[10] to bear His Message as well. No disciple is exempt from this eternally significant burden of responsibility—and I dare say this is especially true for Artists & Creatives. But I wonder if we have lost our place in our own story; if we think part of the Body of Jesus is for the prophetic, apostolic, evangelistic, pastoral, or educating members, and the other part is for the dancers, painters, and guitar-wielding hippies. This unspoken partition disproportionately divides the labor to the former group and communicates a sense of exemption to the latter—but Scripture favors none,[11] and lets no one off the hook. If you’re human, you bear His Image as either a male or female. If you confess the Lordship of Jesus, you now bear His Name. Many of us only get this far, either white-knuckling the Gospel of the Kingdom[12] to our own cultural colonies, or abdicating our responsibility to steward and declare it altogether. Squandering stewardship of His Message is the best way to bear His Name in vain. Yet He will display His manifold wisdom to the powers and principalities through men and women who love Him, hell or high water.[13] We’ll either be part of it, or we’ll be found a fraud when He comes.[14] That’s up to us.
And so, as we reckon with the hinge of history we find ourselves living in, we Artists & Creatives who bear His Image, Name, and Message must put some stakes in the ground—but only a few. If you give your life on too many hills, you won’t actually die on any of them. Impact zones are precise, strategic. We must be the same. How do we bear beautiful witness to the Better Beautiful, Jesus of Nazareth, for the maturity of His Bride worldwide until He comes? How do we harness such a lofty vision, and leverage our lives for the “fruit that lasts”?[15]
THE SUPREMACY OF JESUS
First, we must view our artistic and creative skills, gifts, and talents as tools given to us by the same One who bestows skills, gifts, and talents[16] on any other vessel He prepares for any other assignment in any other industry: for the exaltation of the Son of Man. Period. By the Father’s decree, Jesus’ Name is supreme “above any other name”[17] and He is and will be preeminent above all things in all places.[18] We would be literal fools to give ourselves to any other purpose, any other end than the exaltation of the Son of Man. We have oceans of creative liberties to do so, but we are putting a stake in the ground for the Supremacy of Jesus. We’ll die on this hill.
THE SUFFICIENCY OF JESUS
Second, we must commit our allegiances and adherence to “The Truth.”[19] There is but one Truth beautiful enough, literally true enough, to liberate the captives, open blind eyes, and heal the brokenhearted, and it’s the Good News of the Kingdom of Jesus.[20] His blood is enough to cover us,[21] advocate on our behalf,[22] and His beauty is enough to sustain and disciple us all our days in this numbered age.[23] He is all we need, and He’s all we need to offer anyone around us. He is sufficient. We stake our flag here; we will die on this hill.
THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS
Jesus came once to break the power of sin and death, and He is coming again to rule, reign, resurrect the dead, and restore all things.[24] The “Maranatha” message of the prophets and apostles[25] will be recovered before the Lord returns; indeed, He is recovering it now. His Bride will not “make herself ready”[26] if it isn’t. We can’t beckon Him to come[27] if we don’t care about His coming or have no clarity on His return. But the world is barreling towards the Day of the LORD, and the balladeers will help her get there. This hill is our “blessed hope;”[28] we have already died to the world on this hill. We will not leave it.
Serving the world in this way, based on these values, will require unconventional tenets and pursue eternal mandates. We pioneered Frontier Alliance International (FAI) in December 2011, knowing from the start we carried a messaging mandate from the Lord. As He gave us blueprints to build this new creative access platform in the Islamic world (FAI), He gave us central tenets and mandates to guide our messaging as it related to media production and distribution. We have believed from the start that these tenets and mandates are for many others who are not, and should not be, part of the FAI ecosystem. You have your own assignment in this critical juncture, this hinge of history. We want you to not only walk in it; we want you to run down your road. We invite you to bring the following three tenets to the Lord in prayer, not to replicate FAI STUDIOS and the like, but to ask Him how you can build and grow what you need to do what you are assigned to do. Our three core tenets, our mandates as media-based messengers, are:
APOSTOLIC URGENCY
We steward the Gospel of the Kingdom faithfully and boldly for the maturity of the Bride worldwide until the Bridegroom comes
This good news of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take oil with them; but the wise ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps. When the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
“In the middle of the night there was a shout: ‘Here’s the groom! Come out to meet him.’
“Then all the virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
“The wise ones answered, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell oil, and buy some for yourselves.’
“When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, ‘Master, master, open up for us!’
“He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you!’
“Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour. Matthew 25:1-13
I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Luke 18:8
I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different Gospel—not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, a curse be on him! As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him! Galatians 1:6-9
Let us be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory,
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His bride has prepared herself. Revelation 19:7
PROPHETIC INTEGRITY
We prioritize fidelity to the testimony of the prophets and apostles over profit margins and pay walls
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Matthew 10:8
I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish. So I am eager to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome. Romans 1:14-15
For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious. For the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:9-15
For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should. Ephesians 6:20
…so that I may make it known as I should. Colossians 4:4
CATALYTIC CREATIVITY
We leverage every means available for the adoration of Jesus Christ, unto the allegiance and obedience of the nations
Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8
Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. To those who are without the law, like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. Now I do all this because of the Gospel, so that I may share in the blessings. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. Ephesians 5:15-21
Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16
Any study or survey of Scripture related to the arts tells us this: God takes Artists & Creatives seriously—very seriously. If we’re going to walk worthy of the calling with which we’ve been called, we too must take ourselves seriously. We must cultivate rich lives in the Word, and in prayer, to dig deep wells of Living Water[29] to offer the cracked lips and thirsty hearts around us. May we discern the skies, redeem the time, and give ourselves to the right hills—and the right times to die.
Stephanie Quick (@quicklikesand) is a writer/producer serving with FAI. She lives in the Golan Heights and cohosts The Better Beautiful podcast with Jeff Henderson. Browse her free music, films, and books in the FAI App and at stephaniequick.org.
[1] Genesis 1:26-27
[2] Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:1-17
[3] Read “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson
[4] Matthew 25:41
[5] Luke 14:28
[6] Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11; Psalm 139:20
[7] Song of Solomon 2:16; 6:3; 7:9
[8] Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 2:1-10
[9] Romans 10:9
[10] Romans 1:14-17
[11] Acts 10:34
[12] Matthew 24:14
[13] Ephesians 3:7-13
[14] 1 Corinthians 3:9-15
[15] John 15:16
[16] Matthew 25:13-30
[17] Philippians 2:9
[18] Colossians 1:18
[19] John 14:6
[20] Isaiah 61:1-4; Luke 4:16-21
[21] Hebrews 12:24
[22] 1 John 2:1
[23] Psalm 27:4
[24] Daniel 7:13-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12
[25] 1 Corinthians 16:22; “MARANATHA” is an Aramaic phrase and word-play; depending how you pronounce it, you either declare “The Lord has come,” or “The Lord is coming.” It is the confident boast in the age-ending Day of the LORD.
[26] Revelation 19:7
[27] Revelation 22:17
[28] Titus 2:13
[29] John 4:10
