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 You are [ set apart ].
I am [ set apart ] like this:
I am [ set apart ] like this:
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What we mean by [ set apart ]
In the honest, unsolicited words of an artist who is extremely involved in our organization: “As an artistically minded person, I have always felt different from others, and still even within my group of peers, I feel somewhat “set apart” from the crowd. This is a feeling many artists or creatively-driven people feel…”
She’s right. Some people think of the term “set apart” in this way [different, isolated, detached, secluded, alone]. This is a very negative connotation, and an accurate description of how most artists and creative individuals feel. Some people think of the term “set apart” in this way: [handpicked, with purpose, special]. This is a very positive connotation, and this is what we mean by the term “set apart,” and here’s why: God defined it that way. Believing you are “set apart” in this way is having the same mindset as Christ. He says in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart.” God obviously put a lot of thought into creating people, even before they were born. He also says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” We believe that God has a purpose and plan for each life and that He creates all people with unique gifts and talents that can be used in practical, beneficial and fulfilling ways in the community as well as the church--and that includes creative gifts in all shapes and forms. But not everybody believes that these promises are true for themselves. There are certain groups of people in our society who regularly find themselves feeling “set apart” in the negative way. These are the people God has given us hearts for. They are artists and creatives, just like us. We know how they feel. A lot of these feelings have deep roots and can be very difficult to overcome. They are often a result of society reinforcing our differences rather than celebrating them. We consider it a primary part of our calling to build up artists and creatives and to help them see themselves from the eyes of their Creator, to help transform their thinking, to help them believe that they are “set apart” in the way that God defines it. From a marketplace perspective, workloads are saturated with assignments for big business that are all about profit margins. Artists and creatives are buried by schedules that are dominated by timesheets and work that is marginalized, downgraded and hurried due to deadlines and opposing forces. By their very nature, they desire for their creativity to have impact beyond the bottom dollar, but very seldom are these individuals assigned work that is fulfilling and has meaning. On the contrary, churches and other non-profit organizations are full of opportunities for fulfilling and meaningful creative work, but rarely have or allocate the resources for it. Sometimes the funds simply aren’t there; but other times the money for creative work is simply not included in the budget because it is seen as either unimportant to their mission or a luxury they can’t afford. These are unfortunate realities, and God set us apart to change that. |
