A few years ago I went to the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh. I figured since I’d lived in Pittsburgh my entire life and had never been there, it should happen. I walked around and didn’t get his art work – at all. This summer I went to the National Art Museum in Washington, DC. Again, I saw lots of art that I just didn’t understand. And when we got to the modern section I laughed because some of the pieces seemed absurd to me. Who gets to call strokes of paint an expensive masterpiece? On the other hand, when we got to other sections of the museum and saw works by other artists, I did enjoy it. And a few weeks ago I was in a student’s house and saw some of her paintings (that she popped out in one afternoon) and was amazed.
In church right now, our pastor is doing a series on Ephesians 2:1-10. Verse 10 has always struck me. One version says we are God’s masterpiece. Somedays I don’t feel like a masterpiece. Tonight it hit me again. It doesn’t matter what I think. Just like it’s not up to me to decide the value or worth of a piece of art, it’s not up to me to decide my value. The value comes from the artist, the creator. My take on a piece of art, my opinion does not change the fact that it IS a masterpiece (lucky for Andy Warhol!). My opinion of myself some days does NOT change the fact that my Creator looks at me and is delighted. I’m so glad my thoughts on this matter don’t matter! I can’t change His mind – even if I try hard to do so.
And this brings me to the second part of the verse that somehow I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about. He has created me as His masterpiece so that I can do good works that he has prepared for me to do. Not good works that will determine my worth (b/c my worth isn’t dependent on my works), but good works that will point people to Him. When I live as if I have no worth, it affects the way I do things. I live in fear and shrink back. I try to earn my worth by the things I do – so my “good works” are about bringing me recognition. However, if I would live as the way God sees me, if I would believe that I am his masterpiece, my actions would be transformed. I would walk in boldness. I would not care about the pat on the back or about what others thought of me. I would do things not so that I would feel better about myself, but because God asks me to. I would not have a bad attitude about doing the “little” things that nobody will ever see. Somedays I feel like He doesn’t have good things for me to do – those are for everybody else. If I believed my truth worth and value, I would see that He does have things just for me to do. I wouldn’t have to compare my good works with others’ because my worth isn’t based on theirs!
I need to chew on this for a while because it will affect the way I do ministry (and the ways I feel I need to impress people by what I do), the way I do life. It will affect the way I love people, the way I see them. It will rock my world of pride.
Tonight I am taken aback by my Beholder. It's time to stop arguing with Him about His creation.
In church right now, our pastor is doing a series on Ephesians 2:1-10. Verse 10 has always struck me. One version says we are God’s masterpiece. Somedays I don’t feel like a masterpiece. Tonight it hit me again. It doesn’t matter what I think. Just like it’s not up to me to decide the value or worth of a piece of art, it’s not up to me to decide my value. The value comes from the artist, the creator. My take on a piece of art, my opinion does not change the fact that it IS a masterpiece (lucky for Andy Warhol!). My opinion of myself some days does NOT change the fact that my Creator looks at me and is delighted. I’m so glad my thoughts on this matter don’t matter! I can’t change His mind – even if I try hard to do so.
And this brings me to the second part of the verse that somehow I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about. He has created me as His masterpiece so that I can do good works that he has prepared for me to do. Not good works that will determine my worth (b/c my worth isn’t dependent on my works), but good works that will point people to Him. When I live as if I have no worth, it affects the way I do things. I live in fear and shrink back. I try to earn my worth by the things I do – so my “good works” are about bringing me recognition. However, if I would live as the way God sees me, if I would believe that I am his masterpiece, my actions would be transformed. I would walk in boldness. I would not care about the pat on the back or about what others thought of me. I would do things not so that I would feel better about myself, but because God asks me to. I would not have a bad attitude about doing the “little” things that nobody will ever see. Somedays I feel like He doesn’t have good things for me to do – those are for everybody else. If I believed my truth worth and value, I would see that He does have things just for me to do. I wouldn’t have to compare my good works with others’ because my worth isn’t based on theirs!
I need to chew on this for a while because it will affect the way I do ministry (and the ways I feel I need to impress people by what I do), the way I do life. It will affect the way I love people, the way I see them. It will rock my world of pride.
Tonight I am taken aback by my Beholder. It's time to stop arguing with Him about His creation.
