“Please give me more time” — This is, without a doubt, the most common desire heard from church artists and media folks. Christian artists wish executive leaders would understand that they can’t simply click the “Be Creative” button and then turn it off when they’re done. Creativity comes in the middle of the night, or in the shower, or while they’re mowing their lawn.

“If I say no to you, I feel like I’m saying no to God” — You may think this is crappy theology, but many artists feel like God speaks to the senior leader, then he/she speaks to the staff with God’s message. When I was in pastoral ministry, this was a voice I battled with every day. There is enormous freedom for the artist when an executive leader is secure enough to say, “It’s okay to tell me no.”

“I want you to be pleased with my art” — Artists need to know that executive leaders like the stuff they create. Most artists struggle with the feeling of not being appreciated for the time and effort they expend on a project.

“I wonder if I’m really making a difference” — Artists need to know that their art is impacting the lives of real people, and a key role executive leaders can play is connecting those dots for them. Names and faces help artists make it real and do more to motivate Christian artists than anything else I know.

“I spend more money out of my own pocket than you’ll ever know” — When God plants an artistic idea deep in the heart of a filmmaker or a graphic designer, they can’t not create it. And when there’s no money, the artist pays. I know an artist in my former church who’s paying off a $6,000 Visa balance, spent entirely on video and web projects for that church.

“Ultimately, I want to get this right” — The artists I listen to want desperately to do whatever is best. They’re willing to change and revise their art. They just don’t want a constant re-envisioning of their art to become the norm during the life cycle of the project. I’ve heard countless stories about teaching pastors who excessively play the “God card” as a reason for changing their entire direction for a series, and then telling the staff to scrap what they’ve already done and start over. Will this happen on occasion? Yes, and artists need to deal with it. But should it ever become the norm? Not if you want to honor artists and creatives.

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