Quote: "It’s hard to feel like you belong when you’re God-given talents aren’t valued and, at times, even suppressed."
The church only wants those who are willing to prostitute their art and turn it into propaganda to increase both numbers in the church and their bank account balances. They are also only interested in "praise and worship" though they have no idea what either means in the real world.
The church is not interested in art for the sake of art. The church especially does not want thinking artists who question man-made dogmas.
As a musician aged 15 years old I began to learn my art playing in Christian Coffee Shops organised by the church I attended. We played the rock songs of the day. No such thing happens today. It is considered "worldly".
If the church wants the many artists who have fled for their creative lives out of churches then they must accept the artists on their own terms. The church needs to be educated in valuing and reading art. Many Christian artists may never mention Jesus in their work. They don't have to. Art is a gift of God and is not merely made acceptable by multiple references to Jesus. Artists make art because making art is good within itself. Artists do not exist to further the aims of church.
