How to Pioneer Something

Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise (1872)

Sometimes, you might make something outside the box. Perhaps there is no category for it. It goes against the grain of all that is out there already. But it resonates with a few.

This work (or you) might make you get labeled a certain way by those who don’t see the vision you see.

What you might not realize yet is you might be pioneering the next wave of something. You might be defining boundaries not yet existence.

Monet’s Impression, Sunrise did not launch the Impressionist movement, per se. But the name, “The Impressionists,” came directly from this painting. You never know who else out there is pioneering something you alongside you. You just can’t see them yet.

How We Measure Art

We cannot only engage the art world with Paul’s Acts 17 anger (17:16).

We must shift from his anger to another form of measurement.

His anger derided from measuring the art/idols against God.

His engagement (17:22-24) arose from measuring it against itself and the Athenians.

The Benefits and Risks of Direct and Indirect Communication

Luigi was always my favorite character in Super Mario Bros. 2. Of the four playable choices, his mechanics felt the most natural to my Nintendo trigger thumbs. But what if the level calls for Mario’s pounce, Peach’s float, or Toad’s height (or lack thereof)?

The same dynamic applies to our preferred communication styles and the specific needs of a circumstance.

Some favor an authoritative, direct, tell-it-like-it-is approach, while others prefer a more subtle posture. Both direct and indirect communication offer distinct benefits, yet each comes with trade-offs.

Direct Communication. Communicating directly can ensure clear, efficient information exchange. However, it risks straining the relationship. That’s the cost.

Indirect Communication. Communicating indirectly can preserve personal honor and maintain relational harmony. However, it risks misinterpreting what the other person is truly trying to convey.

Which cost is worth paying in this moment?

When Jesus offended his followers, it was over his core teaching (John 6:60). He didn’t offend over policy issues, carpet choices, or church service schedules.

He told them to eat his flesh. 

Big difference.

On Genres

Why hasn’t a film like Tropic Thunder (or any Marvel blockbuster) been canceled for featuring Robert Downey Jr. in blackface?

How does Dave Chappelle maintain his status as a comedy icon despite some of the controversial boundaries he pushes? 

How does Eminem continue to earn widespread acclaim even when his songs clearly depict murdering his ex-wife?

The answer lies in genre.

Communication and artistic genres frame how we interpret messages. The cultural imagination relies on these frameworks to guide how we process what we see and hear.

YouTube creators can have fun altering a film's genre through its score. For instance, re-editing Mrs. Doubtfire as a thriller or removing John Williams’ iconic music from Star Wars.

Ultimately, genre tells the audience: “Interpret this narrative through this lens, not that one.”

“It’s like” vs. “It is.”

“It’s like” acts like a runway to launch into another imaginative world. 

“It is” serves as the landing pad.

These approaches are not in opposition to one another. Many in the church help land the plane, while others facilitate takeoff. True harmony is preserved when everyone acknowledges that Jesus is the pilot.

Too often, the typical artist in the American Evangelical church feels as though teachers and preachers dominate the cockpit, relying almost exclusively on declarative, Scripturally inspired declarations.

I am not calling for an end to “it-is-ism.”

Rather, I am reminding us that God gave us airplanes to fly, not merely to stay grounded on the tarmac.

Creating Assets

Art school carries a striking irony.

You spend tens of thousands of dollars producing countless pieces of work, only to try to reverse engineer that entire mindset after graduation.

The artist who "makes it" after art school feels like they've won a golden ticket if they manage to create work that yields a financial return.

Yet art school rarely teaches you the business skills needed to sustain a career. Instead, it fosters the opposite: the more time you devote strictly to art-making, the poorer you become.

James Clear helped break me out of this routine when he noted, "Anytime you create an asset, you're creating something that continues working for you."

That insight completely reframed how I viewed artistic creation and my career.

We create art to create value in the world. That value doesn't need to be strictly monetary. It can be symbolic, relational, cultural, aesthetic, or rooted in good works.

Your work doesn't have to gather dust in a parent's closet (as mine did for years).

Instead, the art you release into the world has its own feet. It works for you even while you sleep.

Blessing Hiro

[This blurb contains spoilers]

How does the life of the church endure across generations?

In the movie Big Hero 6, Tadashi lives on through his robot creation, Baymax. Before his passing, Tadashi programmed Baymax and installed him with a flash drive. This drive contained everything about Tedashi: his core values, character, beliefs, cares, pains, etc.

Through this artifact, Tadashi continues to influence and care for his younger brother, Hiro, even after he is gone.

Near the climax of the story, Baymax also dies, or rather, his physical form dies.

The story seems bookended by loss: first Tadashi, then his artifact, Baymax.

However, the turning point comes when Hiro discovers he still has the hard drive, allowing him to construct a new body and restore Baymax.

In a similar way, church forms die too. And that’s ok.

The church’s life isn’t about the form. It needs form, but that’s all it is. Form.

Meaningful Songs

Since 2007, my life changed. Jesus entered, and nothing has been the same since. I took a log at what songs have been most moving since then. Like…goosebump kind of songs. While these might not do it for you, for me, these each carry stories, vivid memories, joy, pain, and all kinds of other things.

*The years indicate the year I came across it (then played it on repeat til this day).

Come Thou Fount (2007)

Thrice: Firebreather, In Exile (2009)

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (2010)

All I have is Christ (2010)

This Breaks My Heart of Stone (2011)

Attributes of God (2011)

Farther Along (2011)

Inheritance (2012)

One Sixteen

All Glory be to Christ (2013)

Brother (2015)

How Firm A Foundation (2016)

Scars (2018)

Til I Found You (2018)

Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery (2019)

Only A Holy God (2019)

Mi Corazon (2019)

Jesus Is King (2019)

The Rush (2020)

Holy Bieber (2020)

Heavenly Father (2022)

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (2025)