To Be, or Not to Be a "Christian" Artist

More and more Christians involved in the arts world are questioning whether or not they want to be labeled as "Christian." Can't I just be an artist who happens to be a Christian they are asking? A number of objections to being "labeled" have been raised:

The term "Christian" is found to be offensive by many people who do not like the conservative (and often politically "incorrect") viewpoints held by many who are Christian

Some calling themselves Christian have conducted themselves in an unloving or hypocritical manner with which some of us wouldn't want to be associated

An artist labeled as "Christian" probably won't be booked for non-Christian events

I'd like to encourage you, if you are an artist who has a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, not to be confused by the semantics. There are a number of artists out there who do not have that personal relationship, but who don't have any problem promoting themselves in the Christian market because they are "spiritual" and innocently believe that is the same thing as being a Christian. There are some performers I have met who have admitted that they don't have that relationship, but see a potential market in the Christian arts field, so they offer a performance of "clean comedy" or "spiritual songs" in the hopes of generating more revenue. So the label "Christian artist" might not even mean what you think it does to some!
The label "Christian" should be used to indicate the relationship with Jesus and a submission of our life to Him and His will as given to us in Scripture. Churches and Christian venues using the arts for outreach and hiring artists to help in that outreach, more and more want to know where a performer stands before giving them them authority to lead worship. It wouldn't be helpful for the furthering of the gospel, for example, to hire a "spiritual" actor to do a dramatic monologue from the life of Jesus only to have him comment somewhere in the monologue about being married to Mary Magdalene a la "The DaVinci Code".
There always will be Christians who "see the sin and not the sinner" and as a result of this narrow vision, will alienate the lost; there always will be Christians who sin; and Christians always will be persecuted for their beliefs, so all three objections to being labeled a Christian artist come as a result of people being people-- we all mess up.
If we are willing to abandon the label "Christian" for fear of what human associations it might attach to us, however, my fear is that we open ourselves to abandoning it for the heavenly associations it attaches to us as well. If our friend who is following a different religion would be offended, for example, if we shared that Jesus Christ was the only way to heaven and that the leader of their religion couldn't provide that, would we be tempted to abandon Him in favor of being "spiritual" rather than Christian and being more tolerant of another way to preserve the friendship? I believe that possibility is real.
As for me, I stand with Christ. If that means sometimes people throw me into the same category as a televangelist who makes an unwise comment or lifestyle decision, I can always explain that I have a different opinion. If being a Christian means that I sometimes take a stand that's not "politically correct", I'll back it up with the Word of God. If being "Christian" means that I don't get hired somewhere, I'll trust the Lord to provide in some other way.
I find that I can't just be an artist who happens to be a Christian, not if I want to see my art have the most impact possible for His kingdom. For that, I have to lay down all of my life and take up a new identity with Him, not just when it's convenient or beneficial, but always.

Check out a related posting under "Raise Your Hand" on the Willow Creek Arts blog at http://2007artsconferenceblog.blogspot.com/