Remember that time when the grey haired Uncle Ben turns to Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-man f.k.a. Tobey Maguire – for superhero lovers that’s another conversation all together) and gives him a warning that went along the lines of, “With great power comes great responsibility”? Yes, well, how could you not remember? It’s one of the most epic quotes from the first Spider-man (2002).
The quote is really an adaption of Luke 12:48 where Jesus says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
The verse just before that one (v47) goes a bit like this (NLT), “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished. (Beginning of v.48) But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong will be punished only lightly….”
Now, from what I understand, and what I’ve read about these verses, Jesus is talking about the stuff that we have been entrusted with as people (gifts, talents, etc.). Those of us who know God as our Father and understand His will, will be more severely punished than those who do not know and who are not faithful stewards of the gifts they’ve been given.
One of the ways that I thought that I could do this as an artist was to be responsible with the business side of my art. Artists tend to be lazy, or maybe think that all they need to do is sit in a room playing their instrument to succeed at their art. This is not true, and it’s also part of the reason why many artists stay poor all their life and other people get rich off of their efforts. Unfortunately, there are people who know how to manipulate the ‘poor artists’ efforts and skill.
If you want to start being more business minded as an artist and you have no way of knowing how let me help you.
Next week, South Africa is having it’s own South by South West conference called Music Exchange (www.mex.co.za). Business people who have been in involved in music for years, Martin and Razia Meyers, have specifically designed it for musicians, producers and writers.
I hope to see you there, I also hope that this is the wake up call for you if you’ve been operating in your gifting or skill and have done so virtually unpaid for years or even months – which can leave people feeling quite disillusioned about what they do. See this as the beginning of an investment in what God has given you.