The Greatest Artist Of All Time

I really enjoy this poem, so here you go:

Jefferson Bethke- The Greatest Artist Of All Time

A guy came up to me the other night, right, and he was like who is your favorite artist, and like most people do when they ask you that, he didn’t really want to listen to what my answer was. And he continued about a struggle to recognize who he said was the greatest of all time. He said, I mean is it Shakespeare, is it Frost, is it Picasso, Michelangelo, is it Rembrandt, Beethoven, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber. Okay, he didn’t really say that, that part was me, I’m a fan, what can I say. Bieber fever. But he said, whoever is lyrically the strongest, and said, whoever has lived the longest and he went on, and on, and on about who he thought was the greatest, not realizing even his infrastructure to answer that question was misled and outdated. So finally, I kindly smiled and said, okay, sir you asked me who is The Greatest of All Time, now you tried to share yours, so let me share mine.

Now, see there is no debate about who is the greatest, because all those other artists you mentioned, yeah, the greatest made them. And see this artist, he is a beast, man, the lion, the name above names, you don’t even realize it but you encounter his art every day. And he deserves all the acclaim, he deserves all of the fame, because all other artists fade away, but he remains. Oh, by the way, by the way, his name is God, Yahweh, creator, your maker. He is infinitely creative, sir, there is no one greater. And I can tell, it looks like you are starting to get mad at me, but don’t be jealous just because your favorite artist might bend words, and my favorite artist bends galaxies.

See in the palm of his hand he holds all the sand, the author of life, when he whispered let us make man. I mean what if you knew that you are God’s poetry. You were created, because someone else was creative. See, long ago he picked up his eternal paint brush, dipped in his glory, placed you in his story and said, they will live for me. And, and, I know it sounds outlandish, but we are not the product of random chances. In fact we are not even the vine; we are actually the branches, in the same way. No, we are not the artist, we are actually the canvas. Because in an instant, God started to make art, shaped/[chipped] uniquely and beautiful individual from the start and he touched the canvas of flesh and said, this one is better than the rest, I’ll give him so much of my image so even when they’re hot off the press they’ll look so much like me, you can still see the steam of my breath.

And so, he crafted and he made every arm and leg, ligaments, tendons, muscles, blood vessels, veins, arteries. He said, they are going to have a part of me. And it was right about then, the guy butted back in and said, the guy butted back in and said, I am filthy, God won’t use me, will he? And I said, that’s the greatest part about God, even if we’ve messed up, he can still use us. Even though other artists once they have broken equipment, they start to make excuses, but God instead doesn’t refuse us, and neither does he accuse us, he redeems us in Jesus, promises never to lose us.

So, stop saying that you’re dirt, stop saying you’re scum of the earth. You ought to be careful about, how you talk about someone else’s work. Because if you have trusted in Jesus man, you can stop saying you are filthy. All that is anyways is just pride, clothed, and false humility. I mean if only we believe that we truthfully are created in his likeness, then we’d stop saying we are messed up, guilty, wretched, filthy, but instead knowing if we trusted Jesus we are righteous.

I mean, don’t you know you are drawn to repentance because of his kindness, so how dare you call yourself worthless when he says you are priceless. But see the best part about God, is that since God is ultimately for God, he’ll get glory out of you, whether you like it or not, because even temple ruins point to you an architect even if the temple is shot. And, all I am saying is that he is behind it all, so why do we insist on giving him no glory at all.

I mean he is the one that gave Van Gogh the imagination that changed the face of painting. Tell me who else allowed Mozart to start composing at age five, without formal training. He is the one that gave Beethoven the hands that played beauty on the keys, for Pete’s sake, he made Stevie Wonder, one of the best musicians of our time and he couldn’t even see.

And that’s why in the same way that our lives are borrowed time, this poem is borrowed lines, because the most ridiculous statement I could ever say is that this poem is mine, because we are not self sustaining. No, we are not self creating. Technically, nothing we do is original, we are just imitating and that’s not a dis, all I am trying to say is this, even our own creativity is nothing more than an outflow of his. But, hey, I’ve said enough; I’ll end with this.

You know that quote about giving credit, where credit is due. Well, if that’s true, I think it’s time we give God his rightful credit too, because he is the type of artist in the business in making all things new and here is the truth, he is not through with making a masterpiece of you.