On the Christian Publishing Show, I talk with publishing insiders as well as people in related industries. Some of the coolest and most revolutionary insights come from those conversations. If you are only spending time with other authors, you are missing out. One such industry expert is Matt Tommey. He is an artist in Asheville, North Carolina, an internationally known Christian speaker, the author of more than four books, a mentor to hundreds of artists around the world, and the host of The Thriving Christian Artist podcast.
Why do authors and artists tend to stay in their silos?
Thomas: I think authors and artists face many of the same psychological challenges, yet they rarely spend time together. They often live in different worlds. Why is that?
Matt: It is the same for musicians. We like to stay in our silos because we think others will not understand us. I am committed to the idea that creativity is the very nature of who God is. As his children, whatever our creative expression, it is related and it is his. I can enjoy a good cup of coffee with writers, musicians, and visual artists at the same time. Our siloed view limits us and keeps us in our own world.
Thomas: I was at a writers conference where a successful musician taught songwriting, and his sessions were well attended. I felt bad because what he had to teach was likely helpful. I did not go either, so I am part of the problem. I want to fix that by having you on the show. Let’s talk about what inhibits our creativity. In your books, you discuss artists getting stuck. Why does that happen? Why do people give up?
Why do creatives get stuck?
Matt: Creatives are wired a bit differently and can be more sensitive. The very thing God intends to make us unique and to release his kingdom can be what the enemy uses to take us out. That was my story and why I started helping artists. Gifts became weaknesses when combined with wounding and trauma. I did not know how to deal with past issues that were life-altering. Instead of becoming places of redemption, they became roadblocks.
Like many, I did not have anyone I trusted, or I thought I did not, so I struggled for years.
I developed coping mechanisms, then an understanding of life, then an entire blueprint I call a paradigm. After 10 or 20 years, you realize you were living from a wounded grid. When I allowed the Lord to heal those places, my life’s grid changed to align with what God wanted to do.
How does woundedness affect creative expression?
Thomas: You mentioned woundedness playing with insecurities. How does our woundedness affect our creative expression?
Matt: I hear from a lot of people through email, the podcast, and our mentoring program. Today, a woman in her late 40s or early 50s wrote that her fourth-grade teacher told her she had no talent. It shut her down for decades. Her creativity reawakened through her daughter’s art. The enemy will use anything to get us to believe a lie about who we are and how God designed us. When you believe a lie, you build a world and a belief system to support it, and you end up in a mess.
As the Lord unravels those lies and you exchange them for his truth, his kingdom begins to manifest in your life. That happened to me and to many artists I know. Life becomes manifestly different when you stop agreeing with lies.
Thomas: I just finished the memoir of Case Keenum, the NFL quarterback now with the Denver Broncos. He is a believer. He was not the prototypical quarterback, was undrafted, and started on the practice squad. Despite a record-breaking college career, he was obscure. God used that season to grow character. It is one thing to battle old lies. It is another thing to hear criticism shouted at you in real time and all week on social media. However tough creatives have it, athletes often have it worse.
In Playing for More, he describes resetting to the truth after throwing an interception. Everyone is angry, including you. We all know we should reset to biblical truth and what God says about us, but how do you do that as an artist? How do you ground yourself in the truth?
How can artists renew their minds in practice?
Matt: This is the mode of transformation the Bible teaches, yet most Christians do not know how to do it. Artists tend to go with the flow and are not proactive with their emotions or thoughts. Romans tells us not to conform to the pattern of this world, that is, do not live or respond like everyone else. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. As you think differently, transformation shows up in your life.
A practical part is taking every thought captive. Real change happens through habits. Many of us accept every thought and every feeling as true, or let others define us. Instead, catch the thought and ask, “Does this align with God’s word, or is it a lie? Whose voice is this?” You can plant that thought in your heart like a seed or throw it away and replace it with God’s truth. Over time, that habitual exchange produces the fruit of the kingdom.
Thomas: It is mental discipline. If you sit at the keyboard telling yourself, I am a terrible writer, then you set the tone for a terrible day of writing. You need to switch the tape. The world might say to replace it with the opposite, “I am a great writer,” but that may not be true yet. We all start rough and grow over time.
Some truths do not change, and those are the truths about God. Before you start typing, proclaim truths about God and his character, or list his names. It changes your mindset, especially if you do it out loud. There is something powerful about vocal praise. Saying it out loud resets you.
How do God’s promises fuel transformation?
Matt: There is a key passage in 2 Peter 1:3-4 that says if you want to participate in the divine nature, that is, see the kingdom show up in your life, you do it through the very precious promises of God. As you take God’s promises and appropriate them for yourself, they are true all the time. The kingdom is always on. When you bring those promises into your life and plant them, God’s word does not return void. It is like a seed and will produce fruit. Instead of letting situations, hurts, and pain define you and produce fruit, you allow God’s word and his truth to produce fruit, which is incredible.
Thomas: There are amazing promises in the Bible. When I was growing up in Austin, a local pastor ran a recurring radio spot. Instead of promoting his church, he would share a promise from Scripture and close with, “Promises, God’s promises. He makes them and he keeps them.”
I think you are right about being led by faith, not by feelings. It is easy to treat feelings as reality, but often they are deceptive and fickle. One day is terrible, the next is amazing, and little has changed except our feelings.
What role should feelings play?
Matt: Feelings are signals. Some say, “Do not listen to your feelings at all,” but God designed feelings. He gave us emotions, though we are not to be ruled by them. When you feel something, ask, “I went through this situation; now I am feeling this. Why am I responding this way?” Often, a small situation triggers a big emotional response. That is a cue to ask, “What evoked that emotion? Lord, is there a lie I am believing that is causing fear, flight, or a sense of abandonment?” It is a wonderful time to invite the Holy Spirit in and make an exchange.
Thomas: Feelings and emotions are like the engine of a car, not the steering wheel. As you mature, you learn not to eliminate emotions but to make them your ally rather than your master. Being nervous does not mean you must succumb to nerves. I have given talks in difficult contexts, sometimes with people trying to shout me down. God was with me, and practice laid the foundation. Having done it before builds confidence.
How do we build new habits and renew the mind?
Matt: These things get easier as we do them. Many of us live on autopilot, doing what we have always done. In our late 30s or early 40s, we may ask, Is this it? The pain begins to outweigh our lack of healthy habits, and we realize we can change. The Holy Spirit releases grace as we walk through it. In mentoring artists, I love seeing that switch flip and real change begin.
Thomas: It is hard, and that difficulty drives us to core issues. You do not need a mentor to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but crafting a character or a chapter touches deeper places.
Why do many artists struggle financially?
Thomas: The starving artist cliché is common among authors and artists alike. Why does that happen, and what can we do about it?
Matt: If you are a believer, realize first that provision is God’s promise. It is not based on what you do or how you perform. It is based on his promise to care for you.
Thomas: Promises, God’s promises. He makes them and he keeps them.
Matt: Exactly. Most Christians are not taught that God is a provider in a tangible way. We silo our spiritual life on one side and our practical, financial, and business life on the other. We try to do a lot for God on our own rather than working with him and receiving provision as we go. One of my favorite Bible teachers, Gary Kesey, said our provision comes by revelation in line with our assignment. God brings provision in alignment with what he has called you to do. As you learn to hear his voice, cultivate that relationship, and walk in faith, God brings provision for your assignment.
I believed for a long time that I had to go make money on my own so I could come back and do things for God. That is not the kingdom design. Jesus said you cannot serve mammon and the Lord; you must choose.
Kingdom artists need a fundamental shift away from performance and self-provision to trusting that God has our back, that he is the source of everything we need, and that he has already given us everything for life and godliness. As we do what he calls us to do, led by his Spirit, his promise is to provide.
When I made that shift, and as I have seen in hundreds of artists, incredible things happen.
Recently, during a Facebook webinar, a man in New York City heard this teaching, was convicted, and repented: “Lord, I am sorry. I have been trying to do this on my own.” Minutes later, his phone rang. Someone wanted to buy two of his paintings out of the blue. He is now beginning to experience a divine flow of abundance. It is not based on performance. It is based on moving from striving to sonship, receiving the good things God has, and stewarding them well as you grow.
How can we trust God for provision?
Thomas: It is not a big deal for God to provide. He is not checking the couch cushions to figure it out. I have been convicted about this lately. I recently got married, we had a baby, and expenses have increased. My wife is staying home with the baby, so I feel pressure to be the sole breadwinner. First, I remind myself that it is God who provides, not me. It is not “I am the man, I must provide.”
Our baby is nursing. When she gets hungry, she cries, and if food does not come immediately, she panics as if she has never eaten before and will never eat again. I want to say, “Baby, when have you ever not been fed? Your mother is getting the pillow and water, and in 30 seconds or a couple of minutes, you will eat.” Her lack of patience is obvious.
I joked in a text, “Local baby has never eaten before in entire life, according to local baby.” It is biased news.
But I look at her and ask, “Am I the same way with God? When have I ever missed a meal because I could not afford food? When have I ever slept in the rain without shelter?”
All this worry about money, when Jesus specifically said not to worry about money. It is hard, and I often repent. Most nights, as I pray with my wife, I repent of worrying about money and believing I am the provider instead of God. That does not mean I sit around being lazy, but it is an important mindset shift. I do not have full clarity on this, and I will probably repent again tonight.
What changes when we stop striving and receive?
Matt: Most frustration about money comes from trying to do it ourselves and looking for provision in places God did not design to provide. When you look to him and stay in a posture of receiving, your awareness shifts: This is who I am, this is what I am called to do, and God brings provision in line with my assignment at the right time. You can live with expectancy, not knowing exactly where it will come from, but knowing it is on the way. That changes everything. It is a beautiful way to live, and once you start, you wonder how people do it any other way. An incredible flow of abundance begins.
What does it mean for an author to thrive?
Thomas: It is a journey of walking with Christ. It is humbling to relearn lessons we thought we had learned. We are short on time, but I want to talk about thriving, which is a big part of your ministry. What does it mean for an author to thrive, and how can authors thrive?
Matt: Thriving is holistic. God is not calling you only to perform well; he is calling you as a whole person. It starts with your spiritual life and intimacy with him, grounded in sonship, not performance. That creates a healthy container for everything else. As you understand who you are, move through brokenness, and realign with God’s call, your creative expression becomes clearer.
Whatever the medium, expression is the fruit of the heart. If your heart is filled with woundedness and lies, your creative fruit will reflect that. There is no perfection required, but clarity and passion increase when you are not operating through a wounded lens. The person God called you to be creatively can come out in fullness.
Whether God calls you to ministry, personal expression, or business, he often gives a strategy for bringing your work into the marketplace. The trio of spiritual life, art life, and business life is what our Artist Mentoring program is about. As people are healed, they do what God called them to do, and he builds marketplace connections that bring abundance and influence. That is abundant life: being who God called you to be, doing what he called you to do, and not worrying about making it all happen by yourself. That is thriving, and I love helping people do that.
Thomas: When you abide in the vine, fruit happens. A pear tree does not force pears; it cannot help producing them. In Texas, pecan trees drop so many pecans that you cannot walk without stepping on them. It comes from a restful place. Branches abide in the tree, the tree abides in the soil, and fruit is everywhere. I believe that is true in many areas of life.
Connect with Matt Tommey
Sponsor: Christian Writers Institute
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