Confessing Unity

Shed for you, acrylic & wine on canvas, 66 x 63 inches

Broken for you, acrylic & glue on panel, 66 x 63 inches

CONFESSING UNITY

"Through table fellowship Jesus ritually acted out his insight into how his indiscriminate love operates---a love that causes the sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and His rainfall to fall on honest and dishonest men alike (Matthew 5:45)."
-The Ragamuffin Gospel

Confessing unity is about how much we are alike as a gathering, a people, and a community. Its not about individuality as much as being a part of the same family, being included, or gathered. It's about finding a place that is uniquely yours but a place amongst family where you belong. Confessing unity results in finding purpose. During group prayer I find myself constantly thanking God for making me part of his family. Declaring this gracious truth reaffirms my faith in and my wonder of God's merciful love. God is our home.

Confessing Unity is also about how sin displaces us. Sin removes us from the presence of God and it separates us from each other, it isolates. We can all be very lonely even when we gather because of sin. The brokenness of sin breeds loneliness. In Christ we are adopted; we have family. We have a place we belong. We are home. We fulfill our purpose. Life becomes meaningful and we have a purpose and a hope. We were made to worship and we were made for community. Singing songs together unifies us. Breaking bread together unifies us. Eating at the same table can create a sense of equality amongst us.

At the same time, we find ourselves distracted by: material things, worries, false belief systems, and responsibilities that seem more important than they really are. These distractions become a sort of "chasing of the wind". As a world population, we are broken and brokenness will continue to break people. We are all in the same metaphorical boat and we need a captain. We need someone to steer this boat to where we belong. We all battle fleshly desires, selfish desires that are easily misplaced. As long as we're here on earth we have that battle, but in Christ we have victory over such struggles. We have hope, and we have the ability to fight, resist, or choose something different than the flesh wants us to.

Life is not about us. It's not about me. It's about God. When the focus is set on the King of all kings, our participation becomes a satisfying joy. For instance, the practice of holy communion sets the elements of bread and wine apart from common use to represent God's promises to us in Christ Jesus. Christ set up the temporary in a way to remind us of the eternal. What is ephemeral? What is eternal? The difference is quite possibly a matter of the heart.

I think my work continues to grow as expressing a need to find unity within diversity. This pursuit is where we get the very word university. I collect moments of personal revelation and attempt to visually give them away as a drawing or a painting. In doing this I hope to motivate the viewer to reassess things typically taken for granted and hopefully find common ground for a great discussion.
- Craig Hawkins

To view the presentation by Craig Hawkins for the Indiana Wesleyan University Division of Art click here