The meaning
“Open Rebellion” was completed in the fall of 2019 for my friend Stuart and was the theme of his ministry weekend which he named, created, and lead. I remember asking him what his vision was for his weekend and how he wanted me to illustrate his theme. At first, Stuart said all he had was a vision of a building being cracked in half, and then I said to him, “Ok, I got it, I’ll get to work on it right away.”
Stuart got the name from one of the clergy leaders of the ministry who labeled our friend Scottie “You are in Open Rebellion” because he was supporting a twelve-step friend of his by attending a sweat lodge ceremony with him. The event was traumatic for Scottie because, unknown to him beforehand, there were drugs involved.
Scottie sought help from the clergy who immediately judged him rather than support him. This was typical for leaders in this ministry to criticize or judge me, Scottie, and others I knew, who would go to them for help when we struggled with personal issues in our lives, which would always come up and “rear their ugly heads.”
So, when Stuart finally, clearly recognized the reality of this judgment from leadership, he ironically turned it around on them to name his weekend retreat theme: “Open Rebellion!” Despite all the resistance from the ministry leadership, the painting was made into a banner and was on display for all to see for most of the retreat weekend.
To sum up the true meaning of this piece, I attempt to clearly represent Christ as the True and Living Pastor or Priest over the Chruch, and not any human being on this earth.
Stuart communicated this reality very well over the course of his weekend and stressed the importance of having authentic friendships first, before jumping right into “ministry” which leads to being controlled by leadership. Stuart emphasized that our interactions should happen naturally, through the relationships we build with each other, and not by the force of our human will to change each other’s behavior.
The Process
Having no idea how his piece would come out, I began to sketch a torn building on the bottom, stones on the building, and then stained-glass windows. Then I realized that it was a church building.
The next vision I received was to sketch a wounded soldier in the arms of an angel and then position Christ above them both. I was inspired by “Christ of Saint John of the Cross” by Salvador Dali on this part of the illustration.
After a few weeks went by, Stuart gave me a scripture from Revelation 3:7 which speaks of the angel of Philadelphia and The Key of David (around the angel’s neck), which opens a door to heaven that no man can open or close.
Then I started to develop a battle scene inside the torn church building, with smoke and fire rising from it. This part of the illustration was inspired by the movie, “Hacksaw Ridge” by Mel Gibson. The aspect of a spiritual battle was also depicted in my piece, “Carrying the New.”