15-5

One God Idea

Everything that exists today started off as somebody's idea. The computer that I am typing on right now was just an idea someone had that was acted upon. "You were once an idea in the imagination of God. And for the record, God doesn't have bad ideas." Creativity stems from our imaginations. Our God is infinitely creative, and we are called to be just like Him, so that means He wants us to be creative too! "To become more like God is to become more creative." Don't believe me? Than why do the Psalms tell us more than half a dozen times to sing a new song to God? He wants us to write songs for Him! He wants us to be creative! Batterson writes, "Evidently God gets tired of old songs. He doesn't just want you to worship Him with your memory; He wants you to worship Him with your imagination. If you tell your wife that you love her the same way over and over again, she may stop believing you. Why? Because your words are an expression of memory instead of an expression of imagination. It's half-hearted because it's half-minded." God wants us to use our creativity for His glory.

"The quest for the lost soul of Christianity is about rediscovering our creative birthright. It's about reimagining everything from the Great Commandment to the Great Commission. It's about challenging old assumptions by asking the why questions. It's about challenging the perceived limits of our God-given potential by asking the why not questions. And it's driven by a holy curiosity that won't take yes for an answer. If we are going to have an eternal impact on our culture, we can't just criticize it or copy it. We've got to create it."

"The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet. And there are certainly pockets of ingenuity and imagination, but we're nowhere near our creative potential. I wonder if our lack of creativity stems from a false definition of faithfulness. Faithfulness is not doing it the way it's always been done. Faithfulness is not holding the fort. Faithfulness is not defending the status quo. Faithfulness is the courage to incarnate the gospel in creative ways. Faithfulness is experimenting with new ways of doing discipleship. Faithfulness is playing offense for the kingdom even if some Pharisees find it offensive."

Part of being creative is just being who you are. "Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Don't settle for the status quo. Challenge it. Nonconformity invites criticism, but that is the only option if you're following in the footsteps of the quintessential nonconformist, Jesus. God doesn't just give us permission to give expression to our uniqueness; He demands it. And the future of the kingdom may depend upon it."

One God idea is worth infinitely more than a thousand good ideas. How do you know which ideas are God ideas and which ideas are just good ideas? Prayer and experimentation. As creatives, we have to be willing to experiment, which means we have to be willing to fail. But if we are unwilling to fail then we will never follow through on the new ideas that God is planting within us all the time. Why are we afraid to fail anyway? Are we afraid that people won't like us? It isn't about us anyway is it? It is about God. And if it is about God, then it isn't about us, so it doesn't matter if people don't like us! God has called us to be creative, so create.

Enjoy the Journey