Are you creative? What is it? Are you an artist? In the beginning God creates. And you were created to be like God. You were born to create. In first grade I wrote a poem. But life set in and I stopped. But I got back into it and now do it fairly regularly and recently had a poem posted by AMBS. I was surprised out how many people said they could never write poetry. People tend to view the "creatives" asa subset of the human race. When I was a kid I figured out I couldn't draw or make music. I wasn't a creative. Finally in seminary somebody told I should be a writer. That was first time I started thinking about myself as a creative. Years later I realized that "they" don't exist. We're all creative. I also didn't think I could preach. But I finally realized I could when I incorporated a poem into a sermon. It changed how I think about preaching; the sermon became art. Creativity is not a spiritual gift. It's the spiritual gift. We are artists, called to create. I see all kinds of creativity like rebuilding engines, or gardening, or engineers, or James fixing a swimming pool. Creativity has always been a part of the church, central to expressions of faith. I didn't think of faith as creativity because I was taught it was propositional, instead of art that turns us towards God. Christianity is a creative faith at its core. We tend to become comfortable with what we've known and stop being creative because we've found the answers, we stop thinking about things that need to change. All of us have things we don't want to have change. I don't mean for us to abandon truth but rather to explore it. It's like the new perspective we get from walking through the Grand Canyon. We wouldn't think you're trying to destroy their view of the Grand Canyon because you're exploring it. Truth is not afraid of questions and exploration. In the coming weeks we're going to explore a number of topics about the church that might feel uncomfortable. Open yourself up to your God ordained imagination. We're not intending to change our theology; it's intended to make you ask questions. Change happens no matter what. The question is are you going to be reactionary or responsive. Whatever time is the time you think change should stop is the time somebody else thinks it was too far. If we are reactionary, it will be a threat. If we are responsive, we open ourselves up to the creativity of God. [break for kid art] Kids always have something to draw. But over time, creativity disappears and conformity seeps in. You are creative, meant to reflect the Divine Artist. I only want you to learn one thing in this series. Don't settle for somebody telling you are not an artist. Don't settle for a theology that is not marked by the creativity of God. God is moving, not stagnant. Don't say "I have it figured out. If only things were the way I want." It will destroy your soul. As a kid I loved dinosaurs. I especially loved organizing them. I especially liked my dinosaur coloring books. I used to color them with my special box. But I ran out of the "dinosaur colors." But then I realized nobody knew what color they were. So I started using the neon colors. I was still coloring dinosaurs, but a whole new world was open to me. We need to be like this theologically. The most beautiful parts of our faith are those where we are creative. We not only need green and brown dinosaurs. We need hot pink ones.
- What does it mean to be creative?
- In what ways are you creative?
- Scott connected creativity to not being stuck in the past or in our ways. How do you see these as being connected?
- What keeps us from being open to seeing God in new ways?