I enjoy creative endeavors. I draw, paint, sculpt a little and dabble in computer graphic art.
I’m a musician, song writer, photographer, writer, and speaker.
I’ve done radio, television and theater and I’ve even dabbled in stand up comedy a time or two.
I’m the guy that gets the “creative” tag. I’m the guy that is expected to think outside the box. (Truth be told I lost the box years ago.)
More and more regularly I find myself coming across people who say, “I’m just not creative” as though they’re leaving that bit up to me. They always say it with a hint of sadness in their voice as though they WISH they were creative but, it just isn’t their bag.
If you’re one of those people who think you just aren’t creative let me let you in on a little secret…that’s crap. Let me provide three proofs:
Proof 1: The first man
As a Christian I believe man was created by God, in God’s image. When we’re told that in the Bible the only “image” of God we have is that of a creator. If man is created in the image of God then man is created, all of us not just Adam and Eve, to be creators…to be creative.
Proof 2: The foundational job
Pastors tell us, and the Biblical record supports this, that the first thing God gave Adam was a job.
Genesis 2:
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
Now we know Adam didn’t have to tend the ground for food, that comes later, he was a vegetarian at this point, he was naked and unashamed so he didn’t have to make clothes, so what were his jobs again? Decorative gardening, ornamental horticulture is you will, and coming up with creative names for the animals. HIS JOB WAS TO BE CREATIVE!
Proof 3: The forgotten tree
We always remember the tree of the knowledge of good and evil being in the garden. You know, the apple tree? But we too often forget the tree of life was there too. Supposedly eating from the tree of life made it possible for Adam and Eve to LIVE FOREVER. That was why they were kicked to the curb by the way, so they wouldn’t live forever in their post apple eating state.
So in other words…
God created man as a creative being, gave man a creative job, and gave it to him in a place where he was supposed to be forever. That means we’re all BUILT to be creative!!!! If you think you’re not it is only because you’ve forgotten how!!!
I hate the fact that there is a growing trend, in churches and beyond, to refer to a certain select group of people as “creatives” Yes, I know it easier than saying: musicians and artists and writers and painters and, and, and…
But if we call one group the creatives then the other group is the “not creatives”. I really do believe this subtly reinforces the notion in many people that they are not creative.
But if God created all of us to BE creative, and we start to tell one group of folks they’re not, whose message are we spreading there?
What is one creative activity you can engage in today that will produce a tangible result?
You make a very logical and thoughtful point. I agree. So if we don’t call them the “Creative Team” what do we call them? I think the best Creative Teams are those who use their radar to find creativity within the church and then plugs them in where they are needed.
Thanks Tom. I’m becoming a bigger and bigger proponent of the notion that the way we name something, just the word choice, directs the way we think about it. So…a creative team will think it is their responsibility to be creative while the folks not on the team will think it is not their responsibility to be creative, someone else does THAT.
So, first thought… what if we called it the Discovery Team? (DTeam for short) Their job is to discover ways to creatively enhance the worship experience and discover the resources in the body to make that happen. The job of the people NOT on the team is to be discovered.
🙂
Great question…well worth some brainstorming time.
Writing is the creative outline I use most often, though I also like to express myself in other ways too. I think the reason many people don’t consider themselves creative is that we have a very defined box of what is considered a creative activity. Writing, painting, dancing, acting, etc. are all considered creative without argument. But I would argue that almost anything can be creative. For example, my husband is an engineer and very technical, but he is also very creative with how he manages and works and solves problems (he’s great at troubleshooting). I have other examples too. I just think that we can’t box something as creative or not.
Spot on Kari…exactly the point I’m making. We are ALL creative we just have to figure out where we each apply the creativity.