Christian Creativity
Hanging On to the Creative Vision

When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land.
Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amonites are living in the  hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.” Numbers 13:25-31

Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in the wilderness!” Numbers 14:1-2

Intro: There are episodes in scripture, when I come to them, though I know what happens, I hold my breath

– the decision before the characters will determine the fate of the nation
• I want to yell and warn them, “No! That’s a bad idea. Don’t do it!”
◦ they have so little to gain and everything to lose — God’s companionship, their welfare, their destiny
◦ but they never listen to me, and so the tragedy follows (just like the last time I read it)
• of course, I can’t change their past any more than I can change my own
– this report of the spies and Israel’s response is one of those episodes

It seems to me that Moses set the spies up for failure
– in chapter 12:17-20 he told them what to look for:
• the people (are they strong or weak, few or many), the cities (large or small, open or walled), etc.
• it comes as no surprise that the spies found what they were looking for
◦ strong people (even giants! 13:32-33), fortified cities and a land that “devours its inhabitants”
– God responded to Israel’s moaning by giving them exactly what they said (14:28-29)

It is as if he said,
“Okay, you’ll get everything your faith is able to grasp and what you have imagined possible. I will reward you to the limit of your creativity.”

• but God made an exception for two of the spies, one of whom was Caleb

But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. (14:24)
This, because Caleb had tried to calm and inspire the people
. . . do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them and the LORD is with us; do not fear them (14:9)

• Caleb had creative vision – he could see the promise as if already fulfilled

Creativity’s greatest resource is faith

Faith inspires and encourages creativity
– if you know there’s a way through, you’ll look for it
• faith is biased in favor of positive outcomes
– I’ve experienced the ease and joy of working with people who can!
• when teamed up with Rick Founds, I’d often ask him for something extra – perhaps unusual
◦ he would smile and within a few days, he would have it ready for our next event
◦ working with Rick spoiled me
• with other creative artists who followed Rick, I would first have to convince them they could! 
◦ it was not that he was more talented or creative
◦ he simply had more confidence in his talent and creativity

Where faith falters, creativity declines

Creativity is not irrepressible, it can be blocked Continue reading →

Creative Christianity
Informed Intuition

For all who have lived without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. Romans 2:12-16

Intro: You may not recognize the name Walter Cannon

Or know that he was one of America’s outstanding physiologists
– but you’ve probably heard a term he invented: flight or fight
• it refers to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system
– in his book, The Way of the Investigator, Cannon included a chapter on “The Role of Hunches”

Walter Cannon, “As a matter of routine I have long trusted unconscious processes to serve me . . . .”

• he found that insights would come to mind when awake in the middle of the night
◦ this, he said, was the only value he could find for insomnia
• this is how he describes the way flight or fight came to him one night
◦ he had been closely observing the many changes in the body that accompany intense emotions
◦ there were so many and they were so varied that they “seemed unrelated”

“Then, one wakeful night, after a considerable collection of these changes had been disclosed, the idea flashed through my mind that they could be nicely integrated if conceived as bodily preparations for supreme effort in flight or fighting.”

The hunch is one form that intuition can take
– a hunch can be strong confidence in a suspicion, conclusion or theory that you cannot prove
– other forms of creativity include:
• epiphanies – a sudden moment of revelation or realization
◦ an idea, solution, new perspective or insight into a situation pops into your head
• gut feelings – impressions that are more visceral than rational
◦ “I felt it in my bones,” “Something about him felt off”
◦ you know something, but you don’t know how you know

Creativity is frequently moved forward by intuition
– our own intuitive voice can help guide us to answers, insights and solutions
• you have experienced intuition, though you may not have recognized it as such
– this is an important subject, but I admit my inexperience with it
• so we will be exploring intuition together

In Paul, theology and psychology intersect

Of course, Paul did not use the terms–theology and psychology
– in part, because they had not been bifurcated into two different “specialties”
• he perceived innate human capacities as both spiritual and psychological at the same time
• it was due to a certain innate capacity that unbelieving humans had to “suppress the truth,”

because that which is known about God is evident within them . . . . (Ro. 1:18-19)

– therefore we come up against an odd situation:
• Gentiles who had not been exposed to God’s written Law, were nevertheless living according to it

Our passage indicates that there are two ways we come to know God’s will Continue reading →

Christian Creativity
Creating Beauty

Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding and in knowledge and in all craftsmanship; to make designs for working in gold and in silver and in bronze, and in the cutting of stones for settings and in the carving of wood, so as to perform in every inventive work. He has also put in his heart to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach,of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to perform every work of an engraver and of a designer and of an embroiderer, in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and in fine linen, and of a weaver, as performers of every work and makers of designs. Now Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the LORD has put skill and understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded.”
Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful person in whom the LORD had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work and perform it. Exodus 35:30-36:2

Intro: I enjoy the Bible; its collage of stories and songs, laws and letters

All the different parts are required to fill out the horizon of our knowledge of God
– but still there are snippets of scripture tucked in odd places that fascinate me
• I’m going to share two of them with you
• the first is this announcement that Moses made regarding God’s sanctuary

The Old Testament heroes–Moses, Samson, David the prophets–had something extra
– they were “filled with the Spirit” – divine energy flowed through them
• so that God was acting directly in the world through human agents
– what first surprised me, then fascinated me about our passage–it wasn’t only the heroes
• God likewise empowered artisans! — they too were filled with the Spirit
• only they were not empowered not for battle, leadership or prophecy
◦ but for artistic design and skilled work to construct God’s sacred tent

We have seen that creativity is not magic nor does it come to us from the outside
– made in God’s image, creativity is one of the qualities that defines the human person
• nevertheless, there are times when God joins someone in the creative process
• and when that occurs, creativity does come from the outside
– the Latin roots of the word “inspire” literally means “breathe into” or “spirit enters”
• God is always involved in creative inspiration, but normally his involvement is indirect
◦ in the case of the artists Moses named, God’s inspiration was direct
◦ and this is true even though much of their work was (technically) not “religious”
• we need to rethink what it means to be Spirit-filled 
◦ and the sort of activities in which being Spirit-filled is relevant

Two lists highlight creative inspiration

First list highlights internal capacities
– wisdom – the appropriate application of information (always practical)
– understanding – comprehending how things work–nature, society, relationships, etc.
– knowledge — or know-how Continue reading →

Christian Creativity
“Inventors of Evil”

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Genesis 6:5-8

Intro: A few years ago I published a book on postmodern popular culture

After reading it, a professor at USC told me, “What you’ve described is ‘postmodern-lite’”
– he went on to explain, “You left out all the hard stuff – the dark side of postmodernity.”

He was right, and last week I was guilty of the same omission when talking about creativity
– I have to admit that the exploration of creativity excites me
• through creative eyes, whole world is enchanting — or becomes re-enchanted
• when against the wall, creativity imagines and then finds or designs a door
◦ creativity is free rather than caged, open rather than closed, flexible rather than rigid and curious rather than jaded
– so, yes, it’s true, what I described last time was “creativity-lite“

If we endeavored to treat every moment creatively, the result would not be breakthroughs, but chaos
– for example, when driving it is okay in being creative to find a new route to work
• but it is not okay to experiment with something new and different at every intersection
– it is not necessary to reinvent everything!
– and though we associate creativity with making things, it can also be destructive
• our scripture today provides just such an example

The story of the Flood hits close to home

We may have difficulty with it historically or geologically
– but the idea that humankind can bring down its own demise is all too familiar

Helmut Thielicke described one of the ways God made humans to differ from other animals: “None of them can decide whether they wish to become fish, birds, or elephants. But to man the chance, and the burden too, has been given to decide for himself whether he wants to become human or inhuman, whether he wishes to realize or sabotage his destiny.”

• many voices today echo Noah’s warnings
• if we continue blindly on our present course the consequences will catch up to us
– by making us in his image, our Creator put an awesome gift in our hands
• we can use it to build a better world or spell our doom Continue reading →