Wednesday, May 2

Barren of imagination?

We just finished a two-week teaching on Creativity (one of our five values) this past week at Crossings.

I love talking about creativity, imagination, and the call to create that, I believe, we have all been given.

Each time I teach about creativity, I quote David Lipscomb describing what believing the ‘Bible Alone’ means to him and the churches he works with:

"Taking the Bible alone, to many seems narrow. But it keeps man on safe ground. It ties him to God and His word in all matters of moral and religious duty and all questions of right and wrong. It clips the wings of imagination and makes the Bible the only and safest teacher of duty to man."

I have no problem with the first couple of sentences. It’s the phrase ‘clips the wings of imagination’ that I bothers me.

Fittingly, at the funeral of Lipscomb’s mentor, Tolbert Fanning, the following words were given as a eulogy. (Remember a eulogy is meant to be a ‘good’ thing)

About Fanning: “He waved no plumes, wreathed no garlands, but struck from the shoulder and at the vitals. He was destitute of poetry and barren of imagination.”

How sad is that?

Speak to me, those of you in the land of blogdom, where did our imaginations go? Why do followers of Jesus many times exhibit the least amount of creativity?

Mark Nelson at 5:36 PM 5comments

5 Comments

at 8:42 PM  Anonymous said...

Fear.

 

at 9:41 PM  Anonymous said...

We've had our wings clipped for us.

That's how I felt most of the time I was at my previous ministry... like I wasn't quite allowed to be as creative as I could be. Thank God I've been set free.

I have to say though... I'm starting to think that this whole thing is turning around. I mean, I know some pretty stinking creative Christ followers... I think of all of the most brilliant creative minds I know of and a high percentage of those people follow Jesus.

We like to mourn the Jesus junk / Christian crap that is so popular with the "masses"... the testa-mints... the godweiser t-shirts... all that... but really, the secular world has more than their fair share of uninspired, insipid crap. Clay Aiken... Git'er'done t-shirts... JAG... I'm sure there are better examples.

I'm not so sure the problem is that the church isn't creative... I'm starting to fear that the problem is that most people are so self absorbed and busy to appreciate beauty. The world has lost its sense of wonder...

 

at 8:19 AM  Anonymous said...

Everyone needs to read Greg's comment at least 2 or 3 times. It's true.

I'm not sure the lack of creativity has ever been the issue, either. There are tons of creative Christians using their gifts in the world of "corporate church" and secular establishments.

What is certainly true is the busyness of life and the lack of appreciating such creativity--in regards to a God who birthed it and wants to maintain it.

 

at 10:45 AM  Anonymous said...

Hmm...I'm not sure how far to wade into this topic, so I'll just get my feet good and wet.

1. Creativity thrives in the secular realm because competition demands it. There are a myriad of products, services and establishments that are competing for the same piece of our wallets. If you are not creative in how you package, promote and perform those products and services, you won't survive.

2. I'll go out on a limb here a bit and place some of the responsibility for the lack of creativity within the church on the church itself and to a lesser degree on our colleges and seminaries.

No one has ever felt comfortable until recent years to ask the question, "Is there a different way of doing it while staying true to the message and purpose?" Old church traditions (in the Protestant realm), which have held sway since the days of the Reformation have served to strangle the creativity. "Doing church" became a "one model only" methodology based more on liturgical exercises and a "form over substance" mentality. Any resistance to change was based on the "we've always done it this way" mantra.

2. Our colleges and seminaries also hold onto the old traditions and are not always challenged to look in the mirror and ask if the methods they teach work anymore. Preaching students are taught a "3 point and application" model to sermon design with very little room for deviation. Funny thing is, humans communicate in a variety of creative ways. We do not restrict our everyday communication to one particular form. Why do it in the realm where communicating the message of the Gospel effectively is MOST critical?

Contemporary writers have tackled this issue of communication and preaching styles to ask and answer the "Is there a better way?" question. They encourage creativity while most of our colleges and seminaries are sacrificing creativity for the sake of tradition.

That's as far as I am wading for the time being. Thanks for letting me comment.

 

at 8:29 AM  Anonymous said...

Dave and John and Eric have a little graph in the Big Idea that plots the inverse relationship between creativity and tension.

For some congregations the "spirit and truth" of worship has become a spirit of consumerism and the truth about how a service did or did not meet their needs. That will zap creativity in no time!!

 

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