RIGHTEOUSNESS IS CREATIVITY UNLEASHED
Just a few days ago as I was driving in my car, I heard God say:
“My creatives haven’t been welcomed in the church for a long time. The church needs them. It needs their out-of-the-box thinking and unstoppable passion. I’m not in the box either. You’ll never find Me there. The creatives are humble enough to seek me and find me, much more of me. And they can’t help but lead others to me by how they live. Many are the eyes, ears, and mouth of the body; my dreamers, my visionaries, my innovators. Therefore, the church no longer has a voice in the world because the mouth isn’t welcome. Some in the church are even afraid of them. They are real and authentic. My creatives speak a thousand words with the images they paint, the photos they take, and the art they create. They write songs, poems, and books with a vulnerability that both my body and the world need to hear. They bring joy, and in turn health, through laughter. They are the closest of all my children to the living and breathing faith of a child. But the stodgy, serious, rule-making “adults” have pushed them all but out. They are always welcomed into the world but there they are used and abused. I am calling back my creatives, those who are most like me.”
And then I saw this beautiful image of a Father, arms stretched and open wide, welcoming all those who would dare to believe.
Once I heard Him speak, the problem became clear. With no mouth how can the church have a voice to speak into the culture? And if God is the creator, the one and only Creator, shouldn’t His children be creative? Satan isn’t a creator, he is a duplicator and all the church seems to do lately is duplicate the things the world is doing. I have had only one leader, an associate pastor, who championed my gifting early on. He is the one, twenty years ago, who told me I was a mouth and would ask me what God was saying. I was so young in the Lord and this stuck with me through the years.
I had no idea what a gift he was to me at the time. Naively, I thought this was normal. I thought all leaders empowered those in their care. That certainly hasn’t been the case. The last contact I had with him, he told me he was no longer a pastor but now worked in the music industry. I’m just sure he is still encouraging and empowering many as that is his gift. He is the arms of the body, lifting others up, hugging until they know they are loved, and always finding ways to make others stronger.
Let’s define creatives, so we know exactly who we are talking about. Creatives are not just artists. God defined the term creatives as – those who think outside of the box. Well, how obvious? It’s a man-made box. The world created the box. We may be creative in how we parent or how we run a business. God’s creatives have a certain mindset rather than just a talent. They choose to live by the incredible, brilliant mind of Christ they’ve been given. They decide to believe the Word. They are the rare believers who dare to live by faith. They can feel incredibly lonely at times because of how few others they find like themselves. They find it impossible to thrive in the grayness of the world. Their hearts crave the colorful brilliance of light. Often, they are anointed leaders just waiting to be affirmed by those who don’t fully understand them. They are often sensitive, emotional, and risk-takers. You don’t have to have a paintbrush in your hand to be considered creative. But you do have to be willing to push the envelope and at times make the followers of this world’s rules feel incredibly uncomfortable. In fact, God’s creatives are not afraid to shake a sleeping church, so she can prepare for the arrival of her bridegroom.
Creatives are the ones who will make Christ’s bride beautiful.
“Faith is the art of holding on to things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances.”
C.S. Lewis
(excerpt from Unadulterated published in January 2019)
