I have observed a trend for Christians to have an odd view of
creativity, especially whenever it relates to creating something “good.” The
phrase “God gave me a [insert creative endeavor here]” is thrown around lot.
The heart behind this is good and genuine; God is the Author and Creator, the
only Independent One. At the end of the day I am creature, and I am creative
solely because I have been made to be creative. We have been created to create;
it’s a part of being made in His (the Creator’s) image. It is good for us
to guard against pride and make sure to give God credit, but we can take this
logic too far and inadvertently deny God some of the glory He is due.
If God gave me the “cool idea” I had, the poem I wrote, this blog
post, did He give me the burrito I made for lunch? Technically the answer is
‘yes.’ Without getting into the details like: money, time, mind, food, we have
the fundamental truth that I exist, the world exists, I have hands for folding
burritos, and the very concept of burritos all because of God. No God, no
burritos. It’s a perk of being Independent; everything else depends upon you.
The reason phrases like “God gave me a …” make me nervous is that
it seems to deny any involvement on our part. “I did not write this worship
song, God gave it to me” begins to sound
less like cooperative creativity and more like possession; I did
not have anything to do with it, God just gave it to me. In truth God does not
want worship songs, sermons, paintings, etc. apart from the people who have created
them. If God wanted a song to exist He does not need anyone else; He imagined
light, He can make a song manifest all by Himself. Rather than using us as some
sort of printing press for His awesome ideas, God wants to create with us and
through us. God did not need David to have psalms written; God delighted in His
relationship with David. Please do not misunderstand this as some denial of the
Divine authorship of Scripture, it’s not. God does not love and have a personal
relationship with Psalm 119, but He does with David.
The term “agency” used in stories to describe characters who have
the ability to effect the plot, and important characters usually have
significantly more agency than random extra #8. God, being independent, is the
source of all agency. He is also a good storyteller which means He has created
us to be more than mere puppets He can manipulate as He sees fit. Relationship
with God is not fatalistic or mechanistic; instead God in His goodness has
granted me some agency on the world around me. I can create things. For His
glory.
Furthermore any demeaning of human creativity denies God some of
His glory. Our ability to be creative, to have agency, is one of God’s most
glorious creations. We as humans have made a lot of things, we have created
machines which would appear to be very fatalistic if one considers the point of
view of a toaster; but we have not made something which can itself
create. But God has. He alone has, which makes Him pretty awesome
and worthy of a lot of glory.
So let us glorify our awesome and Independent Creator by
reflecting His creativity with our own.
