Creativity Part Two—This Is Personal!
We all have certain things that we hate to hear people say, do we not? There are things with me that when people say them I just want to go nuts! I honestly think that some people do not think, for example when your telephone rings in the middle of the night & you answer it on the 18th ring and the person on the other end asks, “Hey man, did I wake you up?” AHHHH! We really need to consider the things coming out of our mouths.
One of the things that I hate to hear is where people say, “Hey Perry, you talk about creativity all of the time—the only problem is…I am not creative.” I hate that! I know hate is a strong word—and I thought about it before I used it—but I can honestly say that I HATE it when people say that. Why? Because it simply is not true.
The Bible tells us in the very first chapter of the very first book (that would be Genesis) that we are all created in the image of God—that fact in undeniable. Now, upon careful observation of Genesis chapter one I believe we can all conclude that God is incredibly creative. Just take a look around this awesome planet we live on—you can see creation giving recognition to the Creator. I am reminded of this every time I see a sunset or a waterfall—or an ostrich—God is creative!
So if God is creative and we are created in His image then we are creative as well…and for us to deny this is to give God a slap in the face.
The problem is that many of us desire to acquire a normal, routine life…and within that we trade in our ability to be creative for an attitude of complacency. However, I just don’t think that is what God desires for our lives.
Once again—go to Genesis chapter one. You will notice that God created every day of the week (except for the Sabbath). BUT you should also notice that He created something different every day of the week. For example—He didn’t create flowers one day and then the next think, “OK, yesterday was good—let me create some more flowers.” Nope—He moved on & I believe in doing that modeled for us to enjoy where we are in life…but never achieve to maintain the status quo—be creative.
How can we be creative? I am so glad you asked…
My challenge to everyone is to get out of whatever normal routine you have—at least for a day. It can be something as small as driving a different route to work, ordering something different at a restaurant you frequent, turning off the TV at night and actually engaging people in conversation. These are little steps—but for some are absolutely necessary for us to begin to become the creative geniuses that God desires for us to be.
Please understand—we will all be creative in very different ways. I have two friends (Lee & Joshua for those who know them) who are incredibly creative. Seriously, I have often had the thought, “Those guys sometimes exist in a world yet to be discovered by most people.” Lee is creative musically and ‘Shua is creative artistically…and I fell into the trap once upon a time that I had to be just like them if I wanted to truly be creative.
But that is just not true (ask them, they will tell you the same.) God wired people to be creative in different ways…and while you might not be able to pick up a guitar and write beautiful music or sit at a computer and design amazing graphics…you can be creative in the way you pursue your spouse, the way you raise your children, the way you develop new ideas and systems where you work—we can all be creative in our own unique ways. However, the first step is to embrace the fact that all of us are creative is some way.
Here is my closing challenge—embrace the fact that you are creative. I believe what the world needs is for followers of Christ to model incredibly creative and exciting lives. In doing so I believe that other people will be drawn into the kingdom; after all, if God draws people to Him through His creation then doesn’t it make sense that He will draw people to Himself through our creativity as well.
Just a thought!