I am looking out to the sea. Each wave in the ocean is like a small breath, in and out. The sun is rising and the sky is orange and pink, burning as if it has been set alight. I try to take it all in. The undeserved, perfectly crafted, intricately designed beauty can not help but make me feel inspired.
God gifts us his beauty in the hope that we will see his glory in it and be inspired by it. Not only this, but we are made in the image of the ultimate creator, designed to be like him. He longs to be creative with us. In Genesis we read about how God breathed into Adam to give him life and how the father took joy in naming the plants with his son. Our maker chose to co-create with us and found delight in it!
I wonder whether as a church we have lost sight of this? Have we chosen to start re-creating other churches, made up of completely different people than our own, rather than co-create with our maker, using our strengths and individualities as people and a body? Each one of us is made slightly differently, formed with strengths, talents and passions. It can sometimes take a while to recognise these within yourself but imagine what amazing things would happen if we found those things and chose to use them to create something new and electrifying with our Father.
I long to see us using our gifts and creative passions and giving them back to him. Think of what wonderful, beautiful things could be made if we dared to think out of the box and be more colourful in our worship, churches and in the ways that we reach out to the communities and people around us. We are called to show God's glory and love to others and we are called to be creative with him.
Creativity can so often be taken by the world to mean a woman in an oversize shirt with a paintbrush. I'm not convinced this is what God means by creativity. Part of it, yes, but not all of it. A friend once said to me that he thought that the word 'creativity' should be changed to 'imagination'. The ability to see something that doesn't already exist, to think and dream new ideas, new thoughts and to innovate something that may be getting tired. I love this! To me this doesn't box in the maker's creativity but expands it into everything in our daily lives. What is truly exciting is that God wants us to see that too – he wants us to see those things that could be and longs for us to begin creating with his eyes.
I do not think that God intends us to do this alone. He created with a companion by our side and with the promise that he will never leave us. Someone once said to me that 'you can go fast alone but far together'. The more I think about it the more it resonates. Each one of us has different creative skills. By bringing them together in a project, church or just to think up new ideas the result will always be greater than one person's efforts.
If you are wanting to start something fresh or revive something worn, I urge you to find a team to walk the journey with you. You will find it not only brings so many people to bounce off, new ideas and a pallette of colour to your journey, but will also come with much more excitement.
My challenge to you as you read this is to be inspired by God's creation. Dare to dream new dreams and step out to begin new creative ventures. You are creative because you're made in his image. It's time to find out what your originality is and use it for his glory.
Martha Shrimpton is founder of Nimbus Collective, which offers creative training and inspiration for churches and Christian organisations.
