Last week we looked at the Theology of Creativity to see the spiritual connection to creativity. God is Creator. He formed us in His image and called us to create. He uniquely formed us different from other creatures with ability to reason and choose. This means we have a capacity to create at a far greater level than instinct.
Did you catch the power of the previous statement? We don’t create from instinct or necessity. We create because God has given us ability to reason and choose and we are capable of bringing something from nothing.
The ideas we bring to life are not just from creative ability, but also grounded in reason and choice. It’s the difference between creating art versus pornography. It’s the contrast of innovation in medical breakthrough versus biological weapons. One person’s reason brings about financial planning, while another develops a Ponzi scheme.
Reason and choice are not the root of creativity. However, they serve as a rudder steering how ideas come to life. This direction determines if these ideas result in beauty or destruction.
Since God is Creator and He has given us ability to create, the deadliest sin to creatives and creativity is pride. Pride destroys beautiful or helpful ideas. Pride brings ideas to life for the benefit of self, rather than benefit all.
There’s an Old Testament story that gives us a glance at creativity’s deadliest sin. In Genesis 11 we read the story of the Tower of Babel. There’s so much to discuss about the theology and history of this story, but for this post, it’s simple.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
Genesis 11:3-4 TNIV
The work of creativity is all over this story. There was a form of government or authority to lead the people in this decision. Architects to design the structure. Engineers to develop the materials for bricks. Some sort of human resources to organize and train the workers in all sorts of fields. These are only a few pictures of how creative ideas would have been used in this project. The people wanted a great name for themselves. Rather than bring ideas to life with impact, they wanted to raise their own fame.
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower they were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
Genesis 11:5-7 TNIV
God was not intimidated. The statement “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” is not about their strength becoming too great for the Lord, but rather the downfall of their hearts in pursuit of their own purpose.
The deadly sin of pride can tempt us in any creative effort. The desire for fame over impact crushes the beauty of creativity. Rather than pointing to the glory of God, it reveals an ugly glimpse at self-centeredness. Self-centered pride paralyzes forward motion in ideas because the ideas can only go as far as “us.” God gifted us creatively to continue the process of bringing ideas to life with forward motion for the benefit of others. God’s work in creation was to bring about life.
Think about this…
- How does pride bring good ideas to a standstill?
- How can you recognize and remove pride from your creative life?
- Why has God give you creativity for various ideas in your life?
I hope you recognize your creative ability. I also hope you see temptation and the potential of pride to wreck good ideas. Unless we have a firm idea of why God has made us creative beings, we risk continual temptation to pride, rather than bringing about good from creativity.
