In His Image - Episode 1
This is the basic transcript from the first episode of the podcast which aired on September 3, 2020. I realize that some may just read this blog and not listen to the podcast, and that is ok. I will post my transcript recaps here…with a few “podcast-centric’ items removed. I hope you are blessed…
Real quick, let me go back to something I said in my intro…you may be listening to this and thinking it is going to be religious and preachy – mmm…I hope it’s not preachy – that is for Sunday morning services! But seriously, you might not believe in anything about Christ, please know that I do and that that my episodes will mostly be centered around those beliefs. I hope that you will stick around even if you have a different belief. My deep desire would be that this is a great platform for great conversations – like my tag line says…we all have a seat at this table because we are all creatively made! So, if you have a question or want to make a comment, please see the show notes on how you can do so – I would enjoy hearing from you.
Before I really get rolling, I will say right up front, I am no Bible scholar, but I am a student of God’s Word. I am no theologian, but I want to always be seeking the nature of God and the direction to which He is leading me. I want to understand more and more the way He created me so that I can lean into the gifts he has given me – and I pray that for you as well.
Ok, now that all that is out of the way – lets get going!
Today I want to kick off with a deeper dive into why I feel so passionately that we need to change our thoughts and words concerning creativity (especially the words we speak to ourselves…you know, that pesky inner voice that can tend to sound like a grumpy, hungry theater critic!). As someone who has had artistic people in my life from day 1 – and who has entered into artistic expression of some form or another since I was little, my heart literally aches when I hear people say “I’m just not creative”. It aches because that is simply not true. Let me put that a little more bluntly – that is a lie! I am not being flippant when I say that we are all made to be creative. How do I know this – because I believe that we were all made in the image of God, and if we were made in the image of God, the CREATOR, we were made to be creative.
Our confusion comes when we want to equate artistic with creative – and those are not interchangeable traits. We will look at that a little later but let’s keep looking at God as creator.
The first thing that God shares about himself in the Bible isn’t that He is loving, or that he is holy, gracious, or full of mercy. Nope, the first thing he shows us is that He is creative! (Side note before this next part – remember how I said I’m not a theologian? Well, I’m not a Hebrew expert either – I’m not even a ‘Hebrews for Dummies novice! This is important when you know that my pastor is Jewish and speaks/writes/read it in expert fashion. Pastor Greg – please forgive me if I slaughter this part!). The first verb in the entire Bible is the Hebrew word בָּרָא (pronounced baw-raw) which means to shape, form, fashion or to create. See, the first thing God ever tells us is that he is creative – he formed and shaped and created the universe and all that exists in it. His very nature is giving, creative, innovative and wholly artistic.
I mean, every day of that- first six days, He reveals His creative nature by speaking stars, animals, and oceans into existence. And then, He created man “in His own image” thus reflecting God’s image to the world.
To call a human being “creative” is redundant. We are all made in the image of the Creator God. But as the Word makes clear, each of us has “different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Some of us have clearly been granted more of the artistic talents than the creative talents. But that does not mean one is greater or less than any other.
What does it mean to be made ‘in God’s image’? There are many theories but one of the most striking is that, like God, we share in His creativity. Again, some people say ‘Oh, I’m not creative’ just because they don’t paint pictures or play a musical instrument (remember, there is a difference between artistic and creative). But to be human is to be made in the image of a creator God who calls and equips each one of us to follow His example in making things, shaping the world around us and forming new possibilities.
Let me change the wording a bit. Instead of saying we are all created in the image of God – what if I changed that and said, we are all God’s image-bearers. Like our children can look and behave similar to us – He made us to bear His image to the world – in word and deed. In creative partnership. We will never meet another person who was not created with the exact same thought in mind…to bare the image of The Creator.
I don’t know about you – but I get a little kerfuffled when I considered just how much that means. It also make me want to get out of the way and let him do whatever he wants to do with the gifts he has blessed me with. And yet, when we try to define or redefine what creativity is or set our own purpose in motion instead of his…that’s where things start to go sideways quickly.
Our culture is all about self-reliance and “i-can-do-it-myself’ attitudes. We want to decide what is good or bad for our own lives. If it is comfortable and brings happy results, its good. If it is uncomfortable and hard, it is bad and must be avoided at all costs. We rely on our own ever so wise and depthy hearts to make those calls. However, when we opt out of God’s wisdom for our own version of good and evil, we lose the purpose of our souls. God doesn’t make mistakes. When we say we are not creative, or we try to be beautiful our own way and redefine who He created us to be, we become dis-connected with God and with our true purpose.
Another thing that our culture is famous for is the classic art of comparison. One thing I know all the way down to my toes – when we compare the gifts that God has blessed us with to those who He has given to another is like throwing a wet blanket over a fire. The problem is…the fire we are covering is the fire of purpose and passion that God has given to us. We must listen to the One who made us in His image when it comes to our creative souls. He made us in His image, which means He is the only one who gets to speak THE truth of who we have been called to be and what we have been called to step into as far as ‘creating’.
Ok…that is a LOT of words and I’m really praying they all made sense. I mean – they all make sense in my own head…but I don’t know that we should fully rely on that as our litmus test for understanding!
Here is what I want to leave you with….You are creative if you are:
A painter
A gardener
A contractor
An architect
An accountant
A pastor
A singer
A musician
An athlete
A photographer
A teacher
A mom
A chef
A dad
A grandparent
A secretary
A nurse
A pilot
And so, so much more. What ever it is that you have been called to do – you are creative in that area, you simply need to see the creative side of what you have been made to reflect. You are His image bearer – reflect him well! In the coming months we will be looking into more areas of our lives that we further reflect God’s call to creativity.
Until next time, go find a creative way to make someone smile!
