God the Creator Created Us to be Creative

Creativity and success. Does one have to be "creative" in order to be successful? How does one determine creativity? Can creative people and faith/Christianity coincide?

These are questions that I have never really thought of much before, but are brought up in national bestseller novel The Artisan Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus.

So what do I believe? I believe that everyone is creative in one form or another, whether they are aware of it or not. I believe that I am creative... how creative, I'm not exactly sure or I may never know, but everyone has the gift of being creative; we just use our creativity in different ways.

Yet, many Christians or people of faith feel that they cannot be creative. I have grown up my entire life as a Christian and I never felt this way, but I was never discouraged from creativity. To think that many Christians have is somewhat mind boggling.

McManus brings up a point in time in early Christianity where creativity, such as art, was frowned upon by Christians because it would take away from focusing on spirituality and on Christ. Some people may still function in that sense, but that idea could not be more incorrect. Many forms of creativity help connect people closer to God. When people create art, dance, and/or sing to the Lord, they are worshiping God in their own unique and creative way. There are even many instances in the Bible where people sing and danced to the Lord to give Him praise. Whether they knew it or not, they were worshiping and thanking God creatively. Therefore, I am all for creativity. I believe it's important to embrace and recognize. It is something that is good for the soul; it's something that can help people's spirituality grow.

This is the artisan soul. But what exactly is the artisan soul that McManus describes? He explains it like this:

"True creativity does not come easily; creativity is born of risk and refined from failure. If we are at the core both spiritual beings and creative beings, then the artisan soul is where we live when we have the courage to be our truest selves... The artisan rejects all that makes us false and takes the huge risk of being true. To embrace our authentic selves and live in that raw expression of being fully human is our greatest risk and our richest reward." [McManus, p. 8].

We were created to create... this is factual, not opinion. McManus brings up a quote that he heard one pastor say that followers of Christ have the singular task to obey, and not to create. But this cannot be true. After all, isn't God the master creator? Ya know, the very beginning of the Bible starts off with, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..." God created everything. The world, the trees, the stars and the sky, and all living things including man. Yet God also created man in His own image (Genesis 1:27). Therefore, how can someone say that we are not supposed to be creative? God intended for us to be that way.

"When we are freed from the rules and regulations that are so often imposed on us in the name of God, we discover that creativity is the natural result of spirituality. And if this is true, then our soul is the primary material for all artistic expression. In other words, we create out of being." [McManus, p. 17-18].

Men say that we can't combine creativity and spirituality, but God has never said that. Where man originally got this idea, I may never know, but I have never been fond of following "rules and regulations."

Once people, especially Christians, realize that they can be creative and artistic by praising God, doors will open in their life... doors that they may have been keeping themselves from opening in the past.

Creativity feeds the soul. It gives us personality and says who we are as an individual. It is something that can help us grow spiritually. It is a gift that God natuarally gaveus when he made us in His image.