creativity

Imagine what could and should be.

Humankind is enormously creative. Just think about the progression of history and our past accomplishments. Consider all the things that used to be “impossible.” The invention of electricity, America’s interstate highway system, space travel and even possible habitation, the internet and its millions of uses…all these things testify to the creative power of human beings. It makes me wonder what the future holds. But most of us don’t stop to consider why or how we got to be so creative.

God is more that just enormously creative. He is infinitely creative! He’s creative to the infinite power!! No one could top Him!! In fact, when you think about God’s history and past accomplishments, ours look silly. Here are just a few. There are 350,000 different types of beetles. I could have named maybe two, but God created them all. Every year NASA discovers new stars and even entire galaxies that have always been there since the dawn of creation. My physical body has the unique ability to fight off infection, stretch and grow with age and/or diet, allow me to see, hear, feel and experience the world around me and even love and care for my family. Now that is creativity at its best.

Years ago I spent some time looking through the gospels to see how Jesus healed people. The result was nothing less that amazing…and hilarious. He was so fantastically creative! Jesus seems to revel in the variety of ways a person can be healed! Sometimes He would touch the person. Sometimes He just spoke. Once a lady was healed simply by touching one of the tassels from His robe. Once Jesus rubbed spit-mud in a blind man’s eyes and made him wash it off before he was healed. (That’s one of my favorites, by the way.)

Follow the logic here. Our Creator is creative and He created us in His image, therefore, we are also creative. But what does creativity look like? How do we follow Jesus in creative ways? How do we lead the world through creative methods? Well, there are literally hundreds of thousands of answers to that question. It could look as simple as a cup of cold water for a thirsty child. Or it could look as dramatic as a reformed national government.

To be creative means to be Spirit-led. God is the ultimate creative One. We just follow His lead. Creativity is risky. It inspires others. It fuels our imagination. To be creative is to think and work “outside the box,” to be resourceful, to be visionary. And it fleshes itself out everyday in a thousand human outlets. The real question is this: what does your Godly leadership look like? How do you exert your influence for the name, glory and renown of Jesus Christ?

Holy Seed Community Church has made a concentrated effort to look, act and be different. We want to be as creative as our Creator. We love to sit back and dream and discuss and brainstorm ways in which we can help transform our families, churches, communities and nation. And once you get a taste of creativity, it’s addictive. You love it! Try this: take ten minutes and a blank piece of paper and just imagine what could and should be.

perspective

Our little guy, Josiah, is his own person with his own perspectives. (That’s a pretty astute observation, huh!) His existence is the direct product of me and Carla, but that does not mean he is just like me and/or Carla. In fact, quite often what pleases Carla and I is completely devastating to Josiah. And the opposite is also true!

A few weeks ago Josiah was playing outside in his sand table. Now, he’s been told many, many, many times—MANY TIMES—not to take the sand out of the sand table. It does not belong in the nice, green grass! Well, you’ve already guess it, haven’t you. When we looked outside to check on precious little Josiah, he was not just dumping sand on the grass. No, no. He was joyfully and exuberantly flinging and spreading it everywhere! At least he was being fair, though…every blade got an allotment of sand. Josiah loved it! We did not. Then, when he got in trouble, he was crushed! We were not.

Poor little Josiah just couldn’t see things from his dad’s perspective. Our thoughts and ways are not his thoughts and ways. Hmmm. That sounds familiar. How often do I whine, complain and throw a holy fit because things don’t go my way? How often am I astounded, confused and frustrated because I couldn’t see things from my Dad’s perspective?

Sometimes things seem unpredictable, random or even cruel, but that’s only because we are limited, human beings. Quite frankly, we are horrible judges of our own circumstances. Especially in the moment, things might seem absolutely awful. But isn't it amazing how differently things look after a week, month, year or even a lifetime. Imagine how different it would look with the perspective of eternity!

One experience I often think about is the death of our firstborn, Isaac. He died at 19 weeks gestation and was still born. When I think about the experience of that ordeal, I thank God. I’m serious. I mean, we certainly didn’t want to go through that. We didn’t enjoy a single moment. But God was with us in a very special, powerful and gracious way. We learned and grew enormously through that pain. It wouldn’t have and couldn’t have come any other way. I’m very thankful for that.

As I look back on our first year of church planting, it seems very extreme. In our personal lives we experienced very high highs and very low lows. There didn’t seem to be much consistency. That’s pretty tough for two highly organized people! But that’s only my perspective from right now. I know I’ll see it differently as time passes.

Lately Carla and I have been trying really hard to have a more healthy and Godly perspective. Once again, we’ve been trying to let go. To allow the little things to be little. To not even allow the huge things to overwhelm and crush us. God has always been God. He will always be God. There is nothing that surprises or confuses Him. And we are His beloved kids. What could we possibly have to worry about?!

Of course, it doesn’t seem like that at the time. In the moment, from our human perspective, it seems awful. It looks terrifying and wrong. But we can’t see it all. We don’t have any idea what’s around the corner. We don’t have the foggiest clue of what else is happening around us. God sees it all and knows it all. His perspective is unlimited. Even our strict boundaries of time and space don’t apply to Him. That is amazing!

Even when I don’t see it, I’m okay. Even when I’m freaking out, I’ll trust. Even when I can’t believe, I’m going to believe. As the brilliant poet Steven Curtis Chapman sings:

God is God and I am not.

I can only see a part

of the picture He’s painting.

God is God and I am man.

So I’ll never understand it all.

For only God is God.

follow the leader

Did you ever play as a kid? It was always both exciting and interesting for me. It starts out simple enough. One rather boring kid leads everyone else through the field and down the slide. Another athletic one decides to hop on one foot and do a summersault. Then there’s always the obnoxious smart aleck. He starts out with a brisk trot by the rabid dog whose leash is frayed and stretched to its limit. After a fly-by of the principal’s office and a head slap of the football team, you end up diving for quarters in the pond behind the school. Ohhhh…don’t ask.

Anyway, follow the leader is a fascinating kid’s game for many reasons. Not only can you dissect and examine why certain kids lead certain activities, but you each get to take a turn. You’re not just a follower and you’re not just a leader. Each kid gets to experience both. And that’s a great, real-life lesson to learn.

The reality is that very few people are born leaders. I believe that true leadership is a gift from God. Not everyone has it. In fact, most people don’t. Only a handful is born to be strong, natural leaders. Certain leadership principles can be taught and learned, but no amount of training will transform a natural follower into a natural leader. However, at certain points and in certain ways, we all lead.

There is a big difference between the gift of leadership and the role of a leader. Like the game, we take turns in our various roles. At home we fill certain ones: spouse, parent, friend, counselor, etc. At work our roles probably look very different: employer, employee, salesman, troubleshooter, etc. You get the idea. We all function in a variety of roles in a given day, week or month. And many of those roles are leadership.

Picture this. You’re standing in line at a gas station waiting to pay. From nowhere in particular, you’re struck with a thought. “There’s a guy standing behind me in line. I should pay for his gas.” WHAT?! Where in the world did that come from?! As you stand there arguing with yourself, you realize it might not have been your idea at all. What if God is speaking to you? What if He just issued a command? What if He, as the leader, just dove in the pond and invited you to follow? What do you do?

Dozens of things just like that happen on a daily basis. The question is: how often do we follow the leader? How often do we take some initiative of our own and lead those around us? Do we even recognize the influence we have been given? See, the thing is, even though we might fill a leadership role, we’re not really leading at all, are we. God is the only real leader. We’re always following Him. Where He goes, I follow. What He says, I repeat. Whatever he does, I copy.

From a human perspective, I might appear to be a leader, but really I’m a follower just like everyone else. I have just chosen to follow God instead of another man. And in doing so, I am leading those who look to me. I guess in a way I’m filling two roles at the same time. I’m leading other people, but I’m following the example of Jesus Christ. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could all do that? Boy, what a difference we could make in that role: followers of Christ; leaders of men.

stewardship

It’s not about me.

The name Denethor might not mean much to you. If you’re a Lord of the Ring nerd like me, maybe. But if you’ve seen the movies and/or read the books, I’ll bet you remember the character. Denethor was the steward of Gondor, living in the city of Minas Tirith. And do you know why he is so memorable. Because he was horrible!

The line of kings had run out. No one was wearing the crown at Minas Tirith. But someone had to be in charge. Leadership is always necessary. So, in the absence of the king, Denethor was chosen to be the steward. It was his responsibility to see that the people of Gondor were taken care of. There was no strict job description. There was just one rule: rule well. Be a good steward. Unfortunately, he wasn’t. He only cared for himself. He tried to please himself, bring himself more power, influence and pleasure. He hated the thought that he wasn’t in complete control. Denethor believed it really was about him.

Stewardship really isn’t complicated. It’s a big word with various meanings. I suppose that makes it a bit intimidating and complex to some. But really it’s not. Like Denethor, we have been chosen. In the absence of the King, we have been given responsibilities. And there is no exhaustive list of “dos” and “don’ts”. It’s quite simple: rule well. Be a good steward. Well, are we?

See, it’s very important we realize that ultimately we don’t call the shots. In the long run, we’re not in charge. This is not about me. We are simply stewards of the Master. To view life any other way is extremely short sighted and naïve. Our talents, skills, gifts and abilities were given to us by the Master. Are we good stewards of them? Our money, investments, portfolios and credit cards? Gifts from the King. Even our family, health, time, attitudes—everything you can think of—it’s not ours at all. It all belongs to Him. We are stewards of that which is His. Are we doing well? Do you think He is pleased?

Let’s not be so negative, though. Denethor is an example of a very poor steward. He only thought of himself. He forgot the fact that there was a King out there waiting to settle accounts. Let’s focus on a very good steward. Let’s find someone to emulate. There are many, certainly, but the first one that comes to my mind is a tiny little woman we came to know as Mother Teresa.
A good steward is others-centered. Mother Teresa never thought of herself first, but others. She wasn’t thinking of her own comfort and pleasure when she opened up a home for the dying in Calcutta, India. A good steward is generous. Nothing really belonged to Mother Teresa. She freely and joyfully gave to anyone who had need. A good steward is also benevolent. Mother Teresa didn’t just give money or food or medicine. She gave herself. Her greatest gift was her own heart. A good steward is accountable. This amazing sister in Christ knew that she was doing the Master's work and would answer to Him some day. And, finally, a good steward is passionate. Our Master graciously allows us to follow our deepest passions. Clearly, Mother Teresa truly loved and cherished the poor, sick and dying. Even into her last days, they were the focus of her prayers, thoughts and actions.

My life isn’t actually mine at all. I am living as a steward of God almighty. Everything that I am and know and say and feel…it’s all for the Master. And this church will be the same. Holy Seed Community Church is a gathering of stewards. We all serve the same Lord and pursue the same destiny. Our entire existence is to bring glory, honor and praise to Jesus Christ. This is all about Him. It is not about me.