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church xp, the up-grade - part two, creativity

What is it to be creative?  What elusive quality, if any, is there that inspires us to be creative?  If we truly understand the essence and nature of vision by narrative, we then understand that creativity is a key component of the new operating system; boring story is boring vision is boring leadership.  Creativity allows for images and metaphors to come to life and speak to this generation.  Creativity embodies color, sound, smell, sight and emotions.  Creativity is all around us and is needed to give life to the narrative, and the new operating system.  To truly be able to minister to a postmodern world one must understand the place of creativity (images, metaphors and pictures) plays in the culture.  Creativity exists and defines a postmodern culture.  Images, pictures and metaphors that excite and stimulate the emotions are found throughout the postmodern culture.  It has been said, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”  I believe in a postmodern culture, a picture can define a generation and speak volumes to the one looking.  Creativity is the essences of our relationships and a mirror to our reality.

To be creative[i] it s to be “marked by the ability and power to create.”  I see this as a need to create, a want to create, a strong desire to create – we must be creative.  Jonathan Edwards[ii] believed that God created the world, because God could do nothing else.  God’s love motivated him to create us and the world we live in; God’s impulse to create was based on love[iii].  We can tell God is a creative God; all we need to is look around.  God loves us so much he gave us a diversity of culture, a diversity of colors, tastes, smells, languages.  You name it, God’s expression of his creative love is all around.  We could have been created as gray zombies, with no other purpose then to simply exist.  But God’s love could not allow this to happen, because God is creative, God’s people need to be creative.  True creativity is unique, and not imitative.  If imitation is the best form of flattery, it is the worst form of creativity.  That is not to say, what others create cannot motivate us into creating, because it can and often does.  Seeing the work of others can stoke the creative fires in our souls, and motivate us to create.  For example, if we see a picture that inspires us to create another picture, that’s great – as long as the picture is not a copy of the original.  Meaning?  Cookie cutter ministry is out of the question for a postmodern people.

When we planted our first church, we – the leadership team – all sat around trying to define the “style” of our ministry.  Some had attended Axis (the “genx” service at Willowcreek) and wanted us to be “just like them.”  My concerns were, “If we are ‘just like Axis’ why would people come to us?  If people who did not attend Axis did not do so because they do not like Axis, how could we minister to them?  Besides, Axis was better at being Axis then we could ever be.”  The best thing to do, is what we did; we looked around and saw where the people were and designed a Christ centered church to meet their needs – we were creative in our approach.

Some believe that the postmodern culture is “image-driven[iv].”  While I would agree, I see it as a starting point and I move a little further down the “slippery slop.”  If we define “image” as graphical, pictorial, symbolic and vocabulary based, we are on the money as being image based.  A good way to see this is to take a trip to your local High School or College Campus; what do you see?  Most Modern people simply see a group of young people who dress funny and have funny looking hair.  Now, grab a student and ask then to explain who is who.  What you see as “funny looking and the same” they see as markings to who they are, and what they are all about.  With Postmodern eyes, one sees Bangers and Want-a-be’s, Skaters and Jocks, Heads and Straight-Edgers, Boarders and Punks – and many, many more; the list is endless.  The differences can be small, and for most Modern eyes, not even distinguishable.  Creativity is needed to minister to these diverse groups of people – and the diversity is not just limited to High School and College Students.  That same diversity can be seen in people all over the place.

We must create, express ourselves, if we are unable to do so, we rebel.  Expression of that creativity is the basis of a postmodern generation.  A good example of this can be found in the “digital camera.”  One of the commercials for a camera shows a man taking pictures of his coffee table.  The camera comes with software to help him be creative, and instead of “buying” a coffee table book – he creates his own, based on his own coffee table.  After all, why buy, when you can create?  Creativity is cultural identity.  So the question is, how does creativity come to life in a postmodern age?

Creativity in this generation:

My father always said, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it that counts.”  Then he would add, “for example, an Irishman (being Irish it’s always an Irishman that shares great wisdom) can tell a person to go to hell, and make them look forward to the trip.  Creativity is the lifeblood of the narrative and it defines the story.  How we “say” anything is just as more important then want we say.  How we “say” things is not limited to words, so much more can go into our understanding of the narrative with creativity guiding the story.  We use a rich variety of symbols to express ourselves.  I believe you can preach an entire sermon message with just symbols and pictures, and never speak a word.

I remember once sitting with around with a group of my cousins, waiting for my Grandfather to tell us a story.  My Grandfather was a great storyteller.  He could take the simplest of all stories and weave it into an exciting adventure with worlds to conquer and people to love.  The colors he added, the emotions that came from him and the words he could express would open worlds to me.  One day, while a group of us were sitting on his lap, we begged for a story.  He agreed, and that is when I noticed all the nuances of his story telling.  As he started the story, he got up and dimmed the lights; he grabbed some pillows and sat on the floor with us, and started to speak.  As he did, he would use the pillows to help express emotions – he would squeeze them, push them and toss them around.  It was then that I realized that it was not only the words that made the story, it was his actions as well.  It was everything around him, him on the floor, him holding the pillows and him turning down the lights; everything he did added to the narrative.

The same is true as we talk about trying to bring the vision narrative operating system to the church.  No matter what the story, no matter what the narrative, the core must be true.   Everything else if fare game, but the core must have truth in it.  If the core is not true the story falls apart at its base.  A story that does not teach the truth is of no value to the listener.  The vision narrative will have little effect on those listening to the story if, as you speak of growth, everything about you and the church tells people growth is not important.  Churches that talk about being different, and are not truly different at core levels, do an injustice to the vision narrative.  How does one truly express in words and actions the truth of the gospel and the truth of the vision narrative?  I know of a church that advertises itself as “a postmodern church.”  I tried to explain that if you have to tell people you are, you are not; because if you were, people would simply know you were.

Basic understandings:

How do you develop a “creative culture” in the church?  Keeping in mind the church is not known as a place were creativity is allowed or expressed.  The church is known as a very monoculture institution.  So, how do we allow others to express themselves while maintaining the vision narrative?  What are the basics we need to develop to allow creativity to take root and grow?  What are the basic understandings of creativity as it relates to the new operating system of the vision narrative?

Culture is narrative:  All culture is narrative in nature, all culture.  All culture express’ itself with words, symbols, and images.  When Jesus spoke in parables he did so to express a cultural understanding of the story.  He expressed his culture, via the narrative.  When we understand that narrative is essential, and creative narratives motivates we can move along in the process.  To truly develop a creative spirit in the church one needs to accept the cultural images and creative direction in a postmodern culture.  One needs to understand the missed metaphors and jumbled messages.  I love sitting around watching people try to figure out some of the new Target ads.  Modern people try so hard to place a deep meaning on some of the ads, where there is not such meaning.  Sometimes the connection is color – nothing more, nothing less – just color.  Creativity in a postmodern world tends to be chaotic.  Sometimes connecting, some times not, but never linear in nature.

Allow coloring outside the line:  break the rules.  Truly creative people are not interested in your rules and regulations, or at least they do not drive them.  We need to remember that some of our greatest inventions were created by accident, or by people who operated outside the norm.  I remember watching 60 Minutes one Sunday, when they told the story a hairdresser who invented a product called “star-bright.”  The product was fantastic, and could withstand heat at a fantastic rate.  I remember they coated an egg with the product and then hit the egg with a blowtorch until the coating turned red from the heat.  Then they cracked the egg, and it was still raw – the product was incredible.  The person who invented the product was a non-trained chemist searching for something else.  As we look back in history we see this is the norm, silly putty, vulcanized rubber, post-its, supper glue, the list is endless.  Think of it this way, it took a great and creative mind to be the first human to eat the first raw oyster.  This is so not normal, we actually created a myth about it being an aphrodisiac so others would also eat it – creativity at its best.

When I was in High School, I hated Art and Creative Writing Classes.  I hated to be told what to draw or write.  I hated being told how to draw it or write it, and when to draw it or write it.  I don’t believe I got better then a “D” in any of those classes.  My mind said, if I was being told what to create, I was not being creative – and the same still stands to today.

When we look at people who are creative, we see people not willing to follow the rules you or the church have developed.  Churches strive to set limits and direct the creative process by order, instead of directing it by narrative.  We have confined them to our perceptions of boundaries and demand they follow what we desire, and not where God is leading them.  I do understand why this happens, people (mostly the Senior Pastor and the “Elder Board”) are control freaks.  They fear what they believe is chaotic creativity and see it as “violating” their purpose and vision.  Trust does not exist for those wanting to be in control of creativity.  To truly develop an atmosphere of creativity we need to trust that creative people will follow the vision narrative.  When we do not trust, we create a barrier to creativity.  This is why vision by narrative is a better operating system then vision by plan.  Vision by plan requires that people color within the lines, where control is best kept.  Vision by narrative allows for the expression of creativity, trusting that people who are creating know the narrative, and are willing to express themselves in its words.  Control is a major issue for the modern church, and control strangles creativity.

I was once serving as the Senior Pastor of a Primitive Methodist Church[v] in Pennsylvanian.  During the year[vi] I was there I ran into the lines on a regular basis.  Once, while I was talking with some of the youth at my home, we got this great idea to hold a dance.  We felt that a dance would help us in many ways; first, they never held a dance before in the church, and this could help “wakeup the old people.”  Second, we could ask people to bring a can of food and we could turn the dance into the start of a pantry.  Third, we could use the dance as an outreach to the youth of the community.  No other church was having dances, and the school system did not have dances – we could do it.  Forth, we could raise funds to help develop the youth group, and help send some of the youth to leadership camps.  The youth were excited and the parents were excited.  We decided to charge one dollar and two cans of food for entry, and to make flyers aimed at the 5^th to 8^th graders in the area.

As we started to plan the event, we found people coming out of the woodwork who wanted to help.  The young guy from across the street wanted to be the DJ, he had the equipment, and the desire – he was the man.  Parents volunteered to chaperone and supply us with foodstuff.  We got excited, because we knew this would be great.  People who were not connected to the church came forward to help get the dance off the ground.

We figured, at best, we would get 50 youth – tops.  After all, it was our first dance, and parents had no idea who we were and what we were all about.  The night of the dance, will the DJ in place, the food out and the doors open, the first dance was off and running.  We were not sure exactly how many youth we had show-up due to the fact that we did not think of counting, but between the cash and the food we estimated we hade well over 300 youth at our first dance.  We continued to make the dances a monthly youth group activity.  Over the next few months the youth group grew and people started to come to church.

After the third dance, I received a letter from the President of the denomination explain that we needed to end the dances, immediately.  His letter explained, “Primitive Methodists were a “conservative” denomination and as such did not dance.  They also do not listen to rock and roll music, because of its evil sexual nature.”  He explained, “There is an unwritten christian law” forbidding those activities and we must stop.  A perfect example of the church, forcing people into coloring in the lines, false lines created by man.  We did stop the dances, and when we were asked why we told the truth.  I was soon confronted by both the local church leaders and the District Superintendent about what I was telling people about the dances.  I was informed that the letter was “inside information” and I could not share it with outside groups.  They told me to tell people that it was “my decision” to stop the dances and not to involve the denomination.  When I explained I was unable to do that, because of honesty issues, I was told that I was not lying, I was being creative.

Just the opposite happened the next year.  While serving a church in Las Vegas we decided to hold a “Monty Python Night” where we would show “The Life of Brian[vii].”  While it was an older movie, people came out and we had a great time.  It gave birth to “Heat Dish” a out reach we defined as a cross between Saturday Night Live and Church.  It was great fun to plan and it was a great time for all.

Welcome the artists:  I believe most churches would love to be more creative, but just can’t seem to get it going.  They try, but nothing happens.  That is due to the fact that they do not have a creative atmosphere.  Their natural atmosphere is not conducive to the artist or other creative persons.   I know of a large church in Las Vegas (I also know of small church with the same problem) that is rather “sterile.”  Walking in the front door is like walking into a hospital – cold and white.  No color, no creativity, no artists – almost no life at all.  Yes, the church is large, but the average age is mid-fifties.  From the point of view of those who are creative, this place hurts.  To have creative people in your church you must develop an atmosphere that allows creativity, allows people to express themselves – encourage it and celebrate it.

Anyone who has ever plated a church knows the “rule of musicians.”  If you have one, more will follow and the same is true with creative people.  If you create a creative place, creative people will come out of the woodwork.  If you create a place that is open to expression of self you will find that many will open themselves to a vision narrative and know exactly where you are going as a community of faith.

Bringing in artists to the community of faith brings life to the community and all its members.  Allowing people the freedom to create encourages them to go beyond self and into the worlds of others.  A good example of this can be found in the websites of many churches.  Most of the websites I see connected to churches are just garbage, no creativity at all.

While we will be discussing the need for a quality website in the chapter dealing with “being connective, p2p.”  What I desire to do here is mention a few sites that are truly creative.  If you are looking for examples of creative church websites take a look at:

Coast Church -  www.coastlandschurch.org had a dream of reaching their friends and neighbors with a new church that would allow people to experience God in an authentic way.   We’re a group of Christians who want to share the hope of Jesus with our friends here in the beach communities. We've seen the difference God can make in a person's life because we've experienced it ourselves.

Quest - www.seaq.org is the expression of our vision and dream to plant a church where both the churched and unchurched can gather, where Truth will be sought, where creativity and innovation will be fostered, where sharing the love of Christ will be our great cause, where diversity and multiethnic will be embraced, where authenticity will be pursued, and where love and grace of Christ will be experienced

Notice they are not “fancy” or filled with animated graphics of doves flying nowhere. Or mail boxes opening and closing, no rainbows or counters, no weather reports or fishes turning into cross’ and no high pitched tacky midi that won’t stop playing “amazing grace” as written by the musical team the brought you pac-man and space invaders.  Their sites are clean, crisp and easy to get around.  They are creative, and speak “creative” to those who see their sites.

Answer the hard questions:  creativity allows for the community to answer the hard questions.  it allows people to process and grab hold of questions that shake their faith, or rock their world.  It helps them process ideas that are hard to express and explain simply.  The hard questions can be answered within the narrative.  We are able to grab hold of parts of the story, and develop an understanding that is beyond words.  Many times when Jesus wanted to share a concept with others he used story.  “What is the kingdom of God like?  It is like a bird in a plant; it is like a man seeking treasure; it is like a pearl from an oyster.”  Using creative narrative to answer the hard questions will help bring creative people to the community of faith.

Closing:

When you find that creativity is important to a postmodern generation, you strive to be creative.  It is important of the operating system of the church to change and develop a creative drive.  What you will find when you do allow creativity; you will find a complete reforming of Worship and Ministries.  They will engage people where they are and transform their lives.  It will move people closer to the creator God and lift them in the embrace of love.  Creativity will work its way into every aspect of live.

In the Old Testament, worship was always connected with a place, the Temple.  People would gather outside the Temple for study, reading and prayer.  But the Worship of the Most High God took place only in the Temple.  The New Testament caused a radical shift in this norm.  The shift was from place to person.  Jesus said that we would worship in spirit and truth, not with brick and mortar.  When we moved from place to person, we moved from building to individual.  Because we now Worship as individuals, and not as place, we can worship anywhere.  So the question must be asked, why would someone worship at your church with you?  It’s not “doctrine” because most people do not know the difference between a Presbyterian and a Methodist – and if they did, they would not care.  Most people do not care what your millennium theory is all about, and would care less if they did.  People in a postmodern generation are looking for a faith that will engage them and speak to them – and if you are not creative, you are not speaking to them.  God moves.

blessings

pastor john

John O’Keefe is the founder of www.ginkworld.net.  John sees a desperate need for the church as a whole to change and reach a new people for Christ.  He is straightforward, honest and calls it the way it he sees it.  John is a graduate of Drew and has been a Senior Pastor and Church Planter