lancaster area worship network

Why Do We Do That? – Creative Arts (part 2)

May 28

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Why do I use creative arts in worship? This is a question that I will probably vascillate on for years to come, especially when it comes to different forms of creative arts. Here are a couple guiding principles that I go by:

God created people with creative tendencies

This is the argument from “general revelation” that I mentioned in the last post. However, I think it can be supported biblically as well. When God placed Adam in the garden, he charged him with two tasks: name all the creatures and cultivate the land (Gen 2:15, 19). I find it interesting that one of those tasks was mundane and work-based and the other was creative. I’d imagine it was sort of a fun game when God would bring the animals to Adam and “whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.” What would Adam come up with next? Did God need Adam to make up names? Had God run out of creative steam? No, it seems he created Adam with the ability to create, though it be a much lesser form of the work that God could do. God created people with creative tendencies and gives them opportunities to use them.

God evidently likes creativity

I also find it interesting that there are so many times that God asked people to create in the Bible. God called Bezalel and “filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft” to build the tools for the temple (Exodus 31:1-5). God cared enough about this artwork that he filled the artist with his Holy Spirit to get the job done. Throughout the Bible, he calls people to create for him. “Sing a new song,” he commands in the Psalms (Ps 96:1).  ”Act out the imminent exile of Israel in dramatic form,” he told Ezekiel (Ez. 12). We can see that God likes skillful creativity because he told his people to use creative forms to proclaim his truth.

The Priority of Truth

So when it comes to our Sunday morning gatherings, what is the best way to use creativity? Do we use creativity for its own sake? Is any form of creativity OK? This is where I come back to the priority of truth. God desires our meetings with one another to be centered around him. This means that the focus of any creative piece MUST point to God in a clear way in accordance with the way he has revealed himself. None of this, “I created this piece because I think this is the way God is.” That is the fast track to confusion about God’s character and the minimalization of his greater attributes. He has revealed himself, we don’t need to guess how he is. We want to create pieces that point people to the way we know God is according to the scriptures. I also don’t believe there should be room for interpretation in the creative elements we use in our services. As worship leaders, the picture we paint of God should be accurate and clear so that people can know him more.