Creativity -- Connecting Ideas -- In Worship

Last week several New Covies attended the Willow Global Leadership Summit. It was truly inspiring, and one of the more powerful Summits I can remember since I started attending them 12 years ago. Every session was either full of ideas and insights, or emotionally stirring and convicting. We heard from a pastor creating an exit strategy to leave his church under good leadership when he leaves... A woman who miraculously survived the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda in 1994... A Facebook executive who lost her husband suddenly and talked about how to help others through grief... A lawyer with staggering statistics on incarcerations, and a call for the Church to move toward those who need the gospel desperately...

My favorite "thinking" session was by Fredrik Härén, author of The Idea Book, who presented some great concepts on creativity. "Creativity," he said, "is simply connecting what has already been created. No one has the ability to create, but God." Creativity is unlimited, not because we create, but because we form new combinations. Every person brings a unique perspective and is able to use their knowledge and new information to find new connections, to combine things in new ways.

This rang true in my mind Saturday night, when I was in a funk after watching evil manifest itself in the attacking of others in Charlottesville. My mind started to wonder about Sunday morning's service. I felt the familiar prompting of the Holy Spirit, leading me to consider some changes. I prayed about our plans, and realized we needed to make some adjustments to the service order, and started combining some things in new ways, with Tim's help.

"Awesome Is The Lord" became a lament, because many of us mourned the truth that the entire world doesn't know the peace, love, grace, and acceptance found in Jesus.

We replaced "Great Things (Worth It All)" with a responsive prayer, because many of us needed to affirm that racism and white supremacy is a sin and that we all need Jesus. The prayer was written by Rich Villodas, a pastor in Queens, New York City. As I went over the prayer, and chords that might move underneath it as we prayed, a melody formed for the congregational response, "Oh Lord, only You can make all things new."

Thank God for his Holy Spirit! Sometimes He moves in surprising ways, and sometimes He gives courage to help us move in a way we've already purposed. I was surprised and encouraged by Sunday morning, and by the conversations that followed: God's people will not stand on the sidelines while evil advances. I pray He continues to prompt us to action for his glory and his Kingdom.

What I want us to remember from Sunday is that our Creator God has gifted each of us with the ability to creatively connect that which we know from individual experience with that which we learn from others. You are a creative person. You are made in God's image, and while you might not be able to make something from nothing, you can connect ideas in ways never before seen. Creativity is not the mantle of the musician, the painter, the photographer, or the poet: it is part of who we are as image-bearers of God.