I walked into the coffeeshop, and could tell by his work
that the young man drawing in his sketchbook was a pretty talented artist. He introduced himself as Ryu, a nickname
bestowed upon him by friends, and he told me he is a graffiti artist.
Ryu agreed to answer my questions about his religious
beliefs and their formation, and said he had rejected his religious upbringing
because it felt too constraining, that he felt unable to freely express himself
within Catholicism. He observed that
many of his friends went along with the program of religious observances at
church while defying it throughout the rest of the week, which he saw as
hypocritical.
I could tell that self-expression and creativity are pretty
important to Ryu, so I told him some things about the Gospel that allow and
should encourage Christians to be highly creative.
First, as Creator, God is the ultimate example of
creativity. Think of all the infinite
variations of stars, snowflakes, flowers and fingerprints. There is infinite variety found in nature,
yet, as far as we can tell, after the initial act of creation God chooses to
operate within the familiar patterns of constraints or rules of nature that
maintain order. Miracles would be the
exception when God steps outside that normal order. So, we live in an ordered universe, yet it is
full of creativity.
Second, as human beings, we too are naturally creative
because we are made in God’s image. Just
as an image in a mirror shares some things in common with the real thing, we
share a connection and communication with God that only happens because we share
many godly characteristics, being made in his image. We are, and should be, creative because God
is creative.
Third, what seems to be constraining about Christianity may just
end up being the most liberating thing we can know as we live out our
gratitude. There are many who think
Christianity is like other religions, requiring that we work toward a heavenly
reward. But a works-based religion only
results in a sense of drudgery, like a worker dutifully punching a time
clock. It’s a real creativity killer,
and I wouldn’t blame an artistic person like Ryu for being turned off given
that is also his perception of Christianity.
But biblical Christianity is not a rewards system based on
our good works. We are saved through the
work completed by Christ, through his suffering on the cross and verified by
his resurrection. He bore the punishment
we deserved and sets us free from the bondage of sin and death, free to express
our gratitude through the creative use of whatever gifts and talents God has
blessed us with. We were made for this
very purpose!
Romans 12 tells us we are to use whatever gifts we have to
serve God: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of
us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;
if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to
encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if
it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”
However, being made in God’s image means we too must operate
within the constraints of certain rules that maintain order, both physical and
moral. For example, being a graffiti artist
like Ryu wouldn’t mean one should paint Christian graffiti all over the
city! But being made in God’s image
means we too can demonstrate a tremendous amount of creativity as we work,
within constraints, to communicate the ancient but timeless Gospel story in our
own context, and to our own generation.
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