Becoming Creative With Our Faith – What Do We Need to Know?

Creativity is the mode these days and how to become creative is probably one of the most talked about topics in secular business. 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Every Day provides a great list of things to ponder as we seek to get our creative juices flowing. It has been shared hundreds of thousands of times across the internet. Others offer four, six, and even thirty nine keys to creativity. Yet when it comes to our faith we hesitate, not wanting to step out of our comfort zones in theology or practice.

It is my contention that creativity is as important in our faith as in in our business. If we use the same practices now that we did 20 years ago without any changes then our faith has probably stagnated. If we believe exactly as we did 20 years ago we are not creatively nurturing our faith and drawing closer to our loving God. Last year in my post Spiritual Rhythms That Create Resilience, I talked about our need for transformative practices that restore resilience and creativity to our faith.  In Enhance Your Spiritual Resilience – Five Practices That Make A Difference, I talked about spiritual and life practices that can help.

1. Maintaining regular spiritual practices

2. Maintaining regular exercise

3. Gratitude

4. Spiritual retreats

5. Discerning as a group

However I realize that this list is nowhere near complete (maybe we do need 39 practices for creativity) and I need to keep creatively building on these principles and I want to keep doing that because I believe that building creativity into our faith is essential for spiritual growth. So here are an additional five practices to consider:

1. Have some fun. There is more and more evidence emerging that suggests laughter, playing and having fun enhance our creativity and our resilience to the stresses of life.

2. Learn from your “failures” The term that is increasingly being used is “fail up”. In other words let your seeming failures push you closer to God not away. Remember from the world’s perspective Jesus went from being the world’s most successful faith healer to a criminal in one quick week. From success to failure in an easy step.

3. Give yourself permission to think outside the box – theologically and practically. My faith started to grow in leaps and bounds when I worked in the refugee camps in Thailand in the mid 80s and started to realize that my understanding of Christianity was limited and narrow. Admitting my doubts, and searching for new insights was revolutionary. Expanding my theological boundaries nurtured and strengthened my soul and my spirit.

4. Open yourself to learning from “the other”. We have so much to learn from those who look, think and practice faith differently from us. If we only listen to those who look like us and think like us then our faith will never grow.

5. Never say never. Creative people believe everything is possible and in the realm of faith that means believing that one day the kingdom of God which we now catch glimpses of will come in its fullness. That belief keeps me looking for new ways to reach out and see God’s world changed.

How will you express your faith creativity today? Perhaps watching this interview can help.