Why it’s probably not coming from the church…or is it?
“You have heard it said…” This is one of Jesus’ favorite ways to begin a phrase. It usually precedes something that to our ears sounds like good and almost obvious moral teaching. To the disciples, Pharisees, and first century crowd though, these lessons, and the majority of Jesus’ teaching, was completely ground breaking. In the first century, no one had ever entertained the thought of children being valued members of society, healing on the Sabbath, or loving your enemies. We’ve become so used to the teachings of Jesus that we forget how absolutely revolutionary they were, not only to the church, but also to medicine, politics, education, and even science.
This type of innovative thinking is not limited to the New Testament either. To us, the Ten Commandments are the most basic of moral human standards, but to the Israelites, who has spent hundreds of years as slaves (meaning they were less than human) this was most likely a brand new way of living they had never entertained before.
Throughout the entire narrative of the Bible, I see a God who is constantly at the forefront of innovation. He is the one pushing the boundaries, pointing and leading us towards a brighter future. What‘s interesting though, is that I don’t think this is the type of God being represented in our world today. A popular conviction among modern day believers is to steer away from creativity and innovation for fear of these things dragging us away from the traditions of the church.
If my view though, this misrepresents a God whose clear intention is to do exactly those things that most Christian’s today seem to fear. Throughout all of scripture, God is creating. He creates a universe, a people, and a way to more intimately relate to His people. All throughout the Gospel’s we watch Jesus take the accepted religious norms and flip them completely on their head.
The activity of God always moves away from empty tradition and towards life-changing innovation.
My question then, is where are the Christian artists who are willing to truly live out the divine image within them by leading the way for creative innovation in our culture? Maybe it’s you. I hope it is.
This type of innovative thinking is not limited to the New Testament either. To us, the Ten Commandments are the most basic of moral human standards, but to the Israelites, who has spent hundreds of years as slaves (meaning they were less than human) this was most likely a brand new way of living they had never entertained before.
Throughout the entire narrative of the Bible, I see a God who is constantly at the forefront of innovation. He is the one pushing the boundaries, pointing and leading us towards a brighter future. What‘s interesting though, is that I don’t think this is the type of God being represented in our world today. A popular conviction among modern day believers is to steer away from creativity and innovation for fear of these things dragging us away from the traditions of the church.
If my view though, this misrepresents a God whose clear intention is to do exactly those things that most Christian’s today seem to fear. Throughout all of scripture, God is creating. He creates a universe, a people, and a way to more intimately relate to His people. All throughout the Gospel’s we watch Jesus take the accepted religious norms and flip them completely on their head.
The activity of God always moves away from empty tradition and towards life-changing innovation.
My question then, is where are the Christian artists who are willing to truly live out the divine image within them by leading the way for creative innovation in our culture? Maybe it’s you. I hope it is.
