The Church's Right-Brain Lobotomy

It's not rocket science.

God is creator. It's the first thing we learn about God in the Bible next to His existence. More specifically, Jesus is the author of creation. He is creative.

"Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:3

Shouldn't being Christ-like then include being creative?

Made in God's image, we are given both a left-brain and a right-brain.

We see His right-brained creative expression in the work of art we call nature:
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20

We see His right-brain in the creative use of metaphor:
"This is what the LORD said to me: "Make a yoke out of straps and crossbars and put it on your neck." Jeremiah 27:2

"So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?' declares the LORD. 'Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.'" Jeremiah 18:3-6

"Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel." Ezekiel 4:1-3

"Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable." Matthew 13:34

To be Christ-like would then call us to be creative, as He is creative: expressing ourselves and His Word metaphorically in the visual arts, in written word, in dance, in film, in video, in theatre, in photography, in sculpture, in architechture, and in music.

If we are made in the image of the Creator, if the Spirit of Creation indwells us, then why do we relegate creative expression to "the world?" Vitamin Z recently asked "why does all the timeless music come from outside Christian music?" I could ask the same of any art form. Why aren't Christians producing creative masterpieces in art? Literary classics? Architechtural marvels? Breathtaking dance? Dramatic classics? Wonders of the cinema?

Conversely, why does our "creative" outflow so often follow what is fashionable and marketable in the secular marketplace? If we have the Author of Creation dwelling in us, why aren't Christians leading in creative breakthroughs? Why isn't the world looking at our creative expression with amazement saying, "where did that come from?"

Where is the tangible produce from the Spirit of Creation within us?

Who gave the Body of Christ a right-brain lobotomy?

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