Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Geness 1:26-27)
The
other day I listened to a podcast in which John Ortberg claimed that God made
man to be creative. While I don’t disagree with him, there’s a part of my mind
that says, “Now wait a second. Where does Scripture say that?” I can’t think of
any passage that says “God created you to be creative,” but today’s passage is
strongly suggestive. In the act of creating man, God expressed the purpose of creating
man in the image of God.
Then,
yesterday as I walked past my front garden, I realized that I am creating
something there. It’s a derivative creation because I’m using things that have
already been created, but I have an idea that requires that it be something it
has never been in this place or by my hand and which will, I hope, provide
benefits.
So
now there’s a new wrinkle to consider. Suppose that we were sitting somewhere
and someone starts playing a Boogie Woogie, or a great Christian anthem, or
some other piece of music that touches your soul on one of those public pianos.
Since it’s entirely imaginary, the piano is in tune. You can change the number to
something you prefer, but it’s a piece of music you know well, and the pianist
plays it just precisely and exactly the way it was written. Or suppose that I
invited you to dinner and I made your favorite dish, just the way you like it.
Or suppose that I harvest lilacs from my neighbor’s bush, make Lilac jelly with
it and put a jar of it on my neighbor’s porch. In none of these hypothetical
situations has anyone done something we would normally describe as creative.
A computer or a robot could accomplish the same things or close to it.
But
what if we’re looking at the wrong element? What if these descriptions are missing
one element that shows them to be creative? In each case, what is created is
the audience's or recipient's enjoyment. If you give your child (grandchild,
parent, etc.) medicine, you may be helping to create health. If you teach a
child how to draw, cook, sing, keep house, read, etc., you are creating a
capability in that child and a better, more capable adult.
We
need to get beyond the idea of creation as “artistic” and as an ability given
to a few, special folks. We also need to get beyond the notion that it has to
be something never seen before and jaw-droppingly impressive. We may commit thousands
of acts of creation daily in our interactions with ourselves and others and not even notice. Every attempt to change things from the way they
are to the way we want to them to do might be said to be an act of creation if
we would only stop holding on to the “creation means artistic or special” nonsense.
Think about it this way. God was still being creative when He created dirt.
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