Recently I connected with Jackson Dame who is a way better writer than I am…and an incredible thinker. I asked Jackson if he wanted to post for our community and here it is! Thanks @jacksondame for the “The 4Biblical Principles For Christian Creatives”.
A few years ago, I began to wonder if I was a creative person. I loved filmmaking, photography, and writing, but I never seemed to be able to come up with fresh ideas.
Eventually, I learned that I could take my creative struggles to God. In fact, I learned that my faith had a lot to offer in terms of practical advice that could impact my creative process. I just hadn’t been paying attention.
Ever since I realized this, I’ve constantly been on the lookout for places where faith and creativity collide. Today, I want to share with you five of my favorite Biblical principles that can help you be more creative. Here they are:
1) Nothing is new.
One of the problems I use to have as a creator was striving after originality a little too much. I had a hard time pursuing an idea if it seemed like someone else was doing something similar.
There’s just one problem with this mindset. Nothing is new. We will never be able to come up with an idea that is completely original. Check out what Ecclesiastes 1:10 says:
“Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.”
We as creatives should make every effort to make our ideas unique and stand out in the crowd, but we must never forget that even our best attempts aren’t completely original.
Don’t wait for a new idea. There is no such thing.
2) Community is necessary.
As Christians, we are called to community. We are part of a spiritual family. Despite this, we as creatives often try to go it alone.
But, the creative life is one that works best when you have help and support. You can’t do everything yourself, and there will be days when you don’t have enough strength. You weren’t meant to do everything yourself.
As Christian creatives, we must have a healthy reliance upon our spiritual family and our heavenly Father.
3) Pursue more than money.
I wish it weren’t so, but we as creatives often have to concern ourselves with money. Is our work producing income? What does it cost us to create? If we aren’t careful, we can make profit our chief goal.
Jesus talked a lot about money, and one of the most notable statements he made on the subject was the following:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19, 20a, 21)
The goal of our creative work should be treasures in heaven first, and material wealth second. That’s a hard balance to keep at times, especially in a world where it’s easier than ever before to turn creative work into profit.
4) Recycle and renew.
One of the defining elements of the Christian faith is redemption. God takes broken and old stuff and makes it into something new: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.b The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
In terms of creative work, one of the most beautiful things we can do is to take an old idea or a broken object and give it new life.
Not only does recycling show good stewardship, but it’s a powerful reminder of God’s creative work in our lives.
I hope that these four principles will benefit your creative process, but my prayer is that they will also prompt you to be on the lookout for the numerous other ways that faith can unleash your creativity.
All we have to do is start paying attention.
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Enjoy this post? I wrote a book about how faith can unleash your creativity, and I’m currently running a Kickstarter project to help get the book self-published. I’d be honored if you would check it out and share it with your friends.
Kickstarter campaign for my book on Creativity & Faith: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jacksondame/ex-materia-how-faith-can-unleash-your-creativity/description
