Creativity in the Church

How is it that some places are ultra creative and some places are not? How is it that we have smart thinkers in business who are doign amazing things with their businesses and then we have people like the CEO's of GM, Ford, and Crysler who shouldn't be running a McDonalds. My answer is creativity. Creativity is a powerful force that once harnessed it can be a powerful force in innovation and growth.

The problem is that financial departments like to find a blue print and cannonize it; this is a safe investment. Creativity is risky as it is an unsure, but to lose ones creative edge is to die. Taking the safe route - as the Big 3 have shown us - eventually leads to death. Survival depends on continually taking a risk.

I think this is an issue in the church. We've done a really good job at preserving our structures, but we've done really poorly at changing and adapting to the world around us. Sadly, this has led to worship wars, church splits, and those on the outside rejecting the church.

The church must

I think part of the problem is in the education and preparation of our ministers. To often pastors are trained to be cogs in a system, not leaders and innovators. Leaders being those who have the ability to have a vision of the future and then the ability to bring people along in fulfillment of that vision. Innovators being pastors who creatively look to develop the church.

Let me illustrate an issue. Pastors are taught the techniques of how to preach, but not taught what it means to preach or why we preach. Pastors are taught how to teach a class, but not taught about what it means to teach a class or why we teach classes. This leads to uninspired, uncreative churches. In order to be creative with something, one must understand its nature.