Joyful Creating For God's Glory

Two artists have recently prompted a few thoughts about being a creator...in the image of God.

The first is Laura Veirs. Her latest CD ("July Flame") is one of those relatively rare CDs that, while ephemeral, is a lot of fun. The last song ("Make Something Good") expresses a basic aspect of being in the image of God...the desire to create something that we look at and say "that's good!"

The second is N.T. Wright. A relative had urged me to read one of his books...I have not since I generally prefer to read the original (vs. a commentator... though there are a few commentators (e.g., D. A. Carson) that I do find enlightening (in no small part because they don't stray far from the text)).

I listened to a talk that Wright gave on his new book "Simply Christian" at a Veritas Forum. He meant it as a twist on Lewis' "Mere Christianity", and I assume that both words were intentional. "Simply" seems to be a sideways critique of a Christianity that focuses on the intellect (vs. action), and "Christian" is an identity or a person (vs. a belief framework).

Unfortunately, his message is very much in line with the "another gospel" I discussed in the last post. He sees Christianity as something pointed to by "faint echoes" (a apparent nod to postmodern skepticism) in the areas of justice, spirituality, relationship, beauty (but not guilt or sin...a bit strange in light of his discussion of justice).

He's eloquent, and in many ways orthodox, in his discussion of the restorative aspect of the gospel. Folks who have underemphasized the gospel's restorative aspect can learn something from Wright. And, he's more orthodox in his understanding of Biblical righteousness than many who preach a restorative gospel.

But, the lack of emphasis on the "free from sin" aspect of the gospel is inconsistent with the New Testament, and most critically, his silence on the atoning work of the Cross yields what is basically "another gospel." Not surprisingly, his gospel focuses on an earthly kingdom along the lines of the social gospel. Even the discussion of the "new heaven and new earth" emphasizes the social and the environmental.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about the ways Satan can distort our image-of-God urge to create. Here's a few thoughts:

• We try to "improve" on God's creation. Whether in the spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, etc., this is perhaps the most subtle temptation. We obviously have to use what God created to do our own creating. But, when we start bending and distorting the underlying medium, we are fighting the Creator.
• We worship our creations. This is perhaps the most blatant temptation and is where the impulse to idolatry is most clear.
• We attack God's creation. I suspect this is caused by a combination of "I want to be my own God" and a targeted temper tantrum. Large chunks of modern and postmodern culture fall into this camp...environmental abuse, pornography, promiscuity, homosexuality, drug/alcohol abuse, cutting, rebellion against government, abortion, euthanasia, denial of our ability to know, etc, etc, etc.
• We suppress our creative nature. This is perhaps an aspect of modernism, where the impulse was to systematize society into a scientific factory and the individual's job was to fit into the system. Obey orders, follow instructions, don't lead or step out or make a difference. Obviously there's a place for obeying orders and following instructions, but even there, it should be done in thoughtfully in light of God's authority and created order. Joyful creation of the good and the beautiful to bring glory to God is a key reason for our existence. This is one of the lessons of the Parable of the Talents.

Please comment if you have been reminded of other distortions.