UNDERSTANDING THE CREATIVE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH (p4)

Other people will say, ‘well if the creative comes from God, why is so much evil created? I believe this question simply boils down to the fact that God has given responsibility in the way we use the gifts he has given us. One day we will stand before God and account for what we have done with the gifts he has given us (like the parable of the talents). In the same way God has given us responsibility of how we use our bodies, either for good, or bad (for example pounding another human being!), so it is with the creative. Just because someone chooses to use the creative gift that God has blessed him or her with to make a degrading pornographic image, does not mean that the giver (God) of the gift wanted it to be used that way. This is where the argument over the devils ability to create re-emerges. Many people will point to the horrific creations of ‘art’ and say these are the work of the devil. It is important to go back to scripture to view the tactics of the devil and to see how he operates in this type of situation.

"“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (Jn 10:10, NKJV)

This verse contrasts the actions of the devil with those of God. The devil is the one breaking and destroying and dismantling, it’s God who gives life. So it is with the creative. God is the source of all creativity, but it is the devil that comes in and destroys, mutates, twists, and perverts things. Take for example a musician. God has given the gift of musicianship, but the devil works in the persons life, twists and mutes the persons thinking, so they start to create songs glorifying anything but God.