UNDERSTANDING THE CREATIVE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH (p5)

In light of all that has been discovered so far about the creativity, it’s source and operation in a person’s life, what outlook should an artist have who happens to be a Christian? The following bullet points will give an overview:

• The artist who is a Christian, should be amongst the very best at what they do, as they have the giver of creativity dwelling on the inside of them.

• In the same way a banker wouldn’t slap an “I love Jesus” sticker on a report he has just written, so an artist shouldn’t feel pressured into ‘cheeseifying’ their work, to conform to expectations from within the established church. Their work, should by it source, and channel (i.e. God through them) speak something of God’s character, just by itself.

• I believe an artist will only truly understand the creative in general and their creative ability specifically, as they draw near to God.

• There is a great danger when a person has created anything, to move from taking pleasure in it, to worshipping the created thing. As an artist who is a Christian it is important to firmly have your focus on the giver of the creative, not the created thing.

• The artist should use the gifts to the very best of their ability, as it is a reflection of the creative God they serve.

• Create as a gift to give to the creative God – knowing that He loves the work of your hands.

• I believe that the creative Christian’s have an important role in helping more scientific or ‘logical’ Christians experience the wonder and beauty of God.

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.

UNDERSTANDING THE CREATIVE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH (p3)

Some people will object to the notion that all mankind is creative, using phases like “I haven’t got a creative bone in my body”. I believe this is due to a misunderstanding of the word creative. When we hear the word creative, many of us, automatically think of painters, sculptures, dancers, actors, and even graphic designers. However I would like to rebalance that understanding of the creative, by stating that in a general sense the creative is the expression of some form of thought or idea. The expression (or outlet) may be through the more conventional type of creative fields, but it may also be ‘a work of creative genius on the football field, the design of some breath-taking building, the invention of some microscopic-robot, an orchestral composer weaving umpteen lines of music together into one glorious harmony or even a ‘simple’ poem written on the back of a napkin by the hand of a child. The creative is simply one of the most amazing gifts given to mankind!

In James 1:16 there is a wonderful passage, which expresses the wonder of gifts from God:
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." (Jas 1:17, NKJV)

This verse needs to be unpacked a little more to understand the true wonder of God given gifts. In this verse the English word “gift” is used twice. However, in the Greek it is two different words. The first use of the word is dosis (the act of giving), the second being dorema (bounty/bountifully, perfectly perfect). This shows us that God’s gift are both well given to us, but are also perfectly perfect in quality.

UNDERSTANDING THE CREATIVE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE LOCAL CHURCH (p2)

Is the creative restricted to God alone? No. The bible clearly teaches us that man, was created in the likeness of God:

"Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,
over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”" (Ge 1:26, NKJV)

Theologians call the attributes of man, which are in someway ‘like’ that of God’s the communicable attributes of God. These are attributes such as, mental reasoning, morality, love, will, and freedom. Even though we are made in the likeness of God we do not share these attributes in the ‘fullness’, but just in the ‘likeness’. So I believe it is with the creative. I believe it is one of the communicable attributes of God, which we ‘share’. God has released into every human being a level of creativity. An example of this ‘general’ creativity can be seen in the life of Adam and Eve. Even after sinning, they used their God given creativity to ‘make’ a covering for themselves out of leaves. That takes quite a high level of creativity!

THERE MUST BE MORE - TRUE WORSHIP (p7)

Date: 2005

Bibliography

Bowater, Chris. (1986). The Believer’s guide to worship. Eastbourne, England. Kingsway Publications

Bridges, R. F., & Weigle, L. A. (1997, c1994). King James Bible word book (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Dye, Colin. (1999). Worship in Spirit and Truth. Tonbridge, England. Sovereign World Ltd

Nelson, Thomas. (1979). Nelson’s Topical Bible Index. Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson Inc.

Swanson, J. (1994). New Nave's (Revised and expanded; electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems.

THERE MUST BE MORE - TRUE WORSHIP (p6)

Yes - there is so must more!
Real worship is unashamedly a feast of God’s presence. It is focused totally upon our God and Saviour. Worship is also a heart matter. It is so much more than a cerebral recital of doctrinal truths. It is the passionate overflow of a grateful and thankful heart to the King who has drawn near. However, heart matters must always overflow into actions. True New Testament worship should be vibrant and expressive. And finally, worship is about lifestyle, offering worship and praise in every moment of every day. Basically living a God-ward pointed life.

"My soul longs, yes, even faints For the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." (Ps 84:2, NKJV)

THERE MUST BE MORE - TRUE WORSHIP (p5)

The Lifestyle of Worship
The final section of this essay looks at the importance of having a lifestyle of worship. Again two biblical words will help highlight this point. The Hebrew word Abodah and Greek word Latreia are both translated either worship or service. Probably the most famous example of this duplicity of meaning can be found in Romans 12:1:

" I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." (Ro 12:1, NKJV)

The word service is the Greek word Latreia. Here we see that worship is not only to do with a deep longing for God in the heart, and then an overflow into actions. But this verse shows us the deep importance of the totality of how we live. Words and actions can be cheap, but a lifestyle truly expresses what is inside. For example if you are singing a song of worship “Lord I love you, have your way in me”, and then go out and deliberately abuse your body, and use it to bring dishonour to God’s name, then it shows a fake, superficial understanding of worship. Worship can never be disconnected from the whole ‘you’. When you come to God in times of worship He not only looks at the words we speak and sing, but he looks at the ‘words’ our lives speak throughout every minute of the day. Now a cautionary note; God is not looking for ‘perfect’ worshippers, because who is perfect? But he is looking for honest worshippers. Those who are seeking Him with all that they have (even when they fail and stumble).

THERE MUST BE MORE - TRUE WORSHIP (p4)

The actions of worship
I have deliberately left any form of ‘action’ until the later stage of the essay, as I wanted to clearly show that any form of action must be the direct overflow of the heart, directed totally and wholeheartedly towards God.

Like faith, true worship without any form of action is dead. Two Biblical words, which are normally translated as worship in the English Bible, show clearly the importance of ‘action driven by desire’. The words are Shachah (Hebrew) and Proskuneo (Greek).

Shachah is used to describe the ‘act’ of the people of God bowing or prostrating themselves before God. For example (Gen 24:26, 48; 1 Chron 29:20; 2 Chron 20:18; Ps 95:6.
Proskuneo literally means to “to kneel or prostrate oneself in honour or supplication” (Bridges, R. F., & Weigle, L. A. 1997,Pg 387). It also portrays the image of "kissing towards" (Dye, C. 1999, 25).

These words show us the two different but important sides to true, biblical worship. On the one hand worship should express itself in actions used to show honour, reverence and submission to a king or emperor. On the other hand worship must express the deep intimacy and closeness that is expressed through the kiss of lovers. In light of these simple word studies we can see that worship should be highly ‘charged’, filled with passion and zeal – a far cry from so much of what we call worship!

THERE MUST BE MORE - TRUE WORSHIP (p3)

The heart of worship
"As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" (Ps 42:1-2, NKJV)

It is so important to understand the ‘active’ nature of worship. Not active in the sense of singing or clapping (although these do have a place in worship and will be looked at latter), but in the sense of desiring, thirsting, or longing. Christ Bowater (1986, pg 20) described this longing as “A desire to know God, to meet with him. This is the key to Spirit-filled worship of God. Without this desire to stand in his presence, worship becomes a fruitless experience”. Psalm 42:1-2 (as quoted above) and Matt 5:6 shows the intensity of true biblical worship - a longing and need for God. How different this is from focusing on the superficial veneer of style and technique.

In essence worship is the deep desire and longing for God. The following are just a few examples: Ps 27:8, 14; Ps 63:1; Prov 8:17; Jer 29:13; Deu 4:29; Lk 10:42.

This understanding of worship as a deep hunger, leads onto the most famous scripture relating to worship, John 4:20-24 (esp v24):
"“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”" (Jn 4:24, NKJV)

What does it mean to worship in “spirit and truth”? In the light of what has just been stated about worship; to worship in spirit is to express that deep yearning for God, always remembering that it is a response to the love of the Father towards us (John 3:16). Worship is not the expression of an intellectual agreement “I must worship”, or even an emotional desire to worship “I feel like worship”. True worship, that which God desires comes from the depth of a man’s being – the spirit. To worship in truth is to long for a ‘true’ understanding and knowledge of God. This is one of the defining principals of Biblical worship that separates it from an emotional high or euphoria. True worship is a deep longing to ‘really’ know God.

THERE MUST BE MORE - TRUE WORSHIP (p2)

The focus of worship
The focus of worship can clearly be seen in both the Old Testament, Ten commandments and the New Testament, Christ’ New Commandment.

"…“You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me," (Ex 20:1-5, NKJV)

"Jesus said to him, “ ‘ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind .’ “This is the first and great commandment." (Mt 22:37-38, NKJV)

In both of these passages we clearly see that the focus of worship is God. The verses from Exodus highlight the negative; whereas the passage from Matthew uses positive language. Both portray the same message – the focus of ALL true worship is God.

THERE MUST BE MORE - TRUE WORSHIP (p1)

This is a new 6 part series looking at the whole subject of worship....


"Christian worship is the most momentous, the most urgent, the most glorious action that can take place in human life."
—Karl Barth

What is ‘real’ worship?
"“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”" (Jn 4:20, NKJV)

Just under two thousand years have passed since this famous quote (sited above) by the Samaritan women (or woman at the well), however as I began to write this article I realised the heart behind the woman’s question still lingers in the air, like mist on a damp morning. What is ‘real’ worship? The Samaritan woman was concerned with the perceived importance of ‘location’. In a similar way, if you ask the majority of Christians today their answer would reveal a concept of worship, which is heavily influenced by ‘style’ or denominational approach. Both are wrong concepts of worship, because they deal with the peripheral rather than the heart.

The aim of this short article is to untangle the biblical understanding of worship from the many changing stylistic and cultural opinions of what is ‘real’ worship. Part of the problem has been the fact that the Bible itself never categorically defines worship. This then demands the ‘sewing’ together of concepts drawn from various words, which in the English language have been translated worship. This article is split into four major sections: the focus of worship, the heart of worship, the actions of worship, and the lifestyle of worship. Following these sections is a brief conclusion pulling together all that has been highlighted in the different sections, giving the bigger picture, which will hopefully give a balanced understanding of worship.