Over the past Summer, I was at the Montrose Christian Writers Conference and I had the privilege of taking a few workshops with Alison Treat, host of the Historic Fiction: Unpacked Podcast. I’ve been listening ever since. Each week she interviews another writer of historic fiction and it is a very enlightening and informative podcast. One of the features I love is a question Alison asks every author, “How do you think learning about history through story helps us approach life in the present?” As someone in the early stages of writing my first historic fiction novel, not to mention a person who teaches through stories, I’ve wondered how I might answer that question. Here’s my response. 

“First off, I love how that question is phrased because while I’ve fleshed out the story and added elements to the story, at the core of my novel is a true story, a story from God’s Word. Since the question simply asks about learning through story, rather than specifically through fiction, I can apply it, not just to my novel, but to my preaching and storytelling ministry. One of the crucial ways that learning history through story can help us approach life in the present, is to remember our lives are just that, a story. It’s a story written by a most amazing Author. Once we understand that our lives have an Author, and that there is a plan and purpose to that story, known to the Author, it can change the way we live. As a preacher, one of the things I always try to remind people of is the people we read about in Scripture, for the most part (except for the characters in parables), are real people, who were living out real lives in real time. We have the luxury of being able to turn a page or two and find out how their story ends. It becomes very easy for us to try to judge their motives and in some cases, their faith or lack thereof. They do not have that luxury. 

They are real people. And while we may see them as pillars of the faith, they were just ordinary people, who put their lives in the hands of an extraordinary God. What we can see in them and  in their stories, all through their steps and missteps, is the faithfulness of God and it’s the same way for us. We are living a story. We will make steps and missteps, good choices and bad, our character will change and hopefully grow. There will be things we will look back on and rejoice, and there will be things that will make us cringe, but what doesn’t change is the intent of the Author, nor does it change the Author Himself. Psalm 139:16 (ESV) tells us, ‘all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.’ The incredibly good news is the Author of our lives is completely and utterly faithful, so as we are living out our stories in real time, with all kinds of twists and turns, and ups and downs, we can take tremendous comfort in the fact that the Author knows the story. He is completely. And perfectly  good and faithful, keeping every promise He has ever made. The story of our lives will build us and grow us in the good times and the bad times, and we will navigate that story so much better if we come to know, love and trust the Author. Following the Author will help us to live a better story.”

Now all I have to do is write the book, find a publisher, get on the podcast and give the answer. In case the Author has a different plot worked out for me, I decided to give you the answer now. What kind of story are you living? Know this. Every great story has conflict, struggles and things to be overcome. Without those things, the story is boring. Yes, I am fully aware there are times in our lives when we could handle a little more boring, but in Christ, our stories end in victory and in fact they don’t really end at all. The Author is good in all things. Trust Him and live an epic story. 

I’ve heard many preachers talk about when people say “Why me?” They talk about how, in the midst of suffering, some are tempted to cry those words to God. “Why me?” As if somehow our faith exempts us from hard times. They respond by talking about the most faithful and righteous of all, Jesus Christ and all that He suffered. They encourage us to face suffering with our eyes on Jesus and to change our question to “Why not me?” They have a point. Jesus told us in this world we will have trouble, so trouble should not surprise us. Instead, we need to continue to trust in Jesus when what He told us will happen happens, placing our faith in the One who has overcome the world! 

For the record, they’re right to say say that, but today I want to come at it from a different angle. You see lately I have been seeing a lot of great creative Gospel sharing coming from the church. TV shows like The Chosen, Christian movies that are starting to do very well at the box office, Christian music, and on and on. To me it’s extremely inspiring, but there’s a problem there too. People, including people in the church, seem to love to pick out every flaw and criticize every effort. 

Right now I am reading a very good book called Charlie Brown’s Christmas Miracle by Michael Keane. It’s the story about how one of the most famous Christmas television programs of all time came to be. There was a lot happening behind the scenes. Peanuts creator Charles Schultz was a devout Christian. When he was approached about the idea of a Peanuts Christmas Special, he wanted to do a program that talked about the true meaning of Christmas. This includes the famous scene where Linus recites part of Luke chapter two. His partners in the creation of the show, saw two problems with it. Secular audiences would see it as too religious, while Christians would object to animated characters sharing Scripture, seeing it as irreverent. Yes, I know, but this was 1965. To me this helped the issue hit home. If we’re going to create things to glorify God, we should expect push back from unbelievers. What concerns me more is how often the staunchest critics come from within the church. In some cases this is understandable. We want to make sure the Gospel is properly put forth and to avoid even the appearance of false teaching. On the other hand, the only perfect Creation was God’s creation and we even managed to mar that with our sins. Maybe we should be willing to extend a little grace to flawed human beings who are trying to glorify our God. After all, if evil people who were willing to steal, kill and destroy to stop the Kingdom of God have been unable to do it, I highly doubt a faithful believer who sets His heart on obediently creating work to the glory of God will mess up God’s plan. So it you’re feeling led to create, don’t let critical people hold you back. Realize everyone has been criticized by someone. After all, who faced more criticism than Jesus? So create your work, and when people are critical, look at your work, make sure you didn’t inadvertently blaspheme, and if not, hold your head high, praise the Lord and say, “Everyone else is being criticized, even Jesus. Why not me?”

Further, I want to ask you to look at your own attitude. Sometimes it’s not the fear of critics so much as it is my own inner critic. I look at some of the great stuff others are doing. I see all the success they have, the resources and everything else and make the assumption that I could never arrive at that level of success. It’s in those moments that I need to look past my gifts to the Giver, and look at whether or not He is sufficient. What if the only difference between me and that other person is that he stepped out in faithfulness and did the work while I allowed my inner critic to dissuade me? What if all I need to do is look at my calling, see God’s vision and say, “Why not me?” What we all need to remember is that God is always faithful. If He has called you to it, He will make it do what it is supposed to do. It might be a raving success or it might look like an abject failure but God will use it as He sees fit and you will know you have been faithful. 

The other day I was trying to explain to a friend why I enjoy my hobby of plastic model building. What I said was basically this, there comes a time in my day when I’m done thinking. I’m in ministry. I spend considerable time each day creating, and I love it. I write my sermons, teaching resources, create ideas for outreach, try to solve problems, and more. I use also art as a tool in my ministry, so basically I spend a lot of time creating and there comes a time when I need to take a break. In those moments I like to spend a little time gluing a few model parts together or painting those parts, or whatever. It’s a diversion. It’s still somewhat creative, but it has instructions, There is a great deal of creative freedom, but there are boundaries. I can still do beautiful work, but there is guidance and a desired outcome to be reached. If I’m building a 57 Chevy, I have a lot of choices I can make, but at the end of the day, the thing should probably look like a 57 Chevy.

Come to think of it, it’s a lot like ministry. Before I go too far, I want to acknowledge this is a flawed analogy, but hopefully I will still be able to make my point. Think about it. Within the realm of ministry, there is incredible creative freedom. There are multitudes of methods that can be flexed and altered, stories that can be told, illustrations that can be added (in my case, both verbal and visual). There’s incredible freedom in it, but there’s a boundary. There are “instructions” that need to be followed. There is room for incredible diversity of method, but the message must remain the same. Stray from God’s truth and you move into the realm of heresy. Admittedly this is where the modeling analogy falls apart. If I want to turn my 57 Chevy into an airplane, or a dinosaur, or a robot, no one cares and no one is harmed. Straying from the original form might even be applauded, though I maintain, for it really to be applauded, what would really make it cool is if the original form remains recognizable. 

The bottom line is this. I believe God gifted me, and probably you if you’re reading this, with creativity, at least in part so we could tell His story. I believe God delights when we use the gifts He has given us to serve Him. In a sense the methods are ours, but the story is His. Depart from His story and you depart from truth. Like model building, there is room for amazing creativity in methods, but there are also instructions that need to be followed, otherwise we stray from what the Creator intended. 

I’m reminded of our friend Bezalel. No book on creative ministry would be complete without at least a mention of Bezalel. Who is He? Well way back in the book of Exodus, God gave Moses the incredible plans for a place where the people could meet with Him. The people of Israel were still nomadic for a time, (at least in part because they deviated from God’s instructions, but that’s a different story for a different day) so the thing had to be portable. Far beyond a functional space, it was a moving work of art. God’s plan was very specific. Over 50 chapters of the Bible are devoted to the tabernacle and it’s construction. Moses was already very old, and there were a lot of things he needed to do. None of them involved learning all of the skills that would have been needed to fulfill God’s plan, but that’s okay, God had someone in else mind. God had created and gifted someone for the purpose of building this thing, a craftsman named Bezalel.  

Exodus 31:2-5 tells us, “2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every craft. Note what it says in verse 3, God filled him with His Spirit so that he would have the creative ability to do the work. God had something very specific in mind. He gave Moses very specific plans, and He gifted Bezalel with the ability to do the work. I’m sure there was room for Bezalel to flex his creative muscles, but Bezalel also needed to follow the plan, sort of like building a model. 

Modeling and ministry are very much related. There is tremendous flexibility in methods, but we are building on a previously laid foundation and we are telling someone else’s story. It’s the greatest story ever told. It doesn’t need our help. That story is the truth that sets people free. We dare not depart from the story. Instead our creativity is designed to help people to receive, retain and apply it to their lives. It’s an immense privilege and one not to be taken lightly. So use your creativity, but follow the instructions.       

I was watching American Ninja Warrior the other night. I must confess, my favorite ninja has always been Daniel Gil, a worship leader from Texas. This man has trained for years to become one of the elites of the sport. Joy just emanates from this guy and he is always smiling. I don’t know him, but I like him. The culmination if you make it through all the levels of the competition, essentially an insane obstacle course, is an obstacle called (and I’m not sure I am even close to spelling this right) Mount Medoriama. It is a 75 foot rope climb. 75 feet straight up and in 30 seconds. Daniel Gil made it with two seconds to spare. The prize one million dollars. Now all that stood between him and a veritable fortune was a few more people who also made it to the Mount. One after another failed to make it in time, until finally a guy named Vance Walker came up. A much younger man, who had been born with cerebral palsy, and who had worked and trained, until finally he became another elite athlete. Vance Walker beat Gil’s time and walked away with the million dollars. It was a great story, and I was very happy for Walker, but I also felt for Daniel Gil, who was gracious in defeat and held onto his smile. I loved the scene, it was beautiful in a lot of ways.

Then I got online. I saw one guy who said he loved to see someone wipe the smile off Daniel Gil’s face. TROLL! You’ve got to watch out for them. My temptation was to jump into a fight with him, but to what end. All I would have done was add to a stupid argument, and for what purpose? It turns out, when pressed on it and told of the way Gil congratulated Walker, the troll replied that the smile left Gil’s face for a moment when he saw Walker won. Wow, really? He had a million dollars and then he didn’t, I can’t imagine how that wouldn’t take the smile off someone’s face. My we Christians are held to a mighty high standard, especially by trolls. 

Two deserving athletes went after a goal, they both got there, one a little faster than the other. They were gracious in victory and defeat. No sense letting a troll wreck that. I suspect the troll was looking for a fight. I suspect his distaste for Gil may have had something to do with his faith, which is speculation, and doesn’t really add to things except to say people not liking you for your faith, while you live with a smile on your face, just might be a sign that you’re doing something right. Don’t fight with trolls.

Then just a few seconds ago, I finished watching an episode of the Chosen. It was the one where the woman with the issue of blood was healed and Jairus’ daughter was raised. I’ll confess to you I was blubbering like a fool as I watched this story portrayed before my eyes. What a wonderful use of creativity. I know The Chosen has it’s share of detractors too, and not all of them are trolls, but some most definitely are. Is it perfect? No. Does it get every fact of Scripture right? Also probably not. Is it an effort by Christian creatives to portray the Lord and bring Him honor and glory? Absolutely, despite what the trolls may say. And that’s the thing, trolls are people looking for a fight, looking for the slightest flaw or imperfection. An elite athlete who sees a million dollars slide through his fingers and loses his smile for a second. A show trying to bring glory to God, but has a crew member who isn’t following Jesus, (by the way, shouldn’t we kind of want to have non-Christians working with us, so we can show them Jesus?) Trolls are out there everywhere, and the question is how will you react to them.

First off, if you let trolls keep you from using your gifts to serve the Lord, they are not the problem, you are. Our calling is not to please everyone. Our calling is to please the only One who truly matters. Secondly, getting into a fight with a troll, online or otherwise is to give them exactly what they want. To do this is to reward bad behavior. To be clear, every critic is not a troll. Some of them have genuinely helpful things to say. Appreciate them and use discernment on any changed they suggest, but don’t hold back for fear of trolls. Trolls are unhappy people, who live to disrupt. Live to God’s glory. Love and pray for the trolls, and let God deal with them. Only God can change a troll. 

I love days like this. I started off my morning ministering to my home congregation. God gave me a message and I had the privilege to present it, and every time I do that, there’s a little part of me that still can’t quite believe that this is what I get to do for a living. I get to bring messages from God’s Word to a group of people I genuinely love and enjoy, and they love me back. I am truly blessed, but this day was even better. I left right after the service and drove about four and a half hours north to minister at another wonderful church with my art ministry. I had been with this church twice before and every time I minister to them, it’s a blessing. 

Once again I have to pinch myself. I was the kid that no one wanted to be around and now as an adult, people actually pay to have me come to them and do what I’ve dreamed of doing since childhood, making pictures and telling stories. I sometimes almost have to pinch myself because I have a hard time believing I can be so blessed. The Lord is literally showing me what He created me for, and I am overjoyed. 

Right now I am sitting in a hotel room a few miles from the church. I will admit, right now at this moment, I am exhausted, but it’s the best kind of exhausted there is. It’s the kind of exhausted when you feel like you’ve been faithful. That you went out there and did the best you could.  Now that the work is done, I will be able to rest and sleep the kind of sleep that comes when a goal has been reached. 

Tomorrow, I will start to think of the next message, and I will likely start writing, Lord willing. I will read the passage before I leave the hotel and pray and meditate on it as I take the longish drive home. What can I say? The ministry comes with a weekly deadline. I don’t mind at all, as a matter of fact, I love it. Each new message brings with it the opportunity to delve deeper into the Word of God and hopefully come a little closer to the Lord. As I get ready to shut the laptop down for the night, I am reminded of a quote from the Westminster Catechism, which says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” This is what ministry feels like to me. I will say I missed my family tonight, and I do long for the day when we can do these things together more, but I am a blessed man and this…this was a great day.

The two phrases listed above sound virtually identical, but there is a world of difference between the two. It turns out the order of the words and the addition of the word “of” makes a boat load of difference. I am all in favor of a theology of creativity. I believe part of being created in the image of God includes the fact that we are creative beings, that God has instilled some level of creativity in all of us and He has from the first time He trotted an elephant in front of Adam and said “What shall we call it?” I’m not saying everyone is an artist, though I probably would if you asked me, but that is a different story for a different day. I’m saying everyone is creative and everyone has an imagination. Remember creativity it not just art, it’s problem solving. If you’ve ever used a tool for other than it’s intended purpose, you were creative. If you’ve ever made up a story or even an excuse, there was an element of creativity involved. Further I believe as children of the Creator, instilled with creativity, there is an implied calling to use that creativity to help people, solve problems and make the world a better place to the glory of God. That is a very limited discussion of my theology of creativity. 

The other side of the versus sign is creative theology. To my mind creative theology has been around since the first time the enemy of our souls took Eve aside and contradicted the Word of God. The “soul” of creative theology is that very thing, contradicting the Word of God and it is diabolical. It’s the attempt to make the word of God fit the culture. On the surface, that sounds so much easier than doing what we’re supposed to do, which is working with the Holy Spirit to help the culture to conform to the Word. I say is seems much easier, because it is usually easier, to make try to ourselves the authority than it is to come under anyone’s authority, even if that “anyone” is God. It may seem easier, but what you end up with if you go this direction is to try to change a standard that God has not changed. Creative theology is picking and choosing the parts of Scripture we want to emphasize, as well as the parts we want to omit, rather than taking the full counsel of Scripture into account. It’s a lie from the pit of hell and it will not stand. 

Hebrews 4:12 reminds us “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” We have too many people who have decided to follow their hearts and to try to make the Scripture line up with what seems right to our hearts. The problem is we are forgetting what Jeremiah told us. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”  We are not supposed to change the Word, the Word is supposed to change us. We need to take the counsel of Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world…” but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” and if we will do that there is a promise that goes along with it, “that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” To know and follow the will of God is not to attempt to bend His will to ours, it is to seek His will even if everyone else is going a different direction. Creative theology will never get us to where God wants us to be. Rather it will leave us deluded and outside the will of God.

A theology of creativity understands what can change and what cannot. It can be a vital tool in take the unchanging message of the Gospel to an ever changing world. There is tremendous freedom in methods. If you don’t believe me ,watch true churches around the world as they worship the Lord in truth. What cannot be changed is the message of the Word of God and thank God for that. In a world that seems to change with virtually every whim of culture, the Word of God is an unchanging, solid rock on which to build a life. Stand on the Rock.