Guest post!

Hey; this is Jake Stichter. I'm Brenda's son. I'm a musician, a woodworker, a guitar builder... I am a maker. I'm also a recent seminary graduate – I received my Master's degree in Media Arts and Worship from Dallas Theological Seminary a few weeks ago. My wonderful mother offered to let me use this blog space as a place to discuss some ideas that have been percolating in my head for the last little while as I've been progressing through my degree. This essay is a re-working of a project I did for one of my classes, and it touches on something close to my heart: creativity. I know that every person has some form of creativity in their life, and I want to encourage more people to feel free to bring that creative passion into their surroundings! This is written from a specifically Christian viewpoint, but even if you don't share my religious persuasion the things I'm saying still ring true for you. I hope you enjoy my small piece of creative outlet, and I hope it inspires you to explore your own creative pursuits!
 
I'm here to ask you a favor. A really big favor. A favor that might change the fate of your neighborhood, your church, your town, or maybe even yourself. Are you ready? Here it is: I want you to make something.
 
What I'm asking for doesn't need to be something intimidating. Whether you're a seasoned painter or someone who doesn't think they have a creative bone in your body, I know for a fact that you already have a valuable, skillful creative outlet already within you – because you are human. Made in the Image of God. The Bible tells us that God's very first revelation of Himself was a creative one: taking nothing, and making something. Taking chaos and creating order. When we create, it is a reflection of God's original interaction with the human story. It's not the same thing; it is an image which is distorted by our own frailty and incomplete-ness. But it's still a small, beautiful, real reflection of God's presence within the human experience, and that alone gives the creative process an intrinsic value that no person can take from it.
 
And I know you already do something creative, because creativity is more than just painting, music, dancing, and poetry. Cooking is creative. Knowing which flavors and textures will work together in a dish is a flourish of genius which amazes me. Building a house is creative, too. The ability to take wood, glass, metal, and paint and turn it into a safe, attractive building is no less skillful, artistic, and amazing than what the painter does with a canvas. It just doesn't have the same prestige attached to it. There are thousands of ways to express your God-given creative calling.
 
But why? Why am I asking you to do this? Your church needs you to. Romans 12 tells us that the church functions like a body. Every body, whether your personal body or the Body of Christ, is only fully healthy when each part is present, and doing its own job at peak capacity. Your art form – whether it is playing a guitar, cooking a meal, or being present with those who hurt – is part of how you contribute to a healthy body. Your (human) body is more than just a disembodied brain on a stick; your person-hood is made up of emotions, senses, flesh, bone and muscle. Similarly, the church body is more than just people gathering for a series of intellectual propositions. I believe our creative projects feed the heart and soul of the Church, so I believe a church without its people being creative is one which is ultimately malnourished.
 
Not only does your church need your creativity, your world needs it too. In the words of Andy Crouch: “Culture is all of these things: paintings (whether finger paintings or the Sistine Chapel), omelets, chairs, snow angels. It is what human beings make of the world.”1  These little things we do with that which surrounds us... they all add up to something. Something large. A culture. Your little gift to those around you gives us all something new. A new perspective, a new window into reality, a new idea. And that little gift can only come from you. You have been given a unique set of circumstances, experiences, high moments, low moments, and everything in between. Nobody else can create the thing that is within your imagination.
 

I'm not asking for you to make an earth-shattering, genre-defying piece which alters the course of human history. That is more than one person can handle. Instead, my hope is that each of us will shift our little “corner” of the world. I completely believe your act of creativity can shift the course of one relationship. Maybe even a circle of friends. Perhaps we can even dream big and say that it plots a new course for your entire neighborhood. And that's enough. We don't need a million people trying to change human history, we need a hundred million people each trying to create one little piece of beauty. When this finally happens, I truly believe mountains will be moved. I KNOW we can show a hurting community the things it is longing for, which we have through our faith in Christ: hope, beauty, peace, truth.
 
So won't you please join me in the quest to make an omelet? Our world may depend on it.
 
(If what I'm saying resonates with you - if you feel something pulling inside you - and you want to dig into it a little more, I would love to share the little pieces of creativity which have impacted me in the making of THIS little piece of creativity: Please check out “Culture Making” - Andy Crouch, “Culture Care” - Makoto Fujimura, “The Magnificent Story” - James Bryan Smith, or “It was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God” - Ned Bustard, ed.)
 
               1 Andy Crouch, Culture Making: Recovering our Creative Calling (Downers Grove, IL: IVP books, 2008), 22.