I’m orderly & compliant, by nature, but – even though it seems a bit inconsistent to me – I thrive when given time & space to be creative. Whether I’m at work, at home, or at church, I like space to create. “Creative” is a really good word to me, not a euphemism for “disorganized”. But creativity does make for some bumps & jostling & awkwardness.
I remember once when, as worship leader at my church, I had a reason (though I can’t remember what it was) to initiate meeting with a guy who was newer to the church. Both he (I’ll call him Trevor) & his wife were “creative types” – both interested in music, both wanting to get involved – and she’d already made overtures about wanting to see changes in the way we did things.
So when Trevor sat down across from me at the coffee shop, he looked apprehensive; he looked like he was pretty sure something uncomfortable was about to happen. So when I told him I wanted to get to know him a bit, & understand what his interests were, & do what I could to set him & his wife up to minister… he was visibly relieved.
It turns out he thought he was in for a “loving confrontation” – that I was going to remind him he was new, & tell him he needed to back off & pay his dues a while. Apparently, he & his wife had heard that line before.
I’m sorry about that, but not surprised. Because finding your spot to exercise your creativity – at church or anywhere else – takes being willing to navigate some awkwardness & conflict. How can it be any different? Collaboration is always about people working together, & people with diverse opinions, gifts, & priorities have to learn to work together. And it ain’t always smooth.
If you hate awkwardness, & the work it takes to get on the same page with other people, you’ll probably never experience collaboration – including the collaboration that is supposed to characterize the church. (See, for example, 1 Corinthians 12 or 14, or Ephesians 4.) Which is a bummer, because this collaboration is the very thing that cultivates the strength & growth of the community.
I think that creativity, in church, is almost always best expressed in the context of collaboration, whether in worship, fellowship, or ministry. So you shouldn’t – even if you’re in a leadership role – spend lots of time, on your own, plotting a strategy for the whole church, or articulating a set of values for the whole church. Rather, each person should put their creative diligence to work in their role – in his or her individual sphere – & let the Spirit cultivate & upscale whatever He wants to.
I think Stephen Covey (& others) have described this before: we tend to worry about & waste effort on things outside of our God-given sphere of influence. We try to manage other people’s lives. Instead, we should use the tool that God’s put in our hands, on the wood He’s put in front of us, to build the thing that’s needed for the village we live in.
To summarize, I’m saying that engaging your creativity, for the good of the church & its mission, means engaging with others. And that means navigating the initial – & occasionally recurring! – awkwardness that goes with collaborating. And the result is that something really groovy gets built.
As for Trevor, he & his wife moved on before too long; I don’t think they found quite what they were looking for at our church. But I hope & pray they have by now. In fact, I bet Trevor & his wife are asking other people out for coffee these days…