We are creators

So I was reading this book this weekend (Sex God by Rob Bell, I recommend it!) and there is a line in it that really got me thinking.


"How you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the creator."


It is an interesting thought. How I treat people is a sign of how I feel about God. How I treat the environment around me is a sign of how I feel about God. A great dashboard for how I am doing internally is for me to look at how I treat the friend that is in need at the moment....the window to my soul is my attitude towards you.

My humanity, and my ability to embrace the call of God, is intrinsically linked to treat others as people and not as objects. It is "inhuman" when I treat a person as a means to an end. Surely that thought strikes a cord with more than just me.

That in itself isn't the big thought I wanted to process though. The question I pose is what does it look like for us to be creators...as our father in heaven is a creator. We were given dominion over the earth to go and work it...God made us creators. We are His creation and in that we have been given both a heart, mind and soul that can sing in tune with humanity as well as giving us divine inspiration that allows us to bring Heaven to earth.

I think this commission on us is probably a little like, "Go...do...be..." and the rest we are supposed to figure out as we go...and do...and be (or are, I suck a language). With that being said, I believe there are a few things we are specifically (and universally) called to be creators of because of our relationship with Christ:

1) Ambassadors (or creators) of Reconciliation-God created ultimate reconciliation by His sacrifice on the cross, and we are to be His ambassadors of it. In 2 Corinthians, Paul is talking about our intensity when it comes to living for Christ and serving Him, and with that he is talking about our recreation...

"16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." (2 Cor 5:16-20)

Our role as ambassadors of this message of reconciliation is to be creators of reconciliation moments. A church service is just one simple example of this...people working to create moments that highlight this message of reconciliation to those around us. These moments can occur anytime, but we have to figure out how to embrace our creator-ness =) in the middle of everyday moments. How do I create a reconciliation moment while I am sitting at Starbucks? How can I create those moments while I am out on the Frisbee field? I don't have a perfect answer for these questions, I just know they are ones we should be asking.

2) Creators of Love on Earth - God is the source of all love. We only know what love is because He first showed us. He took the very high and lofty thought of love and made it real...and personal...and intimate. Now we have this love inside us that the world needs. This world is running rampant with many things, but love is not one of them. Love on earth happens when we go and create it! It happens when we bring heaven to earth by way of the love that we create, give and show! In 1 John 4:18 it says, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear." I think the question we need to consistently ask is "how can I bring love to this _____(person, situation, environment, ect...) in such a way that it drives out fear?" How do I create love on earth? I don't know that there is a concrete answer, but I think a sign of love on earth has to do with a lack of fear on earth.


3) Creators of Hope - Our hope is found in Christ, at least it is for those of us who know Him. People around us need hope. There isn't a whole lot to say here for this reason...have you ever looked into the eyes of despair and been able to bring hope to that situation? Have you been able to see the look in someones eyes as despair changes to hope? It is in that moment that you realize "I was created to do this." When you create moments where hope can develop and flourish, you have tapped into something of God's call on the Church.

There are so many other ways we are called to be creators. These are just a few that are on my mind right now...but if you have any other ways that come to mind...please share!

The Bends

There is a sickness that is typical in the scuba industry...as well as flying...as well as any other arena where there is a dramatic change in altitude. You body, when put under additional pressure from the air around it, must adjust to the change as you progress (whether it be going down in a Scuba dive or flying up in a plane). There are different decompression stops that must be made for your body to help you adjust. Without these, you can send your body into decompression sickness-"the bends". Without getting too technical (especially since I don't really know that much about it)...your body has natural gases that must be processed at different altitudes...without giving time to process it the right way, you can make your body very sick.

And so I am left with a question...does the same thing happen mentally and/or spiritually? Have you ever felt like you have gone from one spiritual climate to another so quickly that you feel out of it? Felt like your external situations take you from the mountain tops to the valleys in the course of the same day? I just wonder what the effects are of the spiritual bends or if it even exists. What about the mental bends? Does something like that exist?

I have noticed that the rhythms of my life on certain days cause me to experience something of the bends. I can go from the most visionary, mission oriented moments to the most unimportant tasks, and all the while feel this sickness in me that I can't process. How can you run back and forth from honoring God in the smallest of things to honoring Him in these big glamorous ways...and then back and forth again and again?

Sometimes I feel like it would be easier to just sit at one altitude forever then try to help my mind and spirit engage in all these different environment.

Lost in Suburbia

The setup...
So I was sitting out on my deck just a few minutes ago, trying to pray. Now my deck faces some wooded area in our neighborhood. If you tried really hard, you could look into the woods and forget that we are right in the middle of the chaotic Mall of GA area. So I am sitting out there, trying to pray, looking into the woods. Now the woods are probably like 100-150 feet deep and then on the other side is Gravel Springs Roads where they are doing tons of construction. So while sitting out there, looking into "the woods" all I can hear is the sound of bulldozers and big trucks honking and moving around.

The pondering...
Why did I go outside to pray? No one is at the house right now, it is perfectly quiet in here and I wouldn't be distrubed. But I didn't want to pray in here, it felt weird...so I went outside on the deck to pray. Here is the thing, it is always noisy at this time of day out there...I know that. So did I go out there for the sake of looking into the woods? Or did I go out there for the noise? Maybe that seems like a stupid question for you, but for me it is deep. In my house (at the moment) is the quiet serenity that I should long for. Outside is the chaotic noise of multiple inputs coming at me at once. Perhaps this is why I love Starbucks so much? Coffee is coffee, but at Starbucks there is so much going on at once between people walking in and out, music over the speakers, coffee machines making noise...maybe that is the drawing fact of that place...it isn't quiet.

Maybe I am the only one who feels this way, but I think my life up to this point has conditioned me to live in the chaos and not really know how to live without it. Noise helps me think, my ipod is needed to help me write...somehow this seems so far from God's design.

No real answer for all of that, just something I am processing.

I prayed, He listened, He spoke, I listened...hopefully the dumptruck drivers wont share any of the conversation.