This article was first published on TheRebelution blog, where you can read it in its entirety.
Hey, you—dude in Vans and denim, brushing paint across canvas and concrete—I want to talk to you.
You—the girl sipping coffee, spinning stories across your laptop screen—listen up.
Teen brimming with inspiration, searching for outlets to spill yourself—let me enter your world and offer a hand. Because you and I have something in common:
We’re kindled by the passion to create.
We’re who culture calls “creatives.” We’re a generation tired of the bland, boring, and unbeautiful. We itch to make things that matter in a dark world. And chances are likely we both follow Jesus.
That’s a gamechanger.
Because when Jesus transformed our lives, he transformed our creativity. He branded it with purpose. Now the gospel infuses every inch of our passions and compels us to create things for a glorious God.
Anything less is a waste.
Creators are facilitators.
But what does it truly mean to be a creator? What does God intend for young people like us, with paint up our fingernails and poems in our head?
Just what he intended for Adam, Eve, and every other image-bearer: To mirror his glory.
I’m learning to dislike “creative” as a noun for artists. Because the truth is that every man, woman, grandparent, engineer, cashier, and mom is a creative. Fashioned in the image of God, we were each made to reflect him uniquely.
We’re facilitators of what’s already been created, whether that’s a piece of artwork or machinery or a child itself.
In God’s family tree, there aren’t higher branches reserved for the ultra-creative. We should braid our different skills into one God-exalting tapestry. Because we’re one body.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… (Rom. 12:6)
For the body does not consist of one member, but of many… God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? (1 Cor. 12:14, 18-19)
Creative Christian teen, you and I aren’t superior. We’re simply facilitators of the materials God placed in our hands. Let’s not abuse them; let’s use them as instruments of service.
Creators are servants.
Josh Garrels is a song artist I respect for both his creativity and humility. In 2012, he gathered a group of musicians on Mayne Island to record an album. Josh viewed his songs as a service project. He handed out his CDs for free. He was generous with his creativity.
Are we?
Finish reading this article at TheRebelution.com!
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