On my way to work (when I worked in Alaska during college summers) I decided to skip the cab ride and walk. I cut through some neighborhood that was mostly quiet except for this one house whose front lawn was decorated with toys everywhere. Dancing through all the plastic inventions from Mattel were three little boys. Bare-footed, rat-tailed, mullet wearing boys. To many people this setting would have looked like an embarrassment to the neighborhood.
But not to these three boys.
I could hear them fighting over who was going to be Optimus Prime and who was going to be Bumble Bee. To these boys an abandoned, not well-manicured or maintained, salvage yard for toys turned into more than a yard. It was transformed into a place the Transformers movie could be lived out. A place where large plastic blocks serve as pieces of armor and a grassy enclosure becomes a desert away from civilization where the final battle between Autobots and Decepticons is initiated.
All in the minds of three small boys.
Creativity.
The Bible is split into two parts. The Old Testament and the New Testament. The birth of Jesus is what separates these two testaments. That’s why in history time is labeled B.C. meaning “Before Christ” and A.D. meaning “Anno Domini,” which is a Latin expression which literally means ‘in the year of the Lord’.
The New Testament also known as the Greek Scriptures was written in Koine Greek, the vernacular dialect in 1st century for the Eastern Mediterraneans. The New Testament was written with a greek mindset. The dawning of Western culture and Philosophy. Formulas. Organization. Structure. Facts. The complete euphoric experience for a person with O.C.D.
We do a very good job of duplicating this. Western culture. Sometimes too good of a job.
Almost opposite the Old Testament was written by Jews with a Jewish mindset. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and corresponds to the Hebrew Bible also known as the Tanakh. Written with stories. Imagination. Details that pull on heart strings.
The Old Testament is written with a vocabulary of about 5,800 words. The New Testament is written with a vocabulary of about 4,800 words. The Old Testament describes it’s stories using 1,000 more words than the New Testament. Colorful, creative, imaginative, innovative literature.
There are 66 total books in the Bible. 27 of them are in the new testament. 39 of them are in the Old Testament. This means that the Old Testament takes up 59% of God’s Word. Maybe the Jews had something right.
Creativity.
Why do we lack creativity?
Why do so many churches copy everything about a world that they know leads to nowhere?
Why do we follow the trends?
Where did our influence on society go?
Has the divine imagination given to us by an almighty God dwindled down to the idea of a Human Video?
Do people even know what that is?
Not that we’ve become too Greek or read too much of the New Testament. But perhaps we could read more of the Old Testament. Perhaps we could learn something from our Jewish friends.
During the renaissance period the Church lead in influencing society. The Church set the trends. The world followed the Church because it was imaginative. Christians influenced the world of fashion, entertainment, writing, and so on. With Christian Renaissance paintings and stained glassed windows another vehicle for God’s glory was discovered. Art.
“The world is but a canvas to the imagination.” – Henry David Thoreau
What we see was created by what we can’t see. God is the creator of all things. The one who brings all things into existence. The most creative being. The Bible says that we are made in his image. If God is the creator, and we’re created in his image then shouldn’t we be the most creative beings in the world?
The Bible says that all things are possible.
All Things.
Perhaps we should begin thinking like three small boys.
Mark 9.23