[This article is part of the “spiritual leadership today” study/discussion going on this year. For all articles in the series, click the Spiritual Leadership tab at the top of the page. To have them delivered, subscribe to The Brook Letter]
In today’s world creativity is a higher and higher value in almost any enterprise. In business, education, communications, science, and in ministry the way of doing things used to be logical progression. Go from step A to B to C, and on to the end. Start with ingredient X, add Y, a pinch of Z, and you’ve got your product. Turn one hundred into a thousand, and then go on to the first million, and you’re achieving the goal.
Today’s leading enterprises are looking at qualitative growth, not just quantity. And there is more attention to the way one gets to a goal, not just getting there.The people who are being hired in fields as diverse as accounting, medical technology, and economics are those who add a right-brain component to the work. They add art to productivity, and the results go in exciting new directions.
Valuing creativity is not a brand new thing, but a revival of an ancient and biblical view of life. God made the brain: both the left side and the right side. God intended human beings to be able to have both order and art in their approach to life. To decide on one side of the brain over the other is to limit ourselves to being halfwits.
Not every leader has to be creative. But all leaders should value creativity, and, if they are in positions over other leaders, promote the blend of logic and art.
Creativity in spiritual leadership is a whole way of thinking and behaving. It is when you as a leader approach every opportunity or problem with a humble open-mindedness. When you resist the temptation to make quick judgments or fashion easy solutions. Creativity is what keeps our minds open to endless possibilities, and not be trapped in the obvious or familiar.
Most important, creativity in spiritual leadership teaches people about the nature of the Creator God who is always making new things and making things new. This gives people hope. When people are dark and depressed because they just cannot see any way to break out of life patterns that are dehumanizing, they latch onto biblical promises like “I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5) and “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). So why not model that in the way we do things? If God is making all things new, why would we cling to what is old?
God’s ways of creating new lives is consistent with how God wants to create new forms of work and ministry. Creative leadership, in other words, is a participation in the movement of the Spirit of God.
If you are in a position of spiritual leadership you are obligated to be faithful to the mission you were called to, while watching for the creative new things God wants to do through you. How do we do this?
1. First, understand yourself. Are you naturally creative, or do you need to depend on others to bring new thinking and new expressions into the mission? Remember, the Spirit gifts people differently. Non-creative people do not need to pretend they are, and they certainly shouldn’t suppress creativity because it’s not their way of doing things.
2. View the future as a canvas yet to be painted. Envision your work as a story that is being written. Be glad that you do not know the future. This does not preclude planning. But we must remember James 4:
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.'” (James 4:13-15).
3. Encourage group brainstorming, but be careful to form groups with the right people for the right purpose. Having thirty people on a committee and giving each the freedom to share random opinions is not a creative process. You may actually lose ground by telling people their opinions matter, but drawing them out in a non-constructive context. Use small brainstorming groups. Be selective about who is part of a creative discussion. Resist forming standing committees. Maximize the energy of ad hoc task groups.
4. Read. Read. Read. You can’t build a barn with a blueprint, a set of tools, but no lumber. When you read widely you are storing up lumber of all sizes, shapes, and types. You create things when you have a full head, not an empty head.
5. Do imitate, do not copy. There is a world of very fine ideas in the world of Christian organizations. And some of them lead the way in innovation. They are worth studying. Sometimes there are elements to imitate. But if we are overly eager to find solutions, such that we copy the ideas of others, we usually duplicate just the externals and miss the real creative value the innovator used in the first place. Plagiarizing is not honorable. And using a cut-and-paste approach to leadership usually produces and ill-fit solution.
Theologians rightly point out that only God truly creates–that is, to bring into existence something that did not exist before. This should give us all the more enthusiasm to be used by God–in spiritual leadership–as God launches us past what is to what can be.
People say that we are in a rapid time period of change, and I believe change a product of creativity. Who is better qualified to usher in this change than people who went through the metamorphosis of baptism. Maybe that means Christians should be the people that embrace creativity the most.
Glad you included some cautionary guidance about using “brainstorming”; too many people do not understand how to effectively use that process – nor do they know of alternative methods for encouraging and capturing creative ideas. For people who may be slower at developing and expressing their new ideas – or just hesitant to vocalize even in a small group, a typical brainstorming session leaves them behind. Leaders should either acquaint themselves with various small group processes that can be used to draw out and/or develop creative ideas/actions – or – they should find someone to work with them who understands & uses such processes effectively. Too many people have only the tool of brainstorming in their “meeting/planning” toolkit; they would never think of using only one utensil when preparing Thanksgiving dinner and grilling burgers & hot dogs.
A good book is “Thinking for a Change” by John Maxwell.
The many ways to think.
Check it out.
Also, Six Thinking Hats by De Bono.
Thanks for helpful insights. Point 3 is especially well taken. Too often in times past I’ve attended church business meetings characterized by excessive democracy. When everyone’s in charge no one’s in charge, and the results can be devastatingly counterproductive. Representative democracy works well when understood and implemented. But pure (direct) democracy does not work well when applied to church administration. “Resist standing committees” is also outstanding advice. Thanks again. Always enjoy your Brook Network writings.
Interesting that a couple of you picked up on the need to discipline “brainstorming” sessions. Is making me think that this bears more unpacking. One of the things I’ve observed is that people get frustrated when they participate in a “brainstorming” session, but they cannot see any difference it makes. I wonder if sometimes we offer such discussions so that people feel as though they have a say in things to make them feel better, but we have no plan of what to do with the output. It is tricky to give people a forum for free thinking–not guaranteeing that any idea floated will prevail, but on the other hand, not making the open discussion meaningless either.
Jesus was always creative in the ways He engaged people through teaching, healing, miracles, etc. Nothing was rubber stamped or status quo. His creation reveals His love for creative expression! He made us in His image to be likewise. I’m so glad we can serve Him creatively knowing that He loves it!
With every new day God reveals his latest creation for us to ponder and wonder about it, which makes waking to a new day exciting and joyful. Who among us does not learn something new every day. I find myself trying to be free to create new things even though I do not really have any special or rare talents. But I have the freedom to try. Praise the Lord!
As one who was pastor of an established church for 13 days and I now pastor as church which is 6 months old, this has been very helpful to me. We have to be creative in the world we live in and the church is no different. Pray that creativity flows not only from me but my leaders and we can avoid those things that keep us from being all God wants us to be.
Even if a Pastor do not have a high level of creativity, but he is a person that has been giving good time in God’s presence, meditating in The Word; mantaining himself constantly praying; making the effort to put into practise God’s will; at last, desiring to be full of The Holy Spirit, he will be able to discern how to make everything when it needs.
Thank you, Mel. Impact to me: Creative leadership, in other words, is a participation in the movement of the Spirit of God…
It is when you as a leader approach every opportunity or problem with a humble open-mindedness…
Be glad that you do not know the future…
Only God truly creates… This should give us all the more enthusiasm to be used by God–in spiritual leadership–as God launches us past what is to what can be.