To His Majesty

For Christians to impact culture………the creativity must be compelling, but make use of social capital in such a way that what they present doesn’t seem abstract or out of touch. Oftentimes Christians build creative devices that do not put the truth in a proper context. One of the admonishments of the apostles was that you should not have many teachers………..its not that teachers are bad………but that how you teach someone is critical to what they learn and whether or not you have credibility in their eyes.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus He said the following:

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could do the miraculous signs that you do unless God were with him.”

Do you get that? You are a teacher, for no one could do these miraculous signs. A sign of being a true teacher was the ability to perform miraculous signs…….why? because it was critical that the truth never be abstract, but in the context of something that was compelling and real to real human beings where they are.

Most of our creativity is so out of touch with reality that when people read it they do not know what to make of it……..mine included. Most of it is with a religious language they don’t understand and a poorly designed moral vision that doesn’t set a proper context and as a result the people cannot connect with the message the creator is trying to convey.

There are 3 layers to all creativity:

1. A core message…….something the culture needs to hear…..for us this comes from God via the prophetic gift.

2. A truth process……….this is how we show them what we mean by what we are saying…..this the process by which we bring someone into agreement with an idea or message…….this is informed by the bible……

3. A cultural language using metaphorical patterns………translating the truth into an arena of culture and its language……different arenas, even in the english language, use different parts of the language………businessmen, artists, technicians, politicians all have a different dialect of the english language they use with each other……..we have to learn to translate our truths into their language without losing the integrity of our truths or our message……….this is informed by our creativity and understanding of the culture……

A good example of this is J.R.R. Tolkien. He understood how to build creativity that conveyed the truth in a language the common man could dial into. For example…….one of the key questions you ask in reference to the Lord of the rings is: Who destroyed the one ring?

The answer is that God destroyed it. J.R.R. Tolkie had the idea that God often works through the vehicle of providence. That is, that God allows certain situations to occur that help steer you into his destiny for your life. In the story……..Frodo is able to get the ring all the way to mount doom……but doesn’t have the will to destroy it…….but at that opportune time, Gollum just happens to bite it off of his finger and take it away from him and then he just happens to fall into the lava………of course in his world there are no accidents…………In the first book, Gandalf identifies a higher power that undermines the power of the ring to get back to its master…..that hand is the hand of God in human affairs through the vehicle of providence.

Furthermore, when you look at the world of J.R.R. Tolkien it is split into 3 parts. The burnt lands of the sun, far to the east, middle earth in the center, and eldamar in the far west. The burnt lands of the sun is our body, middle earth is our soul, and eldamar is our spirit. The story of the Lord of the Rings is really our struggle to bring our soul into agreement with our spirit through a struggle to destroy ring which is sin……which is the doctrine of sanctification.

See the truth journey underlying the creativity? The creativity translates viable truths into compelling examples that are real and not abstract our with language that cannot be understood. Some can say that tolkien based his works on norse and middle ages mythology…..but the truth is he used them in a metaphorical pattern sense(#3 level)…..but the underlying philosophy(#2 level) is entirely Christian.

If I ask a set of kids what the doctrine of sanctification is I will get blank stares. If I ask them what the hobbits learned on their way to and from Mordor I will get the basic principles of sanctification without those kids even realizing what they are talking about……….and that’s the whole point of the translation………you have to sow the truth in their hearts so that later on you can have a harvest of righteousness.

What frustrates me about Christian Creativity is that on one side you have Christians not setting a proper context by using real world language(#3 level) and real-world moral visions that are compelling and real that make the truth as something other than some abstract thing from another planet.

….and on the other side you have people who will go into an arena with the proper language and will think to themselves that they must establish themselves before they can speak the Lord’s message and will change their message to agree with the message of the enemy(#1 level) TEMPRORARILY for a season until they get ’successful’. Problem is that when they do that they come under the power of the enemy and become blind to what he is doing against them. Ever wonder why in the story of Samson in Judges when he was with delilah that she kept trying to kill him and he was totally oblivious to the fact? It was because he came into agreement so many times with the enemy that by that time he was totally blind to his workings.

God has a way of us creating creativity that Is true to the message proceeding from God’s mouth for that moment(#1), uses viable biblical truths that bring clarity to the message(#2), WHILE translating the truths into language the common man can relate to and understand(#3). J.R.R. Tolkien is a perfect example that it can be done……………but that we do not fully understand how it works.

There is a ditch on either side of this issue………I cannot use my christian language outside of the church and be effective at impacting culture………….but I cannot abandon the Father’s message to be successful…….Jesus was not called to be KING but SAVIOUR……and that is a King who Lays his life down on behalf of His Father’s message and love…………I must be successful…..but according to the desire of heaven.

I can be appealing……..I can take any mountain in this world………I can do great feats……….I am capable………….

But what I want the most……..is to be where you are………to hear your voice……..to see your ways………

Change my heart and will……refocus the pattern of my life into your aims and your will………I’m not looking for an easy way out………but for a way into the place you are…………….

Meet me here, God, in the place I am in…….show me the way home……..the way I can be shaped to be an overcome…….happy, clean, clear-minded, focused and free

I am not looking for a group, or a ministry, or an organization………

I am looking for you.

I can do anything………..I am a hero and an overcomer……….but I haven’t the will to continue…………..but I am willing to be willing……………I am willing to come………to come……….to come………..

I will come.

You, O’ Lord…..are my light
And you are the breath of a kiss to me
Your life enables me to stand,
And to run……..

I am greatly loved by you,
Let my affections be set on things above
On the place where you dwell
And the heart you hold in your hands
My heart………

I stand in the shadows
I stand in the silent place
My voice utters no sound
I am without words
The weight of the past is upon me…..
But you lift it off
and you lead me forward
Into a new place and a new way

Grant me a new mind
A new heart to embrace truth
True reality and hope.

“See yourself winning, not losing
Believe the best, do not accept the worst
Understand, you are in the process
Humble yourself and change
But do not accept hopelessness or despair
Stress and worry you must put away
You must hope…..and believe in Me
Self pity is of the devil……let it go…….
Live in a higher place…..see from a vantage point
See the truth of you…..and Christ in YOU.

Keep walking, keep moving, keep going…..
One step after another…..
One step after another…..
Keep walking………
You’re almost there.”