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How often do we embrace the idea of creativity and problem-solving as an opportunity to collaborate, as opposed to one we feel we have to do on our own?
The creation account in Genesis offers such amazing insight into the intentionality with which God does things. After all, the universe was created. Genesis 1:27 then notes that God created man in his own image, meaning that we humans have God’s fingerprints and DNA embedded in who we are.Thus, we all have God’s personality features residing inside us, all of which can be unlocked through the power of the Spirit.
We are better together, and sometimes our greatest potential can’t be unlocked until we bring others into the mix.
Because God was a creator, I too have creativity as part of my identity. And creativity, at its core, is problem-solving. A thought or feeling needs to be expressed, so how can I write a song about it? Video signal needs to get from Point A to Point B, so how can I implement a signal path to allow that to happen? Creativity isn’t limited just to artistic expression. It’s about developing a way to meet a need or solve a problem.
While God placed this gift inside of me, He didn’t do it just so that creative expression was solely dependent upon my abilities. How do we know that?In Genesis 2, God empowers Adam to name the animals in the Garden of Eden --- certainly not because He wasn’t capable of coming up with names!It’s because He wanted to model the idea of creativity being a collaborative exercise.
Genesis 2:19 (NIV) says of the animals that God “brought them to the man” to name. It’s like God was presenting a problem (“This thing needs a name. What do you want to call it?”) and asking Adam for his insight on how to solve it (“Umm, how about a hippopotamus?”).
Maybe it’s pride, believing that we’re smarter or better than everyone else and don’t need any help.
I wonder how often we embrace the idea of creativity and problem-solving as a collaborative process, as opposed to one we feel we have to do on our own. Culturally we have all grown accustomed to the mantra from leaders that says, “Don’t bring me problems; bring me solutions.” Inherently, I think this is fine, and I think we all know the basic premise here. Don’t just complain about something being wrong or ineffective but have a positive and productive perspective too. Be willing to help be part of the solution instead of just focusing on the things that need work.
And again, that’s an inherently acceptable approach. But what it does is also subliminally reinforce the idea that I, on my own, should be identifying solutions to problems. As if I’m capable of seeing all the angles by myself and figuring out the best way to do something. But what if it was OK to not have a solution to the problem? What if we said, “Here’s a problem. I know it needs a solution, but I’m not sure exactly what that solution is. But if we got a group of people together to work through it, I’m sure we could come up with something great.”
It's a collaborative approach to problem-solving and creativity. However, I think sometimes we have a hard time thinking that way. Maybe it’s been too ingrained in us to not admit that we can’t do something on our own or else we look like a failure, so we feel pressure to figure things out in a silo. Maybe it’s pride, believing that we’re smarter or better than everyone else and don’t need any help. Maybe it’s busyness, believing the lie that we don’t have time to bring others into the mix and we have to do it all RIGHT NOW or else the world will fall apart.
Whatever the reason, we need to be able to step back and remember that God didn’t create us to do anything alone. The creation story highlights the harm of man being alone (which led to Eve’s creation), and it’s a theme reinforced all through the Bible, from Proverbs to Lamentations to the Gospels.
We are better together, and sometimes our greatest potential can’t be unlocked until we bring others into the mix as well.
Yes, God made me a creator in the image of the Creator. But He also made me a collaborator just like He is.
The next time I encounter a problem that stumps me, or a project that I can’t seem to get traction on, maybe I need to bring someone else to the table and ask their perspective. And maybe through that process, God unlocks another dimension of creativity in me and allows me a greater understanding of who He is and what He’s capable of through me.
