All Fun & Games – Part 2

I am constantly blown away by the creative genius that every kid is! Youthful imagination is an absolute miracle and something at which to marvel. Children are master pretenders and can take a trip around the world in an alligators shaped helicopter firing flaming meatballs at alien dinosaurs all from the living room floor with a few stuffed animals and a desk. 

In our house there is no shortage of creating new adventures. Just the other night our bedtime routine was facilitated by Mickey Mouse. And Goofy and Donald Duck both made cameo appearances! 

I’ve found myself saying things to dam up the flow of creative juices. I know I have to be careful to foster and nurture this gift but there are times where it is irresponsible parenting to let it continue in that moment. When we run into things like turning combs into throwing knives or kitchen utensils into mud tools or personal body parts into public displays of art, it requires some redirecting, limiting, or prohibiting. 

This God-given grace and even call to create can become so twisted and misused and abused that the world is worse, not better. 

And it seems to come so naturally and done without much effort that it is no wonder our world has gotten to where it is. It stands to perfect reason, then, why Paul gives the words he does to a group of people living in the midst of a very dark culture. 

In Romans 1 we read a warning of our capacity to use our creative potential for evil. He says this about extent of the people’s struggle in darkness: They are “foolish thinking” and they “do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful…and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.” Romans 1:28-31

Quite a rap sheet. Amidst all these things that Paul specifically lists he adds, “They invent new ways of sinning…” as if to say these are all the normal bad stuff, but wait, there’s more…whatever other stupid things they come up with. 

We need to be aware of this in our own lives and check ourselves regularly to make sure we are not adding to the chaos in the world. We need to know that if we aren’t working to bring healing and restoration then we are expanding darkness by our apathy toward or compliance in its presence in our lives and of those around us. 

I’m convinced, that if we can get creative and invent ways of doing evil (as Paul says) then we can also put our imagination and creativity to better use and come up with ways of doing good as well. People have been doing it for centuries. It can only happen, however, as a result of our transformed nature, which is where Paul leads the people in his letter. Right after all the ugly stuff, he lays out a different option and it speaks of being “transformed by the renewing of our minds and doing things differently than the rest of the world.” (2:1-2)

The prophet Isaiah has a complimentary note on the subject as well. He writes about the end game and what things will look like which gives us the very thought Paul is getting at. Isaiah 2 says, “They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,” meaning that war and violence will no longer be the daily occurrence or even a need. Plowshares and pruning hooks are agricultural tools that help grow food. 

We can invent ways of doing good. We can turn the tide of evil into something useful, productive, and restorative. 

So, I have 3 questions for you today:
1.    What evil practices have you been involved with or apathetic about? (check out Paul’s list and consider any other ways you may have created) 
2.    What good can you invent? (Use your kid-sized imagination, and get creative; you were born for it)
3.    What do you have at your disposal or currently hold that can be turned into something good? (Think about weapons that tear people down in our culture and how they can be reimagined)

May we find a better life as a result and create a better world for the ourselves and for the little ones coming behind us.

#Creative
#InventGood
#FunAndGames
#RestoringWholenessOfLife 

Brett