Cultivate your creativity

Have you often wished for a burst of creativity to solve a difficult problem or meet a pressing need? Don't simply wait for the lightning to strike; you may not be a genius, but even a secondhand dealer in used thoughts can put up lightning rods to draw down the creative fire.

Merrill S. Williams is pastor of the North Texarkana Church of the Nazarene, Texarkana, Texas.

With the old frame church thirsting for a fresh coat of paint, the minister recruited six volunteers who promised to do the job. When they failed to follow through even after repeated urging, the enterprising pastor received a less-than-divine inspiration. He divided the building into six equal sections and painted on each (in red letters three feet high) the name of a volunteer. In an incredibly short time the church stood resplendent in its freshly painted beauty!

More than one minister has wished for such bursts of creativity to solve a difficult problem or meet a pressing need. Sometimes the answer does come almost without effort. More often it comes with difficulty, if at all.

What about those who always seem able to call forth unusual creative ability? How do they do it, and why can't we marshal our mental powers to accomplish similar feats?

The truth is, we can—any of us. Too long we have plodded along, mistakenly thinking that God has endowed only a few intellectually gifted individuals with superior creative ability. Yet one educator writes: "Studies indicate that creativity and brilliant intellect do not fit snugly together. Creative persons are never simpletons; but not many persons of phenomenal IQ or memory are highly creative. Most creative persons appear to have moderate to high intelligence."1

There's hope for you and me, Mr. or Ms. Average Pastor!

Human creativity

In the last two decades social scientists have been looking seriously into the enigmatic process of human creativity. Their results fill the pages of more than fifteen hundred doctoral theses and two thousand books.

What is creativity?

Arthur Koestler has defined it as "bisociation," the combining of two unconnected facts or ideas into one new concept. For example, it isn't at all creative to combine detergent with water in order to clean clothes. But take that same detergent and put it in the water in your Christmas tree stand. The tree will absorb more water and last longer. That's "bisociation," and it follows a predictable pattern according to those who have studied it.

Of course, from time to time someone will accidentally stumble onto a new, creative idea. During the Civil War two men contracted with the U.S. Government to make candles and soap for the army. In order to meet the tremendous demand they developed automated machinery and round-the-clock shifts. One night an attendant fell asleep and let the soap mixer beat the formula too long. Seeking to cover the mistake and avoid a loss, the partners shipped the whipped soap to an out-of-the-way place where they hoped no one would notice or care. But the soldiers did notice—and ordered more! They liked it, because it floated. An accident gave us Ivory Soap.

Under normal conditions, however, creativity follows a rather predictable course that, as Christian workers, we can take advantage of far more than we do. No one has improved much on Graham Wallas' 1926 description of the creative process. He outlined four steps:

1. Preparation. At any given moment, all our prior experience figures indirectly into preparation for creative thinking. More directly, we may consciously feed information to our minds to prepare for the subsequent stages. This is the active portion of creativity.

2. Incubation. At this stage the mind passively shifts into neutral. While we sleep, relax, or divert our attention to other concerns, the subconscious continues to labor. During this stage our mind becomes a garden where ideas grow, develop, and mature.

Seven-year-old Susie couldn't re-thread the cord belt in her pajama bottoms. Unable to solve the dilemma, she put it out of her mind. Later, while she was getting an ice cube from the refrigerator, the answer came. Wet the belt, freeze it in a circle, and thread it through the opening! Many an acceptable sermon idea has ripened in the garden of the minister's mind—perhaps even while he played golf!

3. Illumination. "Eureka! Why haven't I thought of this way to develop that passage before?'' ' 'It seems natural now to organize our Sunday school in this manner." "How could we have overlooked that obvious alternative in our building program?"

4. Verification. Does the new idea have merit? Will it work? Can it produce the desired results? At this point we must see if our idea can stand on its own feet.

Divine creativity

Although the foregoing analysis of creativity seems to fit the facts, we must not give man's unaided mind all the credit. Long before man began to think creatively, God exercised His creative genius. "In the beginning God created" (Gen. 1:1). Before any thing else was, "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (verse 2).

The Spirit of God early endowed even ungodly men with certain creative gifts. To Jabal He gave expertise in animal husbandry (Gen. 4:20); to his brother, Jubal, excellence in playing musical instruments (verse 21); to Tubal-cain the knowledge of metallurgy (verse 22). None of these men or their descendants could have exercised these creative abilities in the way that they did without the Spirit's help.

The Spirit of God gives insight we would otherwise lack, illuminates our darkened intellects, and impregnates our minds with truth. No scientist ever made a discovery, no philosopher ever posited a theory, no mathematician ever arrived at a formula without the assistance of the creative Spirit.

Some share the glory with Him; some do not. But all enjoy His influence. We, who have opened our minds and hearts to His fullness, ought especially to enjoy the benefit of His aid.

Even some secular writers admit this divine influence. One writes, "It [creativity] is a significantly different process of thought one involving imagination, emotion, play, and relaxation of the conscious as well as the mysterious element of illumination, or what some religious thinkers call 'grace.' " 2

Ministerial creativity

If you are like me, you have never considered yourself to be much of an innovator. Most of my ideas are, I think, second hand. John E. Gibson writes, "Often a person simply has never thought of himself as creative, and that forms a mental pattern that inhibits him from even trying to explore his creative potential." 3

But, remember, we need not breathe the air of genius to be creative. All of us are smarter than we think, and there are certain steps we can take to increase our creativity. How can you as a minister increase your creative potential?

1. Keep the channels of your mind open. Don't grow stagnant with inactivity or hardened by close-mindedness. Social scientists have determined that creativity decreases after adolescence. The coming of adult responsibilities, the recognition of peer approval, and the fear of failure all contribute to this decline. You could be much more creative if you were able to rekindle and maintain a childlike curiosity.

After vainly trying for an hour to rescue his son's pet frog from a narrow shaft, the father gave up in despair. He had tried a long stick, a rope with a loop in the end, and finally a can tied to a string—all without success. A few minutes later his 5-year-old son appeared with the frog! He had simply floated the frog free with a garden hose! Who knows how simply some of your "grown-up" problems might be solved if you could bring to them the freshness of childhood!

2. Consider every possible solution. Don't be satisfied with the first idea that surfaces. Often I have quickly jotted down a sermon outline based on some text of Scripture. But I find that continued thought will usually produce something better. (Of course, first thoughts are sometimes best.)

George Bernard Shaw is supposed to have said, "Few people think more than two or three times a year. I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week." If you really think, even once or twice a week, you will be creative.

3. Enlarge your store of knowledge. Most so-called new ideas are actually only the combination of already existing ones. There is, after all, nothing new under the sun. So creativity requires regular deposits into your idea bank. You never know when an observation tucked away in the mind will return with interest when needed in the future. Read widely. Observe carefully. Analyze deliberately.

4. Associate with mind-stretching people. Studies at the University of Georgia found that although "for some high-creative individuals the presence of a low-creative individual stimulated their creative functioning, ... for other high-creative individuals the presence of a low-creative individual depressed their creative functioning." 4

Stephen Olford, for many years pastor of a metropolitan church in Manhattan, confessed that he took every opportunity to visit with great men and women as they came through New York City. While you may lack the opportunity for such intellectual stimulation as Olford enjoyed, you can still practice the same principle on a smaller scale. Take advantage of visiting lecturers or preachers to your area. Read books. Listen to tapes. Even time spent with a colleague in a neighboring town can stimulate creative juices through dialog and fellowship.

Seek out persons who help you to stretch your mind, broaden your horizons, and challenge your creative potential. Do what ever you can to expand yourself.

5. Write everything down. My creativity flows better at some times than at others. In the morning, standing in front of the bath room mirror shaving, I find that ideas often knock one another down trying to get my attention. Apparently, my subconscious continues working while I sleep, and I reap the results the first few minutes of the day. The last portion of the day, after I've gone to bed, sometimes also yields a productive crop of ideas.

But unless I regularly record what my mind produces, I risk losing a valuable idea forever. Never depend on receiving an illumination twice! I have recorded thoughts on everything from road maps to toilet tissue! And several times I've regretted that I didn't get up and turn on the light, to capture on paper a passing idea. Writing it down is an invaluable habit to establish and maintain.

6. Be willing to risk failure. You will never accomplish anything if you fear failure excessively. Take risks! Don't say No to any creative possibility! Try the unusual! Thomas Edison, who owned 1,093 American patents, once said, "I'll try anything—even Limburger cheese!"

So if you have considered yourself a secondhand dealer in used thoughts, if you think your role is to adapt what others create, think again. You may not be a genius. You may never be a great inventor, artist, or musician. Your name may fail to become a household word. But you can be creative.

Notes:

1 Albert Rabil, Sr., "How Does Creativity Happen?" Education Digest, October, 1978, p. 9.

2 Ibid.

3 John E. Gibson, "What You Should Know About Creativity," Family Weekly, Sept. 24, 1978, p. 27.

4 Ibid.


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Merrill S. Williams is pastor of the North Texarkana Church of the Nazarene, Texarkana, Texas.

March 1981

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