The Experiment
Yesterday something beautiful happened. If you weren't there- you missed out! We had our first MDC original birthed into the community. That's right lyrics and music came right from the creativity and experiences of our family.
Another beautiful thing happened, Paul opened up the process of being involved in large gathering worship to everyone. He expressed that he wants to see more songs, paintings, photos, videos and poems being birthed from our community. That's not a comprehensive list, but the idea is he would love to see more art being birthed from what God is doing in Missio. We couldn't agree more!
If you are having some difficulty thinking that "church" is the place to express creativity, Paul insightfully tied in the fact that God is a creative God and as image bearers of him we also have creativity we are to express through our lives. God has given us everything, our money, status, time and yes even creativity as platforms to declare and demonstrate his glory.
This blog is an experiment in trying to find a medium to connect the artists of MDC together to lead the rest of us in expressing truth in a new way. We are also experimenting on the best way to use this, Paul will be posting soon to state again what his dream is for this forum of creativity.
NT Wright says it like this "The world needs Christian imagination." Redeemed minds finding new ways of declaring and demonstrating the truth of love, forgiveness, and beauty all point to the Truth. Start posting ideas of how we can use this blog to facilitate and foster creativity as we live out the Missio Dei.
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Chris Gonzalez on Aug 31, 2009 8:20am
Could we use this blog to post poetry, artwork, etc?
Paul Sultana on Aug 31, 2009 9:21pm
I can honestly say that I should take very little credit for having an original idea in any of this; it was all borrowed or inspired by others, and ultimately God. But it did come from a genuine dissatisfaction with the way creativity has been overlooked, and sometimes shunned, by the building formerly known as “church”. This frustration stemmed primarily, for me, from being tired of singing the same old songs just because they are familiar or because that is what the church does. That reasoning wasn’t flying with me anymore and I was so frustrated with the feelings that I was having every time the “church” would sing a song that held no special meaning for me, but still people “worshiped”. I was finally affirmed that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way, and that is when I really found the freedom to ask the question, “why?”
So far, I haven’t come up with a complete answer, and maybe I never will, but I do feel like God has begun to point me in the right direction. One piece of the puzzle came with an article that Chris sent me which basically took the whole idea of singing the same old songs and flipped it on its head. I would highly recommend reading the article, but before you do please understand that I don’t think this is the answer to the problem. I don’t even necessarily agree with everything this person has to say, but it does start us as the church in the right direction, I feel, to worshipping God fully in spirit, in truth, and in creativity.
http://missionsmisunderstood.com/2009/04/06/the-counterintuitive-church-pt6-impractical-worship/
For anyone who has ever created anything at all, you know that borrowing is just as much a part of creating as is the truly original idea. I like to call that borrowing “inspiration”. And that is why I don’t completely agree with the idea of never singing someone else’s song ever again. Because, let’s be honest, we are all very similar as humans and we do go through a lot of the same junk, and we can see God in very similar ways. There is a balance between originality and reproduction, and I believe it can be found in the heart. We need to be asking the right questions. Why do we sing these songs or say these words? Is it because it is a true representation of what we are thinking and feeling? Is it because we are supposed to? Is it because it is convenient? Is it because God is Great and Good and Glorious and Gracious? Anyway, I hope you are picking up what I’m laying down.
This is just the beginning, and this isn’t MY journey, it is OUR journey as the body of Christ, created in the image of a creative God, the tangible representatives of His Kingdom. So please join in.
Tiffani Lundy on Sep 1, 2009 1:33pm
if there was a little button to click that said "like this" i would click it... cuz i like it. thanks for sharing and it excites me to be on the journey with family. :)
Mat Wright on Sep 1, 2009 4:33pm
yay creativity! I'm looking forward to seeing what people express in various ways. I really hope to be able to contribute also. Awesome!
Nathan Holzinger on Sep 13, 2009 3:48am
I love the idea! Having a place to share/enjoy/encourage/collaborate/discuss creative expressions of worship is a great idea! I'm not sure, however, that submitting these expressions as comments to blog topics is the best way to go about it. Are there any plans to expand this section so that a submission would be the start of a new thread instead of a comment to an existing thread?