Vacation Bible School

We just finished up our Vacation Bible School at church. I love V.B.S.! Kids amaze me because they have so much energy and imagination. After all who else could you tell that a hula hoop with ribbon haging from it was a waterfall, and they would jump right into it and play along that it is? Who else could take a CD and make a fish out of it? Kids seem to have an inexhaustible creativity.

I guess that is the reason that why I enjoy Vacation Bible School. It is a joy to be around that much raw creativity.

As I was thinking about the creativity of our kids, it occurred to me that creativity is one of the most overlooked aspects of the the imago dei. The scriptures tell us that we were created in the image of God. We often explain what that means in terms of our having a soul, or having a will, or having an intellect, or even being self-aware; but we forget that creativity is part of the image of God. God, after all, is the Creator, and so it makes sense that if we are created in his image that we like him will be creative. When we exercise our creativity we are being like our creator.

That is not to say that we are being godly simply by being creative. Certainly we know that we can misuse our creativity just as we can misuse our free will, and when we misuse either we have sinned. Rather, what I am saying is that we have our creativity precisely because we were created in the image of the one who is the Creator.

Now the interesting thing about this is that our creativity often seems to diminiush as we progress from childhood to adulthood. In our adult years we seldom use our creativity or may even actively resist creativity. We frequently see this in the church where there is often a resistance to anything that is innovative. We label such things as worldly, or liberal. But is that really the case?

Could it be that by resisting innovation we are stifling our creativity and are therefore being ungodly? If God wants us to be godly, maybe he wants us to be creative. I think that is one of the reasons why I like Vacation Bible School. It is one of the occasions in the church when we give ourselves permission to be creative in our presentation of the gospel message.

Maybe there is more to what Jesus meant when he said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Mark 10.15 NIV) than us simply being able to believe like a little child. Maybe Jesus also means that we should exercise our belief with creativity as a child would.

I wonder what the church would look like and what we would accomplish if we didn't give ourselves permission to be creative not just during the week of Vacation Bible School, but every week of the year.