Here are my notes from a break-out session at David Crowder’s Fantastical Church Music Conference by Bob Kauflin entitled: “The Functional Limits of Creativity – How Innovative Can We Be with the Gospel.”
1. Can creativity exceed helpful balance?
2. Can creativity turn from something helpful to something harmful?
3. Has God put any limits on the music churches should use when they gather?
Yes…
Thoughts on Creativity
- Bible is filled with examples of creativity:
o Exodus 15: Bezalel and others inspired by the Holy Spirit to make the tabernacle
o David: liturgical/musical revolution in worship
o Psalms: sophisticated, literary-musical devices
- Creativity can help us see truth from a different perspective
- Creativity can help us become more relevant to a culture around us
- God is not always impressed with creativity:
o Exodus 32: Aaron fashions a golden calf
o Numbers 3: Nadab & Abihu offer unauthorized fire
o 2 Samuel 6: David has a better idea on how the ark should be returned to Jerusalem
o Pharisees & legalists throughout the centuries developed traditions for acceptable worship
- For example: water within limits is good; outside of limits it is a flood or tsunami
- “Creativity is not something we do; it is a way we do something.”
- Pursuing creativity without limits can lead to idolizing preferences.
Purposes of Church Music
1. To build up others (the edification limiter):
a. Ephesians 5:18-19 – “…psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”
b. 1 Corinthians 12:7 – “the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”
c. 1 Corinthians 14:12 – “…strive to excel in building up the church.”
d. Leland Ryken, The Liberated Imagination
→ We need to consider how we are encouraging others – what will build up others
2. To demonstrate our oneness in Christ (the unity limiter):
a. Romans 15:5-7 – “…that together with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
→ What kind of music best helps people from different places, races, and socio-economic backgrounds to sing together so that we might demonstrate how it is the gospel that unites us and not our musical preferences?
3. To enable the word of Christ to dwell in us richly (the gospel limiter):
a. Colossians 3:16 – “…let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”
b. 1 Peter 3:18 – “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God…”
c. 1 Corinthians 15:3 – “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures…”
d. Steve Turner, Imagine
e. Three ways that creativity can undermine the gospel:
i. Creativity can distract from the gospel, affecting its value; ‘what you win people with, is what you win people to’
ii. Creativity can distort the gospel, affecting its content; have we confused people through our creativity, or worn off the ‘sharp edges’ of the gospel?
iii. Creativity can demean the gospel, affecting its goal; is our goal to figure out who is most creative or the glory of God?
Ways We Can Pursue Creativity
- Know and treasure the riches of grace find in Christ
o The Cross of Christ by John Stott
o Living the Cross-Centered Life by C. J. Mahaney
o 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die by John Piper
- Value truth over tunes and Christ over creativity
o Take time to show others what we have seen
o Like Jeremiah in the midst of the terrible times writing an acrostic poem (Lamentations) celebrating the love of God
- Trust the power of the proclaimed gospel;
o David Wells: “the church has to proclaim the truth about Christ…that it cannot do so without words…”
o “A picture is worth a thousand words. The only problem is that it is left up to the viewer to determine what those words will be.”
- Recognize that creative sometimes means old, simple, and familiar
- Cultivate and expose yourself to creative communities – allow yourself to be stretched creatively but don’t do it without thought or attention to functional limits
- Value the sound of the congregation – “the most important sound when the church gathers is…the congregation”
- Regularly examine the short and long-term fruits of your music and ministry
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Matthew Erickson 