Creatives vs. Artists

My wife does not consider herself to be creative. During her days, she works full-time as a special education teacher.  It’s her job to take the curriculum that the State of California mandates, and turn it into something that a group of K-thru-2nd grade children will be able to learn.

My wife does not consider herself to be creative.

During her late afternoons and early evenings, she figures out how to get our three daughters to the doctor, the dentist, the orthodontist, the school event, the softball practice, and the drama rehearsal.  And somewhere in the middle, she makes dinner happen.  Dinner for five.

My wife does not consider herself to be creative.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, if you ask my wife about her creativity, she’d tell you that her husband is the creative one.  She’d tell you that her husband is the one who designs stuff, makes videos, writes, and plays music.

She, along with millions of other people, have equated being creative with being an artist.  She doesn’t paint, so she’s not creative.  The two are absolutely not the same.  And many artists I meet are unknowingly perpetuating the myth.

I am unknowingly perpetuating the myth.

Theologically speaking, everyone is creative.  It’s simple math, really.  We were fashioned and formed in the image of God.  God is a creative God.  So we’re creative too.  We bear the divine imprint.  Our Maker is creative, therefore we are creative.

With God, there is a void, and He fills it with himself.  For God to be creative, He fills a void with Himself.  The creation account speaks to this (it’s called the “creation” account for a reason).  The law and the prophets attest. Jesus becomes the ultimate fulfillment of God’s void-filling activity, and His Spirit fills the void every day in our hearts and minds.

Creativity, in the Divine sense, is when we see a void, then fill it with ourselves.

A minority of people fill that void with their art – their words, their clay, their paint, their 3-D effects.  If you have the ability to fill a void with your art, then you’re an artist.  Lucky you.

But others fill these voids by adapting curriculum so that special needs children have a fair chance at living long and full lives.

We tend to draw lines between those who are creative, and those who are not.  And the line we use is art.  Artists are creative. Non-artists are not creative.  But it’s not even close to God’s understanding of what it truly means to be creative.

We artists really need to be careful – for when we make creativity and art the same thing, we dehumanize another human made in the image of God.  By our misunderstanding of creativity, we build up our tribe, while tearing down people like my wife.

Does an artist need to be creative?  Yes.

But does a Creative need to be an artist?

Absolutely not.