Cambridge dictionary defines the word create as “to make something new, especially to invent something.” When God created, it resulted in lots of new stuff – water, dry ground, celestial bodies, creatures, plants, food – in other words, everything.
I make a distinction between invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship. An invention creates something that did not exist before. An innovation extracts value from an invention and solves a problem. Entrepreneurship uses innovation for a productive yield by monetizing it for a new value or market. There is a lot of creating going in all of these and we hear about them all the time and give them high value.
My wife is a great cook and baker. Her kitchen is her domain. She has created some amazing delicacies over the years – and still does, like the world’s best scones which surfaced out of the oven this week.
I remember when ice hockey greats Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull invented the curved hockey stick. Most of us have come to appreciate musical masterpieces like Handel’s Messiah or the written works the likes of Jack London, Mark Twain, Orwell or Tolkien.
Adam was given the awesome responsibility of creating, referenced in Genesis 1 and 2:19. He was to name the animals. He was given work to do – care for the garden. The creator God is a God of work, and He expects creative work from us. Mark Greene states “Work is significant to God; our work is just as valuable as that of a pastor or missionary.” Most people don’t believe that – but it is true.
Mats Tunehag referenced the importance of our creative task at the Lausanne IV conference in Seoul last year. “There is a Jewish concept called tikkun olam, to co-create with God, to bridge the gap from what is to what it ought to be. Tikkun olam means to repair a broken world, bring healing. The Lord’s prayer is a tikkun olam prayer: may your Kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. A God invasion of the marketplace, towards human flourishing. Tikkun olam.”
Our work can be an instrument for God to get something done, such as serving people or creating something of value. Jim Clifton in The Coming Jobs War suggests “…what customers at any level really want is somebody who deeply understands their needs…” That is true for a cook in the kitchen, a writer in her mountain retreat, a woodworker in his shop, or a businessperson working 18-hour days to create jobs. We are all workers and creators. In short, our high calling is to make things better for others.
The idea here is summed up in Col 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, working as for the Lord…”
All of this is fundamental to understanding why Christians integrate faith with their work and all they endeavor to do in the marketplace. BAM is doing it in the business world among the least reached and most impoverished.
I use these 3-minute videos since they not only show creativity at work, but demonstrate the integration of faith and work.
https://app.rightnowmedia.org/en/content/details/100057
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mso1cf_rM_w
Larry Sharp, Director of Training, IBEC Ventures
Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com