Copyright © 2011 Grace Family Church of Rhode Island

If you have read Edith Schaeffer’s book What Is A Family? (Baker, 1997), you will probably agree that it belongs among the masterpieces, and is certainly one of the most inspiring and useful books about the concept of family that you can find. A new reading of chapter three, however, can provide an extremely interesting twist that speaks to us as leaders in the body of Christ in a refreshing and eye-opening way.

In this chapter, Schaeffer makes a compelling point about the need for the family to be, as the title states, a "birthplace of creativity." But what Schaeffer communicates in these few pages, however, goes far beyond what she might have intended or expected. It is a reading I would recommend not only to every couple contemplating marriage or reviewing their marriage commitment, but also to every pastor and leader in the body of Christ. It has been particularly revealing to me, as it helped me understand and appreciate with new depth the way the church is also a family and a "birthplace of creativity" where God once again manifests himself, through the Holy Spirit, as a creative Being.

Reading this chapter again with this twist, thinking about our church family and not just our immediate household, provided me with a wonderful and wise answer to many painful moments and memories of my ministry and of other people's experiences in the church family.

The church family should be regarded as the "birthplace of creativity." It is, after all, the product of a Creator God through the work of the Holy Spirit, who binds us together as his children. It is one large family where God has placed many diverse people, with different backgrounds, passions, gifts, and ways to express their call to be creative in their service to the Lord. Unfortunately, though, it is also the place where much of what God's Spirit moves his little ones to do can be squelched and discouraged.

Some of Schaeffer’s words have spoken directly to me, both in my moments of discouragement as well as in my human frailty. They also speak about many people I have known who have left the body of Christ full of frustration. Schaeffer writes, "A person, even a five-year-old, gets discouraged in setting forth an idea if it is immediately ruled out, and if the ideas continue, they will be taken to somebody else outside the family!" (p. 53). How true, not only for our households, but also for the greater family of the church. How many ideas (even ones not yet perfected) have come to creative people in the church family, only to be ignored, rejected, unduly or excessively criticized, discouraged or (even worse) ridiculed.

If what Schaeffer writes in this chapter could help some pastors (as it did me) to be less "sensitive" about their authority and need for control and be more open to the need for God's creativity in the church, what a wonderful change would occur in many congregations!

What a breath of fresh air could they become, instead of being perceived, as Schaeffer describes, "like cement prisons or boxed-in places without air, as far as creativity is concerned." We would be able to see more churches where "the austere, barren atmosphere of hard benches, ready [emotional] whips, dominant, crushing [or squelching] authority, bare tables, lack of pleasant food and an attitude of harshness [or suspicion] toward creativity" is replaced by the joy of spiritual growth as each member is encouraged to contribute creatively as God leads him or her.

The church, then, would be the place where the Holy Spirit and the creativity he inspires in his little ones can truly blossom. Each part would be contributing not just to what the leadership has made room for in their boxed and ready-made "programs," but to whatever God in his infinite creativity has gifted them to contribute to his body and family.

I can imagine some readers thinking about all sorts of scenarios in which something like I have just described would run amuck and turn into religious anarchy. I've had that thought, too. It is true, as Schaeffer points out, that creativity can be destructive (Cain's creativity certainly was), but that is a creative expression that denies God and truth, not the creativity that expresses truth, even though imperfectly.

Who is the father, the mother, the pastor or the teacher who has waited for perfection before reaching out and taking the light of Jesus to the world? We would all still be waiting in darkness!

If we read Schaeffer in terms of our church families, then what she points out is that for the church to become the "birthplace of creativity" there is first of all the need for "a dignity of attitude toward the [church] family" — a dignity that is willing to accept "the seriousness and excitement of having your own home [or church] be a very specific creativity center."

It takes work! It takes an atmosphere of unhindered communication, of taking interest in other persons’ ideas and thoughts. It takes mutual trust and a freedom to make some mistakes along the way. It takes "an expectation that the most wonderful thing is just about to come forth" (p. 54). It also takes an environment where priorities are balanced, where people are given the attention they need to express themselves, and time, and patience when their attempts become a bit messy. It takes the understanding that criticism and discussion of "better ways" should follow later, and not immediately after the creativity is expressed. It takes little gestures of thoughtfulness and an appreciation for the beauty that God has placed in each of us. After all, it is his work, not ours.

The reward is great and wonderful: It is the development of a unit, a church family that is "an amazing co-op" in which the Spirit of God and his many and varied gifts and forms of creativity are encouraged and developed into always more mature forms that witness to his glory and majesty.