Imagination

Christians have been accused by atheist as people living in a world of their imagination.  The atheist says this because he believes God to be unreal.  I would contend first that God is real and second that Christians spend too little time with their imagination.

For some reason, perhaps our felt need to be logical and rational or a stifling of our imaginations by the Church itself, we Christians have too often neglected our imaginations.  Now there are soaring exceptions like C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and Michelangelo and J. S. Bach and Sir Francis Bacon, but too many of us neglect our imaginations.

I fully expect our imaginations to be fully intact in Heaven and I believe that our imaginations were given to us to glorify God.  When I say imagination I do not merely mean thinking up unicorns on rainbows.  When I talk about imagination I mean that creative power that allows us to take a truth we know and use it to achieve a previously unimaginable goal.  This may be the imagination it took for Lewis or Tolkien to write soaring novels with transcendent allegories.  Or Michelangelo or Bach to take marble or notes and turn them into something new and thrilling.  Or Sir Francis Bacon imagining a new way to think reasonably.

So, use your God given imagination to glorify Him.  Create, worship, meditate, etc with the tool of imagination.

Here are a few simple examples on how you can use facts and knowledge together to glorify God this week.

"May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice." Psalm 141:2

The very imaginative King David imagined his prayers and praises rising up like the smoke of incense and sacrifice right to the nostrils of God.  We can do this, too.  During congregational worship on Sunday try doing something I sometimes do.  While all of you are singing imagine that the roof of the building is lifted off.  Imagine that each word of the songs from each person rises up like smoke straight to our smiling Lord.  This little bit of imagination is not at all unbiblical and it can enhance your corporate worship experience and your glorifying of God.

"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward every one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free."  Ephesians 6:7-8

Tomorrow at work think of this verse.  When your boss asks you to do a task imagine Christ standing behind him/her.  This will help you be a better employee and to remember who the Boss really is.  In working for your boss as if you are working for Jesus you will better glorify God.

These are just simple examples.  You know your gifts better than I do, so imagine how you could use your gifts to achieve something unimaginable.  Think outside of the box because we serve a untamed God who encourages us to use our imaginations in a far less bridled way than we seem to be doing now.

Christians, we have underutilized our imaginations.  We have failed to tap into a God given tool.  We must have vivid imaginations.  We must use these imaginations to glorify God and reflect His character.  Through divine imaginations Christians should make the best art, the best movies, the best inventions and the fact that we don't says that we are wasting a gift of God.

Imagine what you could do with a little more imagination today.