“The interesting thing about leadership is that if you’re copying, by necessity you’re always going to be following.”
Creativity is not necessarily being artistic. It can simply mean approaching things from a new angle, asking God to use you in a new way. Ken Wytsma is a pastor, innovator, and the president of Kilns College. He challenges us to see life from a fresh perspective of faith.
“Fear or anxiety causes you to hole up, hold onto things, back into a corner, be scared. Creativity is a very open-handed posture, like faith, and is willing to trust and move forward and navigate things.”
In his new book , Ken urges us to be creators rather than copiers.
“With the power of the Holy Spirit and with the image of God in us, we really should have a creativity and possibility mindset and not just be stuck with blinders on trying to replicate everything or copy everything.”
When we revert to self-preservation, we lose the wide-angle lens that lets us be creative in solving problems.
“When we live imaginatively, when we dream, and we believe, we trust, when we pray, when we listen to God and we seek that guidance, there’s just a lot more going on in the world that we begin to kind of be aware of or apprehend. I think that leads more naturally into creativity.”
Ken urges us to choose faith instead of fear. Fear will quench what God might do through us.
“When you’re afraid of something, we know exactly what that thing is. Which means our eyes are on one thing, not all the possibilities, not what could be. We’re locked into the thing we’re afraid of. So it really collapses imagination. And then our imagination runs wild with what that one thing could do that would hurt us.”
Ken reminds us of old Christian writers like C.S. Lewis, who used storytelling and creativity to paint the Gospel into everyday language. When we’re walking in faith instead of fear, we’re more open to God’s leading us in creative ways for His purposes. What could God do through you, if you were less afraid to fail?
Ken Wytsma is a leader, innovator, and social entrepreneur. His work takes him around the world as a frequent international speaker on justice, theology, and leadership. Ken is known for his depth of insight and ability to inspire others to think deeply about faith, life, and leadership.
Key Scriptures: John 15:9-11; Genesis 1:27-28
Featured Songs: Thank you by Bethel Music; The Lion & the Lamb by Leeland with Bethel Music; Deeper by Meredith Andrews
Your God-given creativity
