Virtue: Creativity
Resolution: I choose to reveal the beauty of God according to my strengths and gifts.
Human Story: G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
Dale Ahlquist, president of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, says that G.K. was one of the greatest writers and the greatest thinker of the 20th century. This is high praise indeed and difficult to quantify. How do you measure such statements? Ahlquist suggests by the sheer quantity of writing and by the influence of those writings.
G.K. was a prolific writer who composed over 100 books, contributed to over 200 other books, hundreds of poems, five plays, five novels, 200 short stories, and over 4,000 newspaper essays. He wrote on a plethora of topics: literary criticism, social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.
The quantity of works is astounding, but the quality of the work is even more impressive. His work Everlasting Man was influential in converting a young atheist named C.S. Lewis. His novel The Napoleon of Notting Hill inspired Michael Collins to lead a movement for Irish independence. His essays were influential in the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi who lead a revolution in India. The list of famous literary figures who attribute inspiration to Chesterton is unending. T.S. Eliot said, “G.K. deserves a permanent claim on our loyalty.”
He was not highly educated and was, by all accounts, a very disorganized, fun-loving, and eccentric figure. He rarely lost a public debate due to his disarming humor combined with quick wit and vast knowledge of topics. He wrote to defend the common man, the poor, and his Christian faith. He did this in a way that didn’t repel but attracted people to his faith.
I also have a personal testimony of the power of Chesterton’s writing. I went through a season of deep faith crisis. It was a disconcerting time for me. I had accepted Christ as a child but over time had become disillusioned with church, and my questions about faith had superseded my blind trust in the things people had taught me about God. I had read, prayed, talked to people, researched, and ultimately felt like I was spiritually spiraling out of faith. I remembered hearing about Chesterton and his book Orthodoxy as a creative defense of faith. I picked it up and went to Starbucks to read, hoping for some inspiration. This book is about his own journey of trying to find God in many different ways but ultimately returning to orthodoxy. That day one hour turned into four hours as I had found someone who seemed to understand my own journey. It felt like the heavens broke open and the presence of Christ flooded my soul. I wept (yes in the middle of Starbucks) and began my own journey back home to orthodoxy.
Chesterton is the ideal candidate to represent creativity in this guide. He used his creative abilities to defend the poor and the Christian faith but in a way that simultaneously drew in the intellectual and wealthy while even bringing laughs and light-heartedness. May we, as believers, seek to use our own strengths in a creative way to represent our faith well.
Lesson: James 3:13-18
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
In this passage, James, the half-brother of Jesus, is encouraging the readers of this letter to view wisdom in a more creative way. The audience evidently considered themselves very wise, but their wisdom was not impacting their everyday lives. They claimed to be “good” but were not demonstrating this goodness toward others. They knew the right things but still held on to envy, jealously, and misplaced ambition. G.K. Chesterton once humorously said, “The word 'good' has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.”
This quote demonstrates both the creativity of Chesterton and the truth of this passage. We, as believers, cannot claim to be wise and good but continue in patterns of behavior that don’t produce good results. If we continue to be jealous and ambitious about selfish things, the end result is “disorder and every vile practice.”
If, however, we are truly wise, we can work toward an end result of righteousness. Those who are truly wise will demonstrate that in some specific ways: gentleness, being open to reason, full of mercy, demonstrating good fruit. These ways of thinking and behaving will lead to peace instead of disorder. The characteristic of being “open to reason” is something that Christians aren’t usually known for. It is a characteristic that Chesterton nurtured throughout his life, and it caused him to be winsome. It takes creativity to maintain an orthodox stance on Christian belief but to also remain open to wisdom. This is the balance that James seems to be referring to with the idea of wisdom. Wisdom is having the right knowledge, but also being able to interact with others in a way that achieves peace.
When we are tempted to dismiss others because we are jealous, intimidated, or disagree with their opinions, we can ask God how to be “open to reason.” How can we creatively engage these types of people in a way that is winsome instead of combative? This can be difficult, but James also says that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God and He will give it to us. May we have the wisdom to creatively engage culture in a way that is compelling.
Remembrance
Read or listen to “By the Babe Unborn” poem by Chesterton.
Challenge
With both the virtue of creativity and the story of Chesterton in mind, the challenge this week is to write 2 or 3 journal entries about some things that are happening in culture. Choose something that interests you that you think needs a good Christian response. Try to think creatively about how we, as believers, should respond to that particular situation. Don’t write with the expectation that you will share this publicly, but just to engage in a creative thought process.
Choose some of G.K. Chesterton’s writings to read this week.
Reflection
Some G. K. Chesterton quotes to reflect upon –
Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.
You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.
Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.
It has been often said, very truly, that religion is the thing that makes the ordinary man feel extraordinary; it is an equally important truth that religion is the thing that makes the extraordinary man feel ordinary.