Why a Christian Imagination?

So I wrote this paper for my class and it made me think a lot... So I figured I'd post it because it was part of the reason I didn't post anything these last couple days.

Some might argue that to have a “Christian” imagination is to limit the creativity available to the mind. The imagination is a porthole to other worlds; it is a gift that allows one to frame their own reality. So what would one gain from having a Christian worldview? If the imagination is simply the “creative faculty of the mind” why do people feel the need to put an adjective in front of it? Why a “Christian” imagination?
The imagination is an integral part of who we are as created people. As Christians we believe that we were formed by a Creator, who brought us to life through His power and imagination. Our existence is a result of our Maker’s hand. Our life both in the present and into eternity is a gift given by God that enables us to experience living both for ourselves and for Him. Madeline L’Engle in her book Walking on Water, discusses this in reference to time. She says,
“In kairos (time) we become what we are called to be as human beings, co-creators with God, touching on the wonder of creation. This calling should not be limited to artists—or saints—but it is a fearful calling”.

We are to be active participants. We can trust in God because of the faith that we hold in our hearts and the testament of His power in creation.
Faith is a gift that is dependent on the imagination to work. The classic definition of faith in the Bible is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1). To do this takes the God-given ability of imagination. If we cannot see what we are hoping for, we will not be able to be certain of it. Prayer is another example of using this kind of faith. When we come to God with requests, we have faith that He is listening to us. When we ask for a response from Him and receive words or images that align with His Spirit and word we trust that our imagination is being used. We open our minds up to connect with Him and take the pictures we receive as personal and directed messages. When we practice listening prayer for someone else we are hearing from God on behalf of another. We are that person’s intercessor and our imagination is a key component to that act of service.
Through our mental ability we are connecting with God. We are opening up an area of our life that is often only reached by the secular and making it a sacred place. We are breaking down the streams of Gnostic thought and dualism and uniting them in an act of surrender and worship to God. By using our imaginations in a way that glorifies God or in away that reflects his original intention is worship. In our society our thoughts are often twisted into images or ideas that reflect our fallen nature. For men and women in our society topics like sex and eroticism have been cheapened into dirty and lustful fantasies. Something that was once created to be beautiful has been morphed and our imaginations have been used and abused as mere tools in the process. God calls us to be good stewards of creation and that includes our minds. We have a unique ability to take others perspectives and create beauty and God will judge us the way we used this gift (Mt. 25:14-30; 1 Tim. 4:1-5).
The Christian bubble can be scared of the imagination when it carries a strong message. People are scared of the expression of art because they don’t want to see the despair and pain that is present both in and out of the Christian community. For the visual artist creating a painting or picture gives them an outlet to express what is happening within them when words can’t quite articulate what they need to communicate. For a musician a song or notes on an instrument can give life to the conflict within. If the problem can’t be verbalized in words it might be able to be expressed in the pitches and tones of a song. Art teams with the imagination to give life to the battle within. In the Christian world this might seem scary because for so long the battle didn’t seem to exist. This does not mean that all art is an expression of sadness but traditionally emotion was bottled up inside and dealt with internally if at all.
The imagination can be a bridge between what we are experiencing and what others are going through. It gives us the ability to empathize with someone. For example if we have never experienced loosing a parent we can still walk with someone who has if we allow ourselves to imagine what it would be like. Some people are more gifted then others at this but through God’s example we can see the importance of walking with people. If we are to follow the greatest commandment we will need to use our imaginations. “Love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mk. 12:33). To do this we need to be able to understand ourselves and imagine where our neighbor is coming from and how best to support them.
To have a Christian imagination is to combine our epistemology and our ontology. We need to tie what we know with who we are. If we know that Christ is Lord, and we are created to imagine then the two need to be connected. We cannot live with the dichotomy between faith and creativity or life and religion the two need to be directly tied in our life. We are not Gnostics and our goal is not to separate every aspect of life into two categories. We need to live in the middle with our thoughts about art, life, and God informing and influencing the way we spend each day.