The Right Brained Church

There is a question that bothers me. Why does it seem that church’s most creative people are relegated to the fringe? The pillars of the modern church (of every doctrine and denomination) have always been very practical, left-brained people. Few of us would argue that John Piper, John MacArthur, Billy Graham, or Jerry Falwell are creative and artistic geniuses.

The creative and artistic people within the Christian church who achieve some recognition are often rejected and criticized by a significant segment of the church (Donald Miller, Erwin McManus, Rob Bell, Tony Jones, Anne Rice).

It seems to me that this is a terrible imbalance. I can’t imagine that God would ever have wanted his people to express logic and practicality at the expense of creativity. I believe when we relegate the artists to the fringe, we are rejecting an expression of God. No part of the body can say to another part, “I don’t need you.”

I do thank God for the few creative people like Max Lucado, Michael W. Smith, and Louie Giglio who have been given a positive reception by most of the church. Now can we work harder to make sure that the earthly expression of Jesus has both a right and a left brain?