So I’m sitting here in my little Ft. Lauderdale apartment getting over a cold. Last night I took some Nyquil and slept for about 11 hours, awakening to find myself still sick though a bit better. So I’ve been sitting here with a slightly foggy mind—that’s fairly typical of sick Dave (as I like to call him); pretty incapable of any sort of complex thinking—and going through page after page of a fascinating website I like to call CraftGawker. Well… everyone calls it that because that’s what it’s called, but don’t burden me with your facts.
Looking at sites like this is awesome because it makes me realize how much creative people can accomplish for hardly any money at all, completely transforming their homes and making great products that other, less creative people could buy. It makes me excited because there are so many do-it-yourself (DIY) projects that I want to try. It almost makes me a little bit sad that I never took a woodshop class in high school, though I did work for a cabinet maker for 3 months during the summer before my senior year.
Just look at some of these pictures:
There are bookcases, tables, headboards, coat hangers, decorations, and whatever else. And what’s cool is that most of these projects don’t cost hardly any money (as opposed to going out and spending hundreds of dollars on equivalent pieces made to sell). It makes me wish I had some power tools with me right now to make some awesome stuff. But, alas, I’ll have to wait til I get home (PS. Does anyone else think of the original Prof. Dumbledore from the first Harry Potter movie when they hear the word alas? If not, click here).
Now what is this nonsense I’m saying about DIY projects honoring God? Well, I think it’s not quite nonsense, and I think you may end up agreeing. If there’s one thing that every Christian knows, it’s that the Scriptures teach that we are made in God’s image. That is, there is something about humankind—with both men and women sharing traits and having distinct, unique traits—that is altogether unlike every other created being. We are imbued with a God-likeness that was granted to us by our Creator. We are like Him, though we have been warped by the fall. And we were made to follow in His footsteps.
God is a Creator. He is a Dreamer, imagining things that were not and bringing them into existence. He is utterly creative, where we only rearrange things that He has made to forming new objects. But this is what He commanded: We are to cultivate the earth that He created, forming new things, advancing, and cultivating everything He has given us. We use the minds He has created us with, vast in their ability to imagine, dream, and hope for things that don’t yet exist. We learn and expand our knowledge of the world through searching and discovering. We use the things we learn to rethink what we currently have and move beyond all that was initially thought possible. And our discoveries, inventions, and “creations”—though not truly creations formed ex nihilo—honor God because they point back to the source. Every new invention points back to its inventor. Every creative act points towards the ultimate Creator. We reflect Him in what we do, whether we acknowledge Him or not.
And that’s why I think DIY projects can actually be an act of worship. We utilize the minds and gifts that God has given us to make new things for our use. We transform things, making them into more beautiful (or useful) alternatives. We cultivate what we have and enjoy the things God created. And I can’t help but assume that God is glorified in these endeavors, particularly when we acknowledge Him as the ultimate Dreamer and the ultimate Creator.
“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).
I totally agree. We have created a culture where we have to do so little but God envisioned for us in the beginning to be working and creating. He made everything for us to bring glory to him. Using our creative abilities is wonderful and can only bring us closer to him. Thanks for the post!
And yet we so often see creativity used towards the creation of things that directly harm others or only increase the ability for us to fulfill all of our sinful desires. All of that just screams for a Savior; fortunately, we have one. So many people just don’t realize it.
So true. Even when we think our intentions are righteous we tend to make things that hurt others.
Even worse—how many of us have horribly unrighteous intensions and are very successful in seeing those intentions realized =/