Everyone's a Genius

Alan Briggs

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780718082291
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

Believe it or not, everyone's a genius at something.We just need to uncover and release it for the sake of the world.

Every member of your church comes with a unique set of God-given skills and talents. As a church leader, you have the weighty task of uncovering and validating them. Your challenge is to help your members identify and unleash their gifts to bring glory to God. But in our selfie-focused society, this task can feel overwhelming.

God doesn't see two groups: his gifted children and the rest of us. He didn't give the Great Commission only to the extremely talented—musicians, writers, artists, pastors, and church staff. He gave it to all of us. To each of us. So, how do we help our members find their "sweet spots" of service in the kingdom?

In Everyone's a Genius, author, pastor, and leadership consultant Alan Briggs, shares his belief that bringing out the abilities of often overlooked Christians—those whose unique skill sets are not as easily identifiable—remains a key component that will determine the church's impact in this and coming generations. This is an inspiring look at how we can more effectively motivate Christians to leverage their personal abilities for Christ.

The truth is, reading this book is risky! It can change how you see every person you're leading. It can make you see your community differently. It can help you find gifts within your church family that will surprise you. It can also unlock something within you that you never knew mattered to God. It can expand your vision of the world, deepen your appreciation for "the least of these, " and refocus the mission of your church.

Perhaps God will use this book to take you on a journey toward a more appropriate theology of creativity.Yes, it's a risk, but a risk we simply must take to impact the world for Jesus.

Are you in?

CHAPTER 1

WHERE DOES GENIUS COME FROM?

When one is loved, she can create better.

—Ana Ros

When your entire vocation is viewed as mission, there are very few hours that aren’t discipleship.

—Preston Sprinkle

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!

—Abraham Kuyper

Where Does Your Creativity Come From?

Painters flee to the edge of the pines with canvas and brushes in hand. Writers tap into inspiration in their favorite coffee shop. Musicians find a quiet space to riff on the melodies flowing through their heads. There are no rules for when or where. All honest artists have to address the origins of their creativity.

Culture is shifting in massive ways right now. One exciting shift I see is a move toward celebrating and affirming different gifts and special abilities. Companies and churches are hiring differently. Creative types and out-of-the-box thinkers are being celebrated. There is more space in our culture for people who primarily live in the right side of their brains. Our culture is celebrating creativity. However, it seems we are a bit behind the curve on this idea of genius in the church. Perhaps it feels too prideful to talk about, or maybe it’s hard for us to learn to celebrate gifts outside the spiritual gifts lists we find in Scripture.

One of the most electric modern celebrations of creativity happens at TED events (TED stands for technology, education, and design). These environments are infectious (and a tad pretentious) gatherings of innovators, creatives, and world changers. TED talks have become the secular sermons of our day. Leaders celebrate and even worship the genius of the leaders on stage at these TED events. I often pick out talks to watch and discuss with my kids.

Of all the TED talks I’ve watched only one has arrested me. It was by author Elizabeth Gilbert. Her talk grabbed my attention because of her humility and desire to tackle a question we are all asking: Where does creativity come from? After becoming a bestselling author through her wildly popular book Eat, Pray, Love, she hit a crisis moment. Were her best days behind her? Could she ever produce something this successful again? She began searching for the elusive creative genius. She headed back in time for a view of genius that made more sense than it does in our society today.

The ancient Greeks referred to the spirit of creativity as a daemon, and the ancient Romans personified creativity this way: “a genius was a guardian spirit, a god who accompanied people throughout life, connecting them to the divine.”¹ It was a disembodied spirit or muse that visited artists and other creatives. Thus ancient peoples might say, “You have a genius,” rather than our vernacular “You are a genius.”

Greek and Roman societies did not believe humans were the locus of creativity, but rather creativity came from somewhere and something else. What people created was more about something that happened to them and less about something they possessed or expressed. Darrin M. McMahon observed, “The Roman genius, without question, was very far from the modern ‘genius.’”²

During the Renaissance, this perspective on creativity changed. The emerging philosophy of humanism shifted the focus to the creative as a genius. Humanity was celebrated rather than invisible spirits. Artists, sculptors, painters, and composers were now geniuses. Today, we might call a jack of all trades a Renaissance man.

In fact, today’s prevailing definition of genius is relatively new. “The term genius, as it is currently defined, goes back to the tail end of the eighteenth century.”³

So we have to ask, which view is closer to reality: antiquity, early humanism, or our modern world?

The ancient view of genius sounds more like God-inspired, God-breathed creativity than what our culture believes today. The ancients were puzzled as to how frail humans could create things so inspiring, and so they perceived a spirit of genius behind it all. Someone else, they believed, must drive humans and shape their work. When we have a genius, we are stewards, co-creators. During the Renaissance, humans took credit for their achievements. This was a grave mistake, and we are still suffering from it today.

When we are the genius behind the creative process, the pressure falls on our frail shoulders. Writers hit blocks. Painters hit dry spells. Speakers fumble over their words. We all have moments when we feel creative and others when we can’t produce a thing.

The deification of genius has led us into some faulty thinking. We begin to believe certain people are born as superheroes and brainiacs who fly at a much higher level than the rest of us, and some even see them as worthy of our worship. Perhaps this is why so many celebrities break down and crash and burn these days. We’ve wrongly believed the myth that our world has a few wildly creative people while we’re stuck in the group simply labeled “the rest of us.”

I am here to tell you, contrary to popular belief, everyone has access to the spirit of creativity. Every human is formed in the image of God, the imago dei.

The good news is this: everyone is a genius.

The bad news is this: we aren’t exactly the genius, but God is the genius behind us all.

The real news is this: we are not the genius, but we have a genius.

You might read this and say, “I’m no genius.” Perhaps you wrestle with continual noncreativity. You don’t write songs. You don’t solve complex math equations. You don’t write screen plays or pitch million-dollar ideas. You’ve already counted yourself out of the creative conversation.

If that’s the case, then this book is for you. Don’t put it down just yet. Whether you believe me or not, you are a creative being. You were crafted in the image of the Creator. You are a genius because you have a genius. We were fashioned in the mind and in the image of a creative God.

Some of you regularly wrestle with your creativity. Perhaps you write songs, labor on paintings, chase the illusive perfect photo, experiment with different mediums, design your own clothes, play with lyrics, and twist rhymes. You struggle to know how this fits with others and how to express something that feels so innately you. You wonder how you can use your God-given creativity for God-centered purposes. Chances are you have been misunderstood along the way. Some people have affirmed your gifts and talents, but most have been confused by them. This book is for you.

Perhaps you are like me, and you fall somewhere in between. I have often compared myself to others and concluded I am not a creative and will never be graced with the kind of creativity others have. I have also had many days when I had no idea how to fully express my creativity around others. Songs that made sense in my head didn’t resonate with others, and phrases that made sense to me only confused those who heard them when I said them out loud.

But I am also a pastor. I help to guide a dynamic congregation whom the living God is constantly shaping. I seek to affirm and recognize the creativity and the genius God has placed in those around me. I spend a lot of time equipping leaders and church planters for how they can freely live in the image of the Creator for the sake of the world. And that’s the real focus of this book: to recognize everyone’s genius and help geniuses apply their creativity for the sake of the world. The witness of the church is at stake.

Framing Genius

Let’s take a minute to frame the conversation of genius and why it matters to God’s kingdom.

Your genius is given by God, confirmed in community, and aimed at kingdom impact. Don’t worry, I will break down this statement as we proceed through the book.

The topic of creativity stirs up a lot of emotion. A few people get excited to talk about it, but most just shut it down as quickly as they can. And that’s exactly why the conversation about genius is so crucial.

When I talk with others about creativity, I get a few standard reactions.

“I’m not creative at all.” A friend has said this to me many times, but I see something different when I look at her life. She has always been able to re-create herself. Without much education, she has navigated the mortgage business, started several small businesses on the side, and learned to sustain life at a young age. Yet she defines creativity too narrowly. Folks look up to her, and she looks down on herself.

“No one understands my creativity.” A friend grieves that her creativity was stifled when she was a child. Those around her pushed her aside, as if her creativity were a cute detail she would graduate from some day and move into the real world. She always felt undervalued, and to this day she struggles to know how to express her creativity and enjoy the mind God has given her. She feels she needs to turn off the switch and simply be the person others want her to be.

“I wish I was creative.” A friend looked up to visual artists, but he never saw himself in the role of a creative, because he never created visible works of art. He is very literal, very serious, and very calculated, and he thought that amounted to a lack of creativity. God rescued him from a life of addiction, and he has to be incredibly creative to figure out how to live a new narrative and follow God into marriage and fatherhood.

“I used to be creative.” People remember a time when they created art. Today they’ve gotten busy with the perils of real life: bills, busyness, schedules, kids, and occasional boredom. A friend has taken his artistic creativity into the medical world, where he invests himself in the marvels of modern medicine. The human body became his canvas.

Untapped Potential

There is a massive untapped potential in our churches. While pastors and leadership teams often get the chance to attend conferences, work on their leadership craft, and analyze their gifts, most of the people in their congregations don’t have the same opportunities. Most of the people sitting in the pews or comfy church chairs during weekend services don’t sense they are part of God’s great mission to redeem all things. Most unpaid church leaders don’t believe they have anything to contribute to this needy world.

We have accidentally made our congregations passive. They’ve gotten the message they are not invited into ministry and they should get busy filling sanctuary seats, filling an offering plate, and filling the serving roles we are desperate to fill. But nothing could be further from the truth! Every person is a genius because we have a genius. Every person has been commissioned by Jesus Himself with the Great Commission. Every follower of Jesus is invited into ministry. Every person’s gifts and talents can be unleashed in an outward direction for the sake of a needy world.

We need to rediscover a proper theology of creativity. Let’s go back to the beginning. These are three significant soundbites from the creation narrative.

“Let us make human beings in our image, ma...