Ever walked at night to pray?  The night sky in the desert is such a sight to see, especially when the moon is involved.  A full moon in the desert lights up everything with a mystical blue glow.

The moon has always been a fascinating part of the night sky.  It does not produce any light of it’s own, yet the moon rules the night sky in brilliance.  In the midst of millions of stars that do produce their own light, the moon shines brightest in the night sky.  It’s secret, of course, is that the moon reflects the light of our closest star – the sun.

Yet the moon holds another secret.  Ever noticed that the moon always looks the same?  Meaning… ever noticed that we can only see the same side of the moon at all times?  This is because the moon is in perfect synchronous rotation with the earth.  In other words, the moon is rotating about its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit the Earth.  Therefore we not only see the light of the sun reflected, we also see it in perfect synchronicity with the rotation of the earth.

There is something here for us to learn from the moon concerning reflection and the creative process:

Reflect not Project

1.  We must understand the importance of our role as a creative team and not diminish it, yet at the same time we must not overstep our role.  “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).  We are not the light, but we can certainly reflect His light.  That’s our role… to simply reflect His character.  Light reveals what’s hidden in the dark.  The Spirit brings conviction; we do not.  If we were to try to bring conviction on our own, it would be manipulation. In fact, any time we try to do what only God can do, the result is manipulation.  

Face Towards God

2.  As we reflect God’s character, we must do it in synchronicity with God Himself.  In other words, what is it that He is looking to do or say in our services?  What does the text say about Him?  Reflecting God’s character is an essential part of the creative process.  If people do not have an encounter with God, what’s the point?  If they do not see a glimpse of God’s character or hear His truth, what are we doing?  We have to do this in step with God.  Our creative process must always be facing forward – in sync – keeping step with the Spirit.  Neither should it be spinning in our own direction or speed, but rather in the direction and speed of God.  If we were to step out of this obedience, we would misuse our power – or role – and distort the reflection of who God is.

So what are the attributes of God that speak to His character?  From the Bible, we know that God is:

Love, yet all powerful.

Holy and Righteous, yet Merciful.

Omniscient and Sovereign, yet unchanging.

Omnipresent, yet Three in One.

And in all of these attributes our interpretive lens is Jesus:

When Philip told Jesus to show him and the other disciples the Father, Jesus explained that if anyone has seen Jesus they have seen the Father because both He and the Father are One.  Therefore, if we want to know what God is like, we need only look to Jesus.

All of the attributes listed above become a beautiful palate for any creative team to draw from to illustrate the point of the day, but they come into a brilliant display when we reflect the Person of Jesus.

Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all people to myself” – (John 12:32).  May our creativity elevate (and reflect) Christ so the world may know Him.