Are you afraid of your imagination? Do you imagine you’ll get yourself into trouble if you dream too much?
The church and imagination
The Church has historically discouraged imagination out of a fear that we will violate the second commandment, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below” (Exodus 20:4 NIV).
This fear is somewhat merited. Many times our imaginations do get us into trouble. Aaron gave into the people’s demands to create a golden calf, even while Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments! The danger is when we worship the objects of our imagination.
Fantasy and imagination
In my own life, I spent countless hours as a youth fantasizing and imagining myself flying, walking on the moon, or dating the girl of my dreams. When I took a recent personality test, I was even labeled as a dreamer.
Proverbs 14:18 (MSG) says, “Foolish dreamers live in a world of illusion; wise realists plant their feet on the ground.” Ecclesiastes 5:7 says, “Much dreaming and many words are meaningless.”
While these warnings are merited, they miss something key: God made us in his image. When God thought up something in his mind he then spoke it into being. We were designed to do the same.
At its core, imagination can release all kinds of possibilities and free us from many ailments.
For the full article and show notes, go to: https://maninthepew.com/gc89