The value of imagination (Pioneer Business)
In a series of articles, the Pioneer Business team have been introducing the values of their community and gathering people to explore each principle through monthly zooms. If you would like to receive their updates directly to your inbox and join their events, subscribe to their email list here.
Imagination
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 ESV
We are inviting members of Pioneer Business to commit to guarding our minds against ungodly influences and exercising kingdom creativity: at work to be free of worldly ambition and embrace freedom of thought in Christ; at home to confine social media to where it can be useful, putting healthy boundaries in place; and at church to seek counsel from those of mature character as well as gifting/competence.
I once heard someone share how, when Christians told him they weren’t very imaginative, he would ask them if they ever spent time worrying. “Worry,” he said, “requires imagination - dreaming up worst-case scenarios, making up contingency plans and coming up with alternative solutions. It’s not that you don’t have an imagination. It’s that you’re using it to worry.”
Put another way, worry is imagination in the service of ‘disaster management’. Its root is often fear - that ‘God is not good’. And its goal is control - ‘how can I mitigate that?’
However, if you’ve ever read 1 Corinthians 2:9 you’ll have come across this amazing truth:
But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”
If what Paul says is true - that unimaginably wonderful things are prepared for us by a God who loves us - then I hope you would agree with me that worry is an unholy misuse of a Christian’s imagination!
Influence and exposure
Jesus taught us to pray that His kingdom would come (Matthew 6:10). Isaiah states that, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end” (9:7).
This is the faith-raising truth we believe: God’s kingdom is here AND it’s advancing. That’s no less true in our workplaces than it is in our churches, our homes and our communities!
But if you listen to the world long enough, a different message is communicated: news outlets report a fearful, fractious humanity; social media assaults us with the worst of human nature; influencers proclaim messages that twist and oppose the truth; entertainment industries glamorise idolatry, blasphemy and everything else that God hates.
Jesus warns us in Matthew 6, “The eye is the lamp of the body…if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness!” (v22-23). Regular exposure to the world’s perspective - the darkness - can lead us to lose our confidence in God’s sovereignty and forget that His kingdom is greater. The outcome is a strong temptation to misapply our imaginations in the service of ‘disaster management’.
How might that affect us in the workplace? We make decisions influenced by an earthly perspective, not a kingdom perspective: Fear directs our financial decisions. Caution stifles our creativity. Negativity impairs our leadership. Suspicion undermines collaboration. Self-protection weakens our partnerships.
Conversely, Jesus said “if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (v22).
As we decrease our exposure to the darkness, and instead spend time in the light, our imagination is much more in tune with the truths of God’s kingdom.
Redeeming the imagination
At the beginning of this article I quoted 1 Corinthians 2v9. In the following verses Paul makes this statement:
No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received…the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 (my emphasis)
What was previously unimaginable is now revealed to us by the Spirit. This has huge implications and leads to the question: How can we train our imaginations to partner with the Spirit in discovering the thoughts of God?
Firstly, our imagination must be rooted in the confidence that ‘God has prepared good things for us’. Secondly, our goal is no longer to control but to trust - trusting that ‘His Kingdom is advancing’!
In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Paul tells us that spiritual warfare is a battle for the mind, but just like any weapon, the imagination is only good when it’s kept sharp and applied correctly. How do we do that? By decreasing our exposure to the darkness, and increasing our time spent in the light - with THE Light.
Here’s a simple exercise you could try.
Set aside time with a notebook. Write down a question you have regarding your work, e.g. an area that causes you worry, next steps for a project, or a problem in need of a solution.
Here’s some example questions: How can I help my intern grow in confidence? What is causing miscommunication in my team? How can I land the client of my dreams? What can I do to help improve morale in the office?
Next, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to God’s thoughts around your question. In the time that follows do two things: actively ‘take captive’ (2 Corinthians 10:5) any thoughts that stray towards fear or control, and note down any others that come to you, using Philippians 4:8 as a guide.
Lastly, perhaps in the company of wise, faith-filled counsellors, spend some ‘thinking on these things’, considering how to apply these thoughts to your question.
As we repeat this exercise, training our imagination to seek heavenly solutions for earthly problems, I am confident that we will witness the advance of the kingdom of God in our workplaces in both unexpected ways!
We invite you to further explore the topic of imagination with us.
We don’t have all the answers and want to learn from those who have walked the walk, are walking the walk and are engaging with the issue and making progress. Maybe that’s you?
We believe we can encourage and help each other to do this in order to help businesses empower churches and local communities.
by Tuuli Platner
Tuuli has been gaining expertise in graphic design, photography and related fields since her late teens, and has been using her skills in local church settings ever since, which for the past 15 years has been Revelation Church London. She believes there is world-changing potential when ordinary people yield to God’s supernaturally creative solutions - and sees pioneering business-church partnerships playing an exciting role.