Imagination: Growing in Wonder and Worship
Evangelicals have a complicated relationship with imagination. Sometimes it’s viewed with suspicion—seen as frivolous, lazy, or even “the devil’s playground.” Or, beset by the wildness and indulgences of cultural influence, we become concerned that engaging the imagination might present too much distraction from serious things, from spiritual things. For whatever reason, Christians sometimes struggle with the concept of the imagination. It’s why many of our own children grow up believing that to really pursue the world of the arts or even visionary entrepreneurship, they must compromise their Christian convictions.
I teach a writing course at a Christian college and seminary, and I’m continually surprised at how few students have learned to use their imaginations well. Indeed, I’m surprised at how few have been taught how to use their imaginations at all! The same students who excel in explicating the details of some complicated doctrinal concept seem to freeze up when assigned to write a short story or respond to an in-class fictional narrative prompt. They’re just not used to using their brains that way.
Imagination’s Obstacles
I think this stunted imagination results from two major formative influences. The more recent influence, I think, is the now pervasive use of a variety of kinds of screens. Our phones and tablets are no longer personal accessories or appliances; they have essentially become extensions of ourselves. And while, of course, it matters what we’re putting in front of our eyes through them, it is nonetheless shaping for entire cultures to be trained away from looking up and around. The addiction to a constant stream of “content” stifles our brain’s ability to fill in the gaps with original thoughts. Furthermore, we simply live in an unimaginative age. Nearly everything is recycled. Everything is a “riff” on something else. From the silver screen to social media, we are not short on performative content, but imagination seems in short supply. Everyone is too busy being clever. Hardly anyone is imaginative. (And imagination always beats cleverness.)
But even more formative for us than our relationship with screens is the general culture of our homes. Just as we disciple our children formally through family worship, going to church on Sundays, teaching Bible stories, singing worship songs, or rehearsing verses and catechisms, we also disciple them informally through our example. And unimaginative parents beget unimaginative children. Homes where the imagination is not cultivated, guided, and enjoyed produce children who do not think big thoughts—about themselves and the world around them and, very often, not even about God.
You may wonder why this is even a big deal. Does it really matter if our kids indulge their imaginations? What kind of spiritual importance would this have anyway?
Imagination’s Purpose
The first thing to remember is that the imagination is a gift from God. Yes, like all things intrinsic to our humanity, it can be misunderstood and misused. But the misuse of something does not negate its proper use. And in fact, the imagination is one of the few things that separate human beings from the animal kingdom. Animals don’t create art. Sure, the things they make are often beautiful, but everything in the animal’s mind is built toward utility. We may find a bird’s nest or the cross-section of an ant hill beautiful, but the birds and the bugs are just making something useful.
Only humans create art (more or less) for art’s sake. Only humans are geared internally toward the kind of glory that comes from thinking of something and then creating it. In this way, the imagination is a reflection of the imago Dei. The artistic transition from an idea in our mind to an expressible reality—whether in sculpture or song or story—is the closest we come to imaging our God who created everything ex nihilo—“out of nothing.” We imagine because God imagines!
Entertaining the imagination of our children, then, is an important way of making them more human, more themselves! True, the use of a child’s imagination can be messy. It isn’t always comfortable or convenient. The use of a child’s imagination can be fleshly. It can be exploited. But in the context of a home dedicated to the glory of God, we have little to fear in guiding our kids to engage their ideas and wonderment and curiosity. They’re already hard-wired by God with these capabilities.
Imagination and Childhood
Our kids are already little Michelangelos of play. Even without toys, they can make a castle with the couch cushions, a battleship with a cardboard box. Little conquerors wield a wrapping paper tube like a sword, fighting dragons in the shadows, while pretend princes and princesses throw the most delightful tea parties the likes of which no fairy tale could conceive.
In this imaginative play, our children tap into the very creative heart of God. They even echo God’s big biblical story. This is why on the playground, boys and girls are reenacting cops and robbers, doing battle, and playing house. They are vanquishing evil, subduing the earth, building civilization. Their imaginative narratives of play reflect the metanarrative of the divine Author’s ways in the world and of the greatest story ever come true—the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is all at work when our kids are slaying dragons and rescuing brides. This is all at work when they’re imagining scenarios of good vs. evil. This is in play when they’re putting on a puppet show or splashing in the tub or talking to their food or making up little songs on the swing set or treating the floor like lava. Believe it or not, they are preparing for the adventure of following Jesus in this world gone crazy. And they are treating the world like it is an enchanted place—which it is. They are training themselves not to be boring people in a boring world where even thoughts about God and his miracles and his beautiful salvation are some boring “religious stuff,” compartmentalized away from the real world. And when we engage and guide these imaginative exercises, we’re raising them to better wonder and worship.
A few years ago, my wife and I traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland for a ministry trip. Our host took us to see a few sights related to my favorite author ever, the great C.S. Lewis, including his boyhood home, Little Lea. Reflecting back on that house, Lewis once cited the sheer wonder of exploration as part of what made him what he was. He wrote, “I am a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstairs indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles.”[1]
I’m the product of the imaginative exploration of ordinary spaces like that too. My parents’ permission and even indulgence of my imaginative world contributed not just to my becoming a writer in my adulthood but a Christian who expects and enjoys the presence of God. Your home can be like this too. Your kids can grow to wonder and worship in thoughtful, joyful, glorious ways if you will give them—and yourself—permission to receive and embrace God’s gift of imagination.
[1] C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984), 10.
Reflection Questions
If you sometimes feel irritated or frustrated with your children’s use of their imagination, why do you think that is?
Why do you think the Christian world today seems to struggle with the creation of original art of high quality?
What kind of limits or guardrails should you have for indulging a child’s imagination?
How can playing make-believe serve to enhance a child’s sense of wonder and possibility in God’s world?
Application Ideas
Instead of letting your child watch another movie, tell them they get to make their own! Help them come up with a story (or adapt one of their favorites from a book), write a script, cast family members (or stuffed animals or action figures), and then use your phone to film. Pop some popcorn and watch it all together as a family one night.
On your next field trip to an art museum, have your child tell you what they think the figures in the paintings and sculptures are thinking. Ask them to describe what is happening in certain scenes.
For younger children especially, consider substituting blocks and other imagination-reliant toys for prefabricated playsets and branded figures.
Include fictional stories at bedtime and other reading times along with Bible storybooks and Christian teaching. Don’t worry! Kids are much better than we think at distinguishing truth from make-believe, especially if their parents orient their lives and home around Christian truth.
Keep art supplies in steady supply and suggest their use in place of videos or video games. If kids need prompts for what to create, suggest they design their dream house or create a maze or puzzle.
When reading Bible stories to your children, ask them regularly to imagine they were in the place of certain figures. How would they feel, for instance, if Jesus said he was coming to their house like he did to Zacchaeus or if they were startled by God on the road to Damascus like Saul? How might Noah have herded all those animals for the ark? Etc.
Don’t just facilitate or accommodate imaginative play with your kids—play with them! Join in the fun and role play in their pretend adventures and games. This will show them that imagination isn’t just for children but a joyous part of being God’s child at any age.
