Bootstrap

Community Post: Created to Create

Blog / Produced by The High Calling
1 THC mugs5 250

I started my web design class this semester by introducing myself and telling the students why I love to build websites: “For me, it’s more than just art or technology; it’s about creating. I feel joy when I create.”

The fifth word in the Bible is “created,” and while we could debate ad nauseam about how God made the world, the fact that human beings create for fun speaks to me about a creative God who formed man in His image.

I can’t help but be creative. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve tried to do jobs the way other people expect them to be done--boring and routine--and I can’t. I can’t bring myself to not be creative. I work full-time in a school and teach web design and creative writing. Part-time, I serve as a pastor at a small church called New Hope Chapel, and I own a marketing business called Inceptivus. Perhaps the reason I’ve taken on so many jobs is because I need to have a creative outlet.

When I prepare my sermons for church, I put together elaborate slides, providing the congregation with a visual experience of the message. Sometimes I’ll design a graphic for a sermon series or create a movie trailer. For me, it’s not about flash or impressing others; it’s about creative storytelling.

About a year ago, I finished a web design project for an author. As we talked about her new online presence, she said, “All of my friends have told me how much this website feels like me.” That might be the greatest professional compliment I’ve ever received. I was able to create something fitting for the client--her personal, virtual Eden.

Perhaps out of all the activities I do, the one I love the most is teaching. I love teaching people how to create and then watching them do it. I love empowering them. I love talking about color wheels and typography and branding and then standing behind the student as they make something out of
nothing. I love accentuating the beauty of alliteration, how internal rhyme brings animation to words, and how meter makes the sentence dance like music--how words used together creatively become an art form.

They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Perhaps that’s why I have a passion to create. When I create, I’m imitating my Creator. And when I teach, also imitating God: He shows me His creation and invites me to create alongside of Him.

Creating gives me joy, because it glorifies the Holy Spirit indwelling in me.

Author bio: Justin Hibbard is a husband and father of three. He's the Pastor at New Hope Chapel in Arnold, MD, the founder and senior partner of the creative marketing firm Inceptivus, and a teacher at a local private school. When not working, he enjoys creating family adventures, traveling, and writing.
This article is part of The High Calling series, Creating Beauty at Work. While brightly painted walls or sleek, modern furniture might lighten our mood and inspire creativity, investing in the people we work with, helping them to bring the best of who they are and caring about them even when they can’t, is at the heart of a beautiful workplace. Are you or someone you know feeling a little lackluster about your work environment? Before you buy a new framed print for the wall, try complimenting your cubicle mate or saying thank you to the janitor. Or start a conversation with a coworker by emailing or sharing one of the articles in our series.