What's Wrong With Your Imagination?

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.  Here’s this week’s question:I seem to be getting mixed signals in the Christian reading material I receive.Some advocate the creative use of our imagination stating that it’s a wonderful part of our make up which can be used to glorify God and help us reach our potential in every area of our Christian walk while you seem to have almost nothing positive to say about it.

Tom:

Well Dave we have talked about the imagination and it’s a big problem.

Dave:

They accuse you or me or both of us of having—

Tom:

I think we both could take some credit here.

Dave:

—Almost nothing good about the imagination.I would suggest they be Bereans—that is what this program is all about-“search the scriptures daily.”You can search the scriptures daily today, tomorrow and from now on until the Lord comes and you are not going to find anything in the Bible that is positive or favorable about imagination.And you can start—

Tom:

Alright Dave I want to jump on this right up front.Now you are a creative guy.You’re a writer; you write fictional novels.How could you do that without an imagination?I mean are we talking about—do you get my point here?Are we talking about some different things?

Dave:

Okay, let’s go to the Bible and then we’ll get back to what you are talking about Tom.Remind me.

Tom:

I’ll be here, I’m waiting.

Dave:

Go to Genesis:6:5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
See All...: God looked down and he saw that the imaginations of man’s heart were only evil continually.Chapter 8 He says basically the same thing.From his youth his imagination is evil.Chapter 11 He comes down at the tower of Babel and he scatters them, confounds the language and scatters them because He says whatever they imagined they will be able to perform.Now you are reminding me that there are some good uses of imagination.You are an architect, an engineer or whatever and I have even used visualization for memorization.I don’t bother with it any more, it’s too much trouble.This is how they do it.You have some memory expert and you give them a whole string of words and numbers and so forth and he can come out with them forward or backwards because he’s using visualization.

Tom:

He’s using association with an image.

Dave:

Right and those images connection on with another and you can become an expert at that.So there is nothing about the occult—no occult undertones or anything like that.So, yes there are good uses of the imagination.When I write a novel I try to paint a picture so that the person can put themselves—they can see what is going on.However, imagination is very dangerous.Little children get involved in their imagination and they can even have imaginary playmates that they play and all kinds of things, but you know we all recognize—even secular people when you grow up you ought to leave those imaginary playmates and stop living in your imagination and [there are] some people who live in their imagination and can’t face the real world.

Tom:

Well they are institutionalized.My father was a psychiatrist.I grew up in that environment.That was the heart of it.They lost contact with reality, because they were trying to create reality in their own mind.

Dave:

So now we have a problem because for example, Keith Miller in his book The Table of Inwardness, chapter 7 begins with these words: “One door opens into the world of the spirit: imagination.”And then he tells us that is how we get in touch with God, this is how we learn spiritual truths and so forth is through our imagination.No, our imagination is only going to create that which comes from us.

Tom:

Right, we are the god of this realm in which we call the shots, we see things the way we want to see them, we come up with ideas.

Dave:

Right.

Tom:

It is not connected to God’s Word, to the reality, the content of the faith.

Dave:

So there are even those who teach you that you need to learn to use your imagination, put yourself in the picture you know, you are reading about Christ teaching the Sermon on the Mount picture and put yourself there—no my imagination is not going to help me, it is only going to lead me astray when I try to apply it in this realm.Furthermore, the imagination is the fastest way into the occult.This is how the witch doctors have always done it.They pick up their spirit guides and so forth.So all we are saying is imagination, although it has some benefits, some legitimate uses, (and we are not putting that down).It is very dangerous for many reasons, even from a practical standpoint but it also is the doorway into the occult and God condemns the imagination all through the Bible.In fact He doesn’t even say anything good about it and we are saying something good about it.So if we get back to the Bible and we search the Scriptures daily, then we are going to find for example we’ve quoted Jeremiah:13:10This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.
See All...: “This wicked people who refuse to hear my word and follow the imagination of their own heart.”

Tom:

Dave, to go back to the imagination with regard to what we would say would be reasonable uses of it.I don’t believe that God condemns that, but I think for those who are a little confused about this—the imagination has to be consistent with what God’s Word says.You know we come up with ideas, the scripture calls it a stronghold.We can have ideas and thoughts which are not true to God’s Word; the knowledge of Him.That’s a concern that we have.

Dave:

When I say that God’s Word doesn’t have anything good to say about it, it’s not that God’s Word intends to say anything good about it, but it is bringing correction to the occult uses of it and that’s what we are talking about.