“Theology of play” was the buzz in the early ’70s—an attempt, I’m guessing, to incorporate the more positive aspects of the ’60s into the American church’s self-understanding. After centuries of straight-laced decorum, in which the goal of the mainline church was to produce good citizens of democratic capitalism, the cultural revolution of the ’60s posed a serious threat to all things, well, serious. While churches had various knee-jerk reactions against such a threat, minor voices began wondering whether this was just what the church needed—less decorum, less seriousness, less didactic, word-based teaching, and more play, more movement, more art, more joy in the Lord.
Enter such things as Christian clowning, the famous painting of Jesus laughing, and Godspell. Youth for Christ and Asbury Theological Seminary gave us the Christian music festival in 1970. The creative worship movement gave us puppets and liturgical dance. One could even trace the beginnings of Youth Specialties in the late ’60s to the call for more play. Indeed, one could trace the beginnings of youth ministry as we know it to that movement.
Sometimes these approaches failed to rise above the painfully pointless (e.g., endless rounds of Chubby Bunny) or the painfully hilarious (e.g., giant puppets entering the sanctuary during the processional). Indeed, the church began to realize that play for play’s sake was not the thing. But there were occasional glimpses of real, deep, and abiding joy. I remember, for instance, watching a performance of Godspell as a teenager. Sorrow gripped me as the character of Jesus was carried offstage by his grieving friends—and profound joy flooded in when he ran smiling back down the center aisle to join in the closing number. Who knew that dancing clowns would help me experience the power of the resurrection?
Fast forward to 2010, and the theology of play, loosely understood, is taken for granted—especially in youth ministry. Many youth workers still, despite numerous trips to the ER, secretly believe that Capture the Flag has inherent formational value. If we can turn the Parable of the Sower into a skit, the assumption is that more teens might be saved. While clowns and puppets are so last century, we are not above incorporating the Old Spice guy into our announcements (“Look at your youth pastor—now look at me—now back to your pastor—now back to me”). The roles have reversed, and it’s the minor voices that are calling for more seriousness, more contemplation, more actual learning.
And here we confront the dilemma that continues to plague youth ministry: play or learning? Champions of play argue that teens need to move, have fun, build community through games, escape from the pressures of everyday life for a while. Champions of learning argue that our task as youth workers is to preach the gospel and make disciples, not to make more experts at Guitar Hero. But I suspect this is a false dichotomy, born from a thin understanding of the true nature of both play and learning.
There is not space enough to tackle both play and learning as thoroughly as they deserve, but suffice it to say we must find a kind of balance. Physical movement and imaginative engagement, which are at the heart of play, have the potential to embed knowledge in our muscles and hearts in ways that didactic teaching cannot. But this is not to say that anything goes: not every kind of play embeds knowledge or even the right kinds of knowledge. And meanwhile, the goal of the Christian life is not to become walking encyclopedias of information about God, Jesus, and the Bible. The goal isn’t knowledge for knowledge’s sake but knowledge for the sake of acting as God’s reconciling agents in the world.
Perhaps this tension is best summed up in the words of British author G. K. Chesterton: “The more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild” (Orthodoxy, 1908).
In your youth ministry, what is that rule and order? What are the good things that you want to run wild?
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_music_festival
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Play is important because play is something human beings were created to do. The Bible is mostly silent concerning an explicit position on the issue of play. However, the Scriptures mention play, dance, creativity, and celebration often.
Play is something children naturally engage in. In Mark 10:14–16, Jesus says, “‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.”
Children, driven by wild curiosity and endless amounts of energy, naturally play, pursue fun, entertain themselves, and enjoy even the simplest discoveries. It seems a stretch for me not to believe that Jesus had the joy, frivolity, and wonder of a child in mind when he declared that they had discovered a posture toward life that “kingdom of God” people must embrace. Also, the prophet Zechariah lays out an eschatological vision that describes boys and girls playing (Zechariah 8:5). There are many childish things we must put aside when we grow up, but playing should not be one of them.
I think this kind of question is good because it makes us think and deal with one of many issues that have been ignored by a dualistic view of life. This kind of mindset prioritizes spiritual things (a very short list) as the serious things that should get all of our attention, and everything else is, at best, necessary but tolerated nonspiritual things (like eating and sleeping), to those really really nonspiritual activities that are frivolous, maybe even sinful (like exercising, playing, recreation, and having fun).
Robert Johnston, who wrote The Christian at Play, quotes Augustine to make the case that the issue of play has been a controversy for a long time. “From the time of Augustine down to the present era, Christians have often been suspicious of play. For Augustine, conversion to Christianity meant a conversion from a life of play. To him, even eating was sinful if done in a spirit of pleasure.”1 This way of thinking was fueled further in the modern period by the Protestant work ethic. An all work and no play lifestyle was one of the evidences that God had truly redeemed a person.
An adult who still finds time to maintain a rhythm of play has discovered an important aspect of living. Our broader culture has many stereotypes (some merited) about Christians. One is that Christians don’t have fun. Friedrich Nietzsche, a 19th-century philosopher, declared, “No one in my parents’ church ever had fun.”
Theologian Robert Hotchkins insists: “Christians ought to be celebrating constantly. We ought to be preoccupied with parties, banquets, feasts, and merriment. We ought to give ourselves over to veritable orgies of joy because of our belief in resurrection. We ought to attract people to our faith quite literally by the fun there is in being a Christian.”
The issue of play in youth ministry has come up a lot in conversations about programs, events, and activities and their roles in youth ministry praxis. It is an important critique to insist that youth ministry should be more than fun, games, and activities in order to engage meaningfully in the Christian formation of our youth. At the same time, though, to hold a position that doesn’t include a theology of play is a big mistake. And by theology of play, I don’t mean making a cheesy spiritual application to a game of Capture the Flag or describing how our life is like a volleyball that sometimes gets hit out of bounds. Please!
The simplicity of playing is enough, and it is spiritual. Playing should be considered an important aspect of what it means to live life to the full, made possible by Jesus Christ.
For more information on this issue consider…
Theology of Play, by Jurgen Moltmann, Harper & Row, 1972
Gods and Games: Toward a Theology of Play, David Miller, Harper & Row, 1974
The Christian at Play, by Robert K. Johnston, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 1997
[1] Augustine, Confessions, trans. F. J. Sheed, New York: Sheed & Ward, 1942, X, 31.
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“In Jesus’ name we play and we pray. Amen.”
Our high school pastor , Rick Gebauer, often ends his prayers with that phrase. More than a pithy play on words, it’s a statement of belief that it’s just as important to play in Jesus’ name as it is to pray in it.
But why? Is it because youth leaders love to play? Partly. But there is a bigger reason—whether we recognize it—that we play. Playing makes us free. Play is a hospitality that we provide to each other that says, I’m okay with you—just as you are.
I read a book once titled Reaching Out, by Henri Nouwen, on the three movements of spiritual life. I can’t quote it exactly, but I remember learning this important truth: When we reach out to each other with hospitality and care, we open ourselves up to be vulnerable. We expose our own humanness and give others the opportunity to see us up close, which frees the receivers of our hospitality to be themselves as well. It’s a grace we can give.
I believe play is important for the same reason. I’m imagining the game of Ultimate Banana we played on the mission trip this summer. It’s like Ultimate Frisbee—same rules, except with a banana. Many of us stink at catching flying banana peels. I end up with goo in my face, teeth, and hair. I’m a horrible tosser. There are some who are better than me. But we play on. We laugh. We free each other to be losers, to be winners, to just be part of something we do together.
One of our volunteer youth leaders loves to play. When at camp, on youth trips, or riding in a bus, you’ll always find Garrett at the center of a group with a deck of cards playing Mafia or with some cups around a table, trying to teach 13-year-olds rhythm. A few things are guaranteed when Garrett is involved. There will be laughter. Someone will be embarrassed. Everyone will enjoy the said person’s embarrassment. Then someone else will take a turn. Jokes will be made. Legends will thrive, and new understandings of each other form as competitiveness, shyness, spunk, creativity, imagination, wonder, randomness, and hilarity collide in sheer joy and memory.
Play is a grace we can give and receive. If done in healthy environments with leaders who understand its power and gift, it can free us from a world of stress and deliver us into a body that can open its doors to let us in.
The late Mike Yaconelli always encouraged us to play and play hard. He called us all to live our lives in dangerous wonder and childlike faith. As a member of the affirmation team at the National Youth Worker’s Convention one year, Mike applauded me not for all the notes I had written to youth workers. He applauded my efforts to load a remote-control truck with candy with the intent of crashing it into people as they walked along. He later helped me take down signs of encouragement all over the conference center. We had fun balling the tape up together and throwing it at people. Mike lived in the moment. He played when he could have been calling the shots. And it made a difference to me and so many. I felt at home with Mike.
I would like to play with the same presence and purity of heart that Mike did. I would like to know the power and freedom that comes in playing together. I should remember that God helps us to play when we don’t feel like it. And play may be that one thing that unlocks the tough kid or the shy soul.
Play. It’s important. May we always play (and pray) in Jesus’ name.
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