Eat. Play. Sleep. Repeat.

Last weekend, we visited Lisa’s family in North Carolina, including our nephew Jonathan, and our nieces Natalie and Anna. Jonathan is almost 5, and Natalie is almost 2 ½. Anna is 2 weeks old, so we mainly just held her, but with Jonathan and Natalie, we packed a lot of fun into a day and a half. In that short time, we did the following:

- played on the couch

- played in the secret hiding place

- practiced our lightsaber skills

- played Frisbee (twice)

- ate lots and lots of watermelon

- invented a game consisting of shooting foam rockets into a trash can

- went out for ice cream

- used an old keyboard to pretend-type emails to various family and friends.

(Also, Jonathan gave me a dinosaur tattoo on my hand, and Natalie wore her sunglasses while eating lunch inside because they made her look cool.)

I learned this weekend that a child’s life consists of 3 things: playing, eating, and sleeping. That’s it. And if we’re supposed to have faith like a child, maybe that’s a good model for congregational life – not children’s ministry, not Christian education, but every aspect of our shared life as communities of faith.

Most churches have a congregational life consisting of 3 things as well: worship, meetings, and ministry activities or events. All these things are good and necessary, but all can very quickly become serious, routine, and dare I say boring? Without careful attention, they mirror the rest of our life at home and work: propriety the primary concern, functionality secondary, and of little to no concern, whether or not we actually enjoy what we’re doing. I don’t remember the last time church gave me the opportunity to brush up on lightsaber skills, and maybe that’s a sign that something needs to change.

I fear that sometimes, we get to taking ourselves and our role a bit too seriously. If the church is the body of Christ, then from time to time, it’s important that we play, eat, and sleep. It’s also important that we smile, dance, and occasionally laugh so much we fall out of the pew.

The lesson to be learned is this: Be like children. Play more in worship. Eat together more regularly, both in and out of the approved food consumption location in our building. And when we’re feeling cranky, as an individual or a congregation, don’t yell. Take a moment to rest in God’s presence, maybe even take a nap, and perhaps we will find the peace that passes all understanding and the discernment necessary for carrying out God’s will. Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Will we come out to play?