Playful Faith
Keri Wyatt Kent
posted 3/06/2009
 1 of 2
The stakes in children's ministry, if you think of it, are high. We are responsible for the next generation of God's faithful. Based partly on our input, these young charges will follow Christ—or not. There are so many temptations vying for our children's attention and allegiance. This is serious business.
Consequently, we too can be tempted—to the sin of taking ourselves far too seriously. While our calling to minister to children is important and significant, it is also provides us an opportunity to engage in the spiritual practice of play.
Would anyone you work or minister with describe you with words like "playful," or "child-like" or "fun"? How about your family?
Once, Jesus' disciples—who were beginning to realize that God's kingdom was not like earthly kingdoms—asked him to clarify: who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? In other words, how do you move ahead? By way of reply, Jesus "called a little child, whom he placed among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18: 2-4).
Children are playful. What does it mean to play, to be childlike (which is a bit different from being childish)? What did Jesus mean when he said that the greatest in his kingdom were those who chose to be like little children? Did he want us to be playful? Does that mean we all ought to play more dodgeball? Or was he talking only about humility?
"There is no mistaking that one must learn to resemble a child in order to enter the kingdom," writes Brennan Manning in his book The Importance of Being Foolish. "But to grasp the full force of the phrase 'like little children,' we must realize that the Jewish attitude toward children in the time of Christ differed drastically from the one prevalent today. We have a tendency to idealize childhood, to see it as the happy age of innocence, insouciance, and simple faith. In the Jewish community of New Testament times, the child was considered of no importance, meriting no attention or favor. The child was regarded with scorn."
Manning notes that a humble attitude allows us to see God's grace for what it is: pure gift. But how do we cultivate humility? It's not easy in our culture, which lauds individual opinions and accomplishments, which teaches that self-esteem and self-confidence are of the highest value. It's not easy when you are supposed to be a "spiritual leader"—which some folks (sometimes even those leaders) think that means you have to be "deep" or serious all the time. But what if playfulness is a path to humility?
While we may have a different perspective on childhood than Jesus' contemporaries did, he continues to call us to trust him. And to realize we're not "all that." Leadership often tempts us to believe too firmly in our own importance. Play stretches our ability to be a fool, to engage in that which has no purpose other than simple joy. Play forces us to loosen our grip on our ambition for a while; it trains us in humility. We often want to avoid the risk involved with being silly. It's odd, since Jesus said we ought to be humble, that we seem to find it difficult to let go of our self-importance and image management—especially if we are leaders.
| 
share this page
