A THEOLOGY OF PLAY

David Zahl recently wrote an interesting article in Christianity Today magazine. He titled it “Blessed are the Pickleball Players: Having fun might be the greatest testament to the gospel of God's grace.” Below are some quotes from that article as will as a few added comments.

“Much has been made of the decline of free play in the lives of American children...They certainly play less freely. Social psychologists like Jonathan Haidt link this decline to inversely high rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide among young people. The decline applies to adults as well...The decline of play is lamentable not just for its social consequences; it is also lamentable for what it signals about contemporary spiritual conditions. A life in which play is sparse is one in which joy is sparse. This alone ought to grieve believers who consider joy a fruit of the Spirit and a core aspect of the Christian life and God's character. More than that, Christians are bold enough to claim that God's fundamental disposition toward the world he created, as revealed in Christ, is one of grace.”

He next lists six traits which characterize play. These are: (1) It does not immediately serve our need to survive; it is an unnecessary activity; (2) It is voluntary and not simply required by external pressures; (3) It only occurs when our basic needs of life are satisfied; (4) It is done for its own sake, not for what it can accomplish; (5) It is relational in that it is generally done with others; and (6) It is transportive in that it takes you to a different sort of universe.

The Bible is not void of references to play. Zahl cites three examples, namely, II Samuel 6:14 in which David dances before the Lord when the ark at last enters Jerusalem; Zechariah 8:5, in which the prophet compares the building of the Second Temple to the picture of children playing in the streets; and Proverbs 8:30-31 describing Wisdom as “filled with delight, rejoicing always in the presence of God.”

And in the New Testament there is the example of Matthew 18:2-3 in which Jesus tells His audience that they must become like a little child. This statement has been taken in a number of different ways, but Zahl suggests that one interpretation may have been missed – we must have an attitude of childishness about ourselves and enjoy play as much as they do. “There is no becoming like a child that does not involve play.”

But to have such freedom in our own lives as Christians involves understanding the theology upon which play is based. For one thing, it partially boils down to a question of freedom. Zahl asks, “What would you do, what risk would you take, what would you say if you weren't afraid? What would you do if you truly believed your standing with God was secure, the ultimate threat of judgment was removed, and you didn't have to do anything? How would spend your time and energy if you could undertake something for the sheer joy of doing it rather than any outcome it might produce?”

The second theological aspect of play is based “on a robust view of the Holy Spirit...'The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,' writes Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:17. It is no coincidence that the images the Bible gives us for the Spirit – fire, water, wind – are united by their uncontrollability, spontaneity, and dynamism, three attributes that apply to play as well.”

In conclusion, Zahl reminds us that “work and play are not mutually exclusive categories. Adopting a playful attitude toward your work on behalf of others doesn't make that work any less urgent; it merely ensures you won't burn out at quickly. To serve others in a way that makes you small, that even brings delight, means you will serve your neighbor better. Like a child in a sandbox, you will take bigger risks if you believe eternity isn't at stake.”

Now for a few personal experiences to share, I will begin with a random encounter I had while an undergraduate at UCLA. I was walking through one of the large buildings there when I stopped to see what some workmen were doing. One of them came up to me and asked what career I was studying for, and I told him I wanted to be a research chemist. He just couldn't understand that since he told me I could make a lot more money if I became a medical doctor. My reply was, “But that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.”

I would have to say that my four years in graduate school and the first twenty years or so as a researcher for an oil firm were the most fun I can imagine anyone having while still being able to earn good money doing it. I managed to make my job fun for myself and even for others when I became a research manager. I won't go into all the creativity initiatives I began at work, but they paid off in a great increase in the number of patent suggestions generated by our lab as well as being enjoyed by our chemists and engineers who voluntarily attended the activities I staged at work even during lunch hour (including such things as an analysis of an early Walt Disney cartoon, coming up with research ideas by staring at two random slides superimposed on one another, and analyzing how Watson and Crick managed to come up with the structure of DNA after we viewed a Jeff Goldblum movie on the subject).

I have had just as much fun after retirement, first after resuming my very early interest in modern art. I didn't make a penny out of that hobby, and didn't intend to. But I did display some of my pieces in several shows and got a lot of enjoyment out of hearing what people said about my art when they didn't know that I was the eavesdropping artist nearby. Not surprisingly, those who seemed to enjoy these pieces the best were young children, who best appreciated the playful spirit in which they were created. Two of these works even made it to the permanent collection of an art museum in Texas, and the many others I made (before I ran out of room to keep them in my house) have been featured on some of my blog posts.

And the last fun “hobby” I have been pursuing is of course writing my blogs. They take me back to my days in research since each one requires canvassing the prior literature on the subject and then attempting to synthesize it together in at least the semblance of an orderly presentation. In conclusion, the greatest blessing on earth I could wish for any of you would be if you could have as much fun as I have had in my long and rather childish life.