RIdge Church Value #6: Fun

Well, we're finally to our final Ridge Church value! It may be the last one on our list, but it's pretty important, because it affects the way we approach our other values.

This weekend, when we held our first Ridge Church Pumpkin Carving, we had fun. When we meet in our small groups early in 2009, we will make sure to have fun. When we start our weekly worship services, we will have fun elements then as well.

It's evident that many churches have eliminated the concept of fun and enjoyment from their activities and programs. Step into many (but not all!) churches' Sunday worship services, weeknight activities, or whatever else is on the schedule, and you are likely to become bored and disinterested very quickly. This is so sad, because the Bible is a pretty exciting book, and the Gospel of Christ is the one thing that all Christians believe can completely transform a person's life!

Did you know that the Bible doesn't prohibit fun? Nope. Never. Does it say that you can't poke fun at things? No way. Smile and laugh? Nada. Does it have things to say about disrespect toward God and others? Yep. Cruel and biting sarcasm? Roger that. Dirty jokes? You betcha. So, we'll avoid those... They hurt God and others and therefore are not a good route to take.

That said, I like to think that Jesus and His 12 disciples didn't walk all over Israel in silence and with a frown on their faces. I like to think that maybe Jesus told them "the one about when the Father, the Spirit, and I were talking about making the platypus." Maybe Peter and the boys even played some games by the campfire, like the one where you assign a person to be "it" and they blink at people, and then other people have to figure out who is "it" before they get blinked at.

Anyway, I digress, but the point is that it's OK to have fun and talk about God or praise Him at the same time! Fun is just the polar opposite of boring, lame, and forgettable. David, the King of Israel, even had some fun worshiping God way back in the day. And, so will we! We are committed to doing things that are interesting, engaging, and fun, because they are cool to do as a group and result in enjoyable times of fellowship, learning, and worship. We believe the Bible is interesting and God is pretty engaging!

So, here's what Ridge Church has to say about our value of Fun, specifically in regard to our worship times:

"Worshiping our holy God should be an enjoyable activity. Although there must be serious times of repentance and spiritual challenge in the lives of all believers, the experience of meeting God in worship should be exciting, anticipated, interactive, and practical."

Some Bible passages that support our value of fun in worship and group life are Exodus 15:19-21, 2 Samuel 6:12-19, Nehemiah 8:10, and Matthew 26:17-20.

Since you read the whole post, here's a link to a funny video that brings back memories from my youth pastor days! Enjoy!