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So last week our church had VBS (Vacation Bible School). For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is a week long children’s bible school that is much more about having fun then sitting in a class learning. Even the learning time is just simple story telling while the kids sit on the floor in a circle. Not nearly as boring as the name implies. 

Anyways, I was in charge of games and recreation for the week. The biggest thing I learned throughout the week is how thankful I am that I do youth ministry and not children’s ministry! But God did teach me something last week while playing with the kids. 

One of the days we played kickball for game time. It was so interesting to watch the different age groups and how they approached the game. The Kindergardeners had no concept of the rules of the game. All they cared about was kicking a ball and then running around like crazy. But they had fun and thats all that mattered. The second graders were old enough to understand the rules of the game but were in fact obsessed with the rules. All they cared about were making sure that nobody got away with anything and the adults didn’t help the girls (even though the boys were beating the girls by a ton of runs). They walked away that day fighting, arguing and frustrated because we weren’t as strict in enforcing rules as NFL referees. But the 5th graders got it. They understood the rules, were smart enough to strategize their game play, and they were mature enough to understand it was only children’s church kickball and at the end of the day it didn’t matter who won or lost.

God hit me with a question last week. What age group would we fall into when it comes to spiritual things? Young enough to have fun but completely miss out on what the game (or life) is supposed to be? Mature enough to understand the rules but be completely consumed with them and miss out on the fun and excitement of a life with Christ? Or do we get it? We understand the rules and how to approach life but aren’t so uptight that we can’t enjoy life as it was meant to be?

Interesting….