Life is Short, Church Should be Fun!

Back in grade school, I had friend whose dad owned a boat marina, and on their t-shirts read the marina’s tagline: “Life Is Short” on the front and “Boats are Cool” on the back.  My buddies and I would wear those t-shirts to school every week. I saw that slogan so much that I really did think boats were cool and I still want one someday. This story has a parallel that we can transfer to the youth.

Although we don’t have anything about boats in our code at VFC, we do live by the code: “Life is Short; Church Should be Fun!” In VOX Student Ministries, we endeavor to walk this code out every Sunday with our 6^th-12^th grade students.

When I was growing up, whenever I heard the term “church” the first word that would come to mind was “boring.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking any particular denomination, but the services that I remember were long, ritualistic, serious, and very dry at times. I never remember having much fun in church, except when my younger brother and I would use the bulletin as a doodle pad. My motto would have been: “Life Is Short; Church is Boring.” This is sad, but it is the present day stereotype that many of our youth have. 

This is where we come in!  As youth pastors, volunteers, parents and alike, we must step up and show students in this next generation that God is fun, church is fun, and living a godly lifestyle is fun! So many students think that a life surrendered to Christ will “take away all the fun” in their life and that a relationship with God is just a bunch of “Don’ts” and “Cant’s”.  Life goes by too fast and many of us in ministry work too hard for our students to think that church and God are boring and lame.  Just like those T-shirts at the marina I mentioned earlier, we need to radiate the message “Church Should Be Fun” every opportunity we get.

The truth is this: If church is not fun, students won’t come! If we take away the “fun factor” then we introduce the “run factor,” which implies that if students aren’t having fun, then they will run.  More specifically, if our services are not high energy, engaging, or do not have an element of fun, then students will turn and run to the things of the world that present those opportunities instead. That is why we must constantly be seeking the Lord for creative and innovative ways to add the “fun factor” to our youth services, events, retreats, and outreaches.

So, God is giving us a license to have a little fun at church and loosen up a bit. There’s nothing wrong with a confetti gun, students chugging a can of pop through their friend’s dirty sock, or even a random flash mob in the middle of a service. As long as it doesn’t compromise the Word and Spirit of God and it enhances the fun factor of the worship experience… go for it! If it helps, you can remember it this way: Life Is Short, Boats Are Cool, and Church Should Be Fun!

-Eric