This post is the final post in a series on the core values of worship ministry. These core values were selected by David Loftis, worship pastor at Pleasant Garden Baptist Church, NC. These posts are taken from a series of devotions he asked me to write to accompany a training series he did on these core values. Click here to read the entire series.
In the last Core Value post, we saw that God loves new things. I’m guessing that was not a surprising revelation to you. But did you know that God also loves when his children have fun? Not the silly excuse for fun or entertainment that the world seeks after, but real joy as we live and serve Him? After all, this is the God who created the giraffe and the blowfish along with lots of other funny–looking things!
Way too often, we lose sight of this somewhere in the seriousness of life, the life and death importance of the gospel, and the holiness of God. Our areas of ministry become “our cross” that we take up and deny ourselves with no smiles, no laughing, and absolutely no days off. After all, the “best” Christian is the hardest working Christian, right? As I prepared to write this devotion, I “googled” the phrase “ministry should be fun.” Every result I got back focused on children or youth ministry. Don’t the adult ministries get to have any fun?!
Pastor Mike recently did a study examining the seven festivals that God established for the Israelites. Did you know that God COMMANDED his people to be joyful and celebrate at the Passover festival? (Deut. 16:14-15) Jesus was known for having fun and was accused by the stick-in-the-mud Pharisees of being a glutton and a drunkard. (Matt. 11:19) We know that God loves music and he tells us to play, sing, and “shout for joy!” (Ps. 33:3)
So if you aren’t having fun serving Christ in ministry, check your motives. A person serving out of felt obligation or trying to earn God’s love will quickly stop having fun. Sometimes this wrong motivation is hard for us to see in ourselves. Jesus wants you to know that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Don’t let it become a heavy weight and struggle. To have fun in ministry, serve according to your gifts and with your eyes upon Jesus. It’s even okay to take a day off now and then. Having fun in ministry will build community and attract other people.
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