I don't know about all of you, but I have lots of fun at church and I have fun with others - be they believer's or unbeliever's. I have fun with Pastor's and those who are not Pastor's. Bob, you have an open invitation to head on over to visit me and I promise to introduce you to some fun people!!

I clearly remember from my confirmation days when our Pastor told us that we were free! In fact, Luther and his 'Sin Boldly' statement came up. “Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world.” I think there are many faith's that get hung up in not having fun, and I just don't believe that the Lutheran Church should be one of them! Now, I am not saying to go out and sin - rather not to be hung up in sin so much so that you do not live your life to the fullest! Christ came to give us life and life that is overflowing! How is that not amazing and filled with joy and, yes, fun!?!

When I grew up as a child, any family function had church members and the Pastor and his family there as well. There was much fun happening, trust me. There was much laughter, some drinking, good food, and it almost always began with prayer. I loved those family gatherings!

We have a Great and Glorious God who also has a marvelous sense of humor as well, and that includes Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I mean, there is much humor in nature - seriously funny stuff. There is also many times in the Bible where Christ's emotions are talked about - and if Christ cried, he certainly laughed. I have brothers and sisters in Christ who are Pentecostal in their faith walk - and they tell me many times that they were "drunk in the Spirit with laughter".

Christ spent time openly with sinners, and thank goodness he did, because I know that I am one of those sinners.

I love the challenge and I would gladly offer up my choir to come and help "infect" your group with our joy and celebration!

At seminary, my wife and I began throwing some very fun parties. We had a wine party, where everyone had to bring a bottle of wine. We all got to taste about 10 different wines and select the ones we liked. Most did not fill up their glasses. It was a blast. We also had a Mardi Gras party (without the 'adultish' themes associated with Mardi Gras). It too was a blast.
So far I have not attended too many boring Christian parties. But those that I have been at are really boring. I think the key is to find a group of people that you feel comfortable with to share stories and laugh.

Super average topic again guys. Nice discussion.

In some ways, this actually works against my wife and I. We actually don't get invited to many things with our non-Christian friends because they seem to think that our Christianity prohibits us from doing so. The problem in changing that mindset is that we just don't like to do the same things they do, so, in reality, we really don't like doing things with them. For example (and it's a big one), my wife and I are not really much into drinking and we get really uncomfortable around people when they're drinking. It's not that we believe it's sinful or anything...just not for us. And since most of their parties are about getting smashed, doing silly things, and laughing at each other, we're just not much interested, so unfortunately, we perpetuate the myth. When they come over to our place though, we do try to have as much fun as possible, but we can tell that they don't really seem as comfortable.

At the same time, our old small group used to be crazy fun. Sometimes it really was TOO much fun in that we didn't really accomplish any of the study we set out to. Heck, one time before study, my wife and one of our friends played a drinking game when someone from our church was on Wheel of Fortune. Every time she bought a vowel, they'd do a shot. It wasn't a very long game, especially when she bought all five vowels in succession, but they had a blast and we LOVE that story. We play games, talk about pointless nostalgia stuff, joke (with innuendo sometimes) incessantly, and some of us even like to drink a bit.

But in a lot of ways, you're right that it isn't like that, and that's sad. Maybe it comes from our own tendency as Christians to be judgmental of others. If I spend so much time looking at what others are doing and criticizing them for doing it, even if only in my mind, then I'm VERY conscious that others are probably doing the same thing to me. Which means that I'm going to be very careful of what I say and do, especially at a first meeting.

Guys, first let me invite you out to California, specifically Roseville California. We know how to have fun! When I hear this podcast I just have a hard time imagining a church family that I can't have fun with. Of course I do need to come to terms with the fact that my small view of the church does not reflect how other communities behave. Our worship pastor flew out from Georgia and I think he and his wife felt like they were instantly at home because we were all having fun. That might not be the case everywhere they looked.

Rob, my challenge to you is to lead a small group and set the tone of having fun in the process. Be real and enjoyable and invite those in your small group to join you in letting go of their church faces.

If the culture of your church is such that you don't feel like you can have fun around these people, but you know you are called to serve there, then try and break the culture. Be bold, be a fool in public and you may just find some others who would gladly step out with you and begin to actually enjoy their time with the body of Christ.

Do you think you might have been a bit too disparaging toward the "straight-laced"? It's good to encourage people to have fun, but to call people "boring" for being cautious? Why do we think "piety" bad word? Granted our most pious actions are "like filthy rags" before God, but at the same time we're called not to be a stumbling block for others - this includes other Christians - and we're called to focus on things that are pure, lovely, and commendable (Phil 4.8). We're not supposed to look like the rest of the world. We weren't called to be cool - but that doesn't mean we can't be - we were called to be salt and light. (And we weren't called to be nice, either, for sure.) Please don't bag on other people for being too reserved just because that's not your style. If people want to listen to Joy FM (or insert any "bubble-gum pop" Christian radio station here), let them, but don't give them a hard time for it. The Pharisees weren't condemned for being "nice" or "boring" - they were condemned for works righteousness, hypocrisy and the like. "Christian things" aren't inherently bad. Take on the right "plank", perhaps.

I like to drink beer, play Texas Hold 'em, listen to Dave Matthews and drop the occasional cuss word. But if the people around me want to listen to Amy Grant or Chris Tomlin because it helps them live out their faith in the "horizontal realm" - that's cool with me. I don't care if they're "boring". I might hang out with my old college buddies instead, but I don't think we should condemn them for being boring. And, personally, I know I'm more likely to drink to excess with my college buddies than with the "Young Adults" group from my church - so maybe I shouldn't hang out with my college buddies on Friday night - I won't cut ties with them, but we've got to be smart about it. I agree with you totally that we need to be the same person in all contexts - family, school, work, church, and with old friends at a bar. It took me several years to come to that realization. Yet - "different strokes for different folks".

Now that I've gone on my rant, I will say that I enjoy your podcasts and appreciate the topics you take on.

Peace to you,
Jake

I know I'm slow to chime in on this one; it's been a busy week, as usual. Previous commenters seem to have covered all of the obvious topics, so I'll just throw some ideas out instead.

I seem to recall from listening to this podcast last week that it was largely sparked by a particular gathering that Pastor Dion attended. It reminded me of the "game nights" that we have with our friends - and not often enough, I might add.

Depending on how well people know each other, there's sometimes that tension where nobody's sure how to get the fun started. In an organized event, there's often an "icebreaker" game to try to get people to open up. On a smaller scale, a great icebreaker game is "Loaded Questions." This game has everyone answer questions of a moderately personal nature, and whoever is "it" gets to try to guess who supplied each answer. You may have played it, but have you ever played this game when someone decides to start providing completely outrageous answers? That can definitely take the game to a whole new level.

Another great party game is called "Boxers or Briefs." It's like "Loaded Questions" and "Apples to Apples" rolled into one. The gist of this card game is that you complete sentences about the person whose turn it is, and they have to pick the one that's the most true (briefs) and the funniest one (boxers), with points awarded for each. We generally ignore the score and simply play that one until we've laughed ourselves out and it finally stops being funny.

I've invited some non-Christian friends to these game nights, because I think they'd have fun and could see that Christians don't always fit the stereotype, but so far, I haven't had much success in this area. Oh well, at least it's a chance to get together with friends and have some fun!

Micah

Okay, I've been traveling and have just been catching up on the podcasts. This one struck my interest because I agree and disagree with the topic.

Many times Christians do walk on eggshells around other Christians and do not feel like like they can be themselves. My personal thought is that this is from an immature faith and should be outgrown. This can be accomplished by more mature Christians being real. The holier-than-thou attitude comes from those who do not understand grace and sanctification. It is the idea that they are either okay or that they somehow need to segregate themselves from reality. I had a guy on my floor in college who was baptized twice (while I knew him) because he "didn't think it took". He also scolded our yearly "rib feast" tradition, where the whole floor would pig out on ribs and wings, because it was something that was "done in secular colleges".

When you extend that attitude to small groups you have to ask where it comes from. The immediate place I would look would be the leadership. Not only of the group but also of the church. My question for the two pastors is have you ever stood in front of your congregations and admitted of struggles that you have? One on hand you may offend people who think you are supposed to "holy" and on the other hand it also presents the example that you are human and it is okay to be human while allowing the Holy Spirit to transform your life.

On the idea that people will be judged for their actions in having fun, I have had a different experience in the drinking arena than what has been discussed. Where I live the legal alcohol limit is .03 which comes down to one beer. My drinking was getting pretty slow when I moved here (about one beer a week) but the limits slowed it down even more (about one beer every two months). I also found that I feel better when I don't drink at all. For all practical purposes I have become a non-drinker primarily for health reasons. My non-Christian friends accept this without reservation. It is my Christian friends who have cast more judgement towards me and accused me of being a legalist. Even after explaining to them that I don't care if THEY drink, I just choose not to for my own reasons, I am still looked down upon.

I know the subject was more than drinking but that is one example where the stereotype has backfired. In truth, the people I hang out with have great time because we are real with one another. We admit our struggles and encourage one another. We act like we do any other place, and have a great time.