Playfulness: Is It Part of Your Theology?

The other day I was doing a radio interview and the host made the observation, “You say in your bio that you're playful, and I've never read that in a bio before.” And I said, “Yeah, I am. I'm known perhaps as almost too playful.” It got me thinking though. Some of my playfulness is personality, but some of it is theological, right? Like, if we know that we are delighted in, that our God is crazy about us, that there isn't some lingering disappointment or disgust or anger with us, but instead, that right now, right at this very moment, 

No matter what I've gotten myself into, He says, “I'm very fond of that one. That one right there is a delight to Me.” 

Doesn't that predicate some lightness in us? I know the theological jargon that happiness is dependent upon circumstances, and joy is independent of circumstance. I get that. But doesn't there have to be some happiness in your joy? 

I understand life is hard. Believe me, I get that. But sometimes, don't we get to be playful? I wonder how we see Jesus sometimes too. Do we see Him bummed out? That He's always intense and heavy. As if He was saying, “All right, we're going to go make some wine for these people at their wedding. I don't like it. Not happy about it. I gotta do it to fulfill Scriptures. And then we go to Hebron... I just want to take a nap really…” No!

Yes, Jesus had really hard things to face, and He knew they what was coming up. 

But around the campfire with Jesus, it had to be delightful because He was delightful, because He created delightful. 

Because the One who put the planets in place is also the One who came up with the best humor, and understands what builds people up and doesn't tear people down, and gives them great joy being on this planet. It's one of the great payoffs. Playfulness allows people to imagine that maybe I don't have an agenda, that maybe I'm safe and can be trusted. And so, I'm really convinced that playfulness is a delightful attribute of God, and it's the Fruit of the Spirit. That joy. So, yeah, that's on my bio, and nobody's going to get to take it away from me. And it shouldn't be taken away from you.

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