Created to Play: Thoughts on Play, Sport, and the Christian Life

invokes deep laughter. Fun at the heart of play has the potential <strong>to</strong> <strong>to</strong>tally absorb the player.
However, fun need not be merely frivolous. Although fun is a necessary part of the definition of
play, play is not the opposite of seriousness and can be very serious indeed. 7 Without a
seriousness about life, play losses its real power <strong>to</strong> be an “interlude or intermezzo in<strong>to</strong> our daily
lives.” <strong>Play</strong> becomes a “complement or accompaniment” <strong>to</strong> the serious work of life, 8 and “may
rise <strong>to</strong> heights of beauty and sublimity that leave seriousness far beneath.” 9
Another aspect of definition of play is that it is non-compulsory. <strong>Play</strong> must express
freedom and therefore cannot be imposed. As theologian Fred Sanders points out, “The
commandment “Thou shalt play” is an incoherent one; it is internally contradic<strong>to</strong>ry. We have
God’s permission <strong>to</strong> play. We may play.” 10 The natural human inclination <strong>to</strong> be free may be
“suppressed but not completely abolished.” 11 Often in the most serious, strict, compulsory
activities play nevertheless seeps out, often uncontrollably. The more formal, restrained,
controlled, and manda<strong>to</strong>ry a situation, the more likely a rising need <strong>to</strong> play and laugh will be felt.
Humans are created <strong>to</strong> be free, and imposed circumstances often spark playful expressions of
freedom. Following Sarte and Shiller, Moltmann says, “if man knows himself <strong>to</strong> be free and
desires <strong>to</strong> use his freedom, then his activity is play,” 12
<strong>Play</strong> is also fundamentally non-utilitarian. The pragmatic results of play must necessarily
fade <strong>to</strong> the background, <strong>to</strong> an almost subconscious level, lest the pure playfulness of play be lost.
<strong>Play</strong> “does not depend on successes and accomplishments, although it does not preclude these,” 13
and it most certainly has the potential of accomplishing much if it is allowed <strong>to</strong> be more than
merely a means <strong>to</strong> an end. The value of play is elusive in that as soon as you dwell on the
pragmatics of it, it ceases <strong>to</strong> be play. As Moltmann concludes, “all the theories about play make
the point that a game is meaningful within itself but that is must appear useless and purposeless
from an outside point of view.” 14
True play includes imaginative, creative, spontaneity. To play means entering a world of
make-believe where the players act as if the agreed upon rules, boundaries, and goals really
matter and exist. The Oxford English Dictionary includes in it definition of play; “<strong>to</strong> pretend or
make believe, for sport or amusement.” This has direct implication for the Christian in that the
exercise of faith and hope require a kind of imagination. While the faith of the Christian is not
based in a fictitious world of make believe, it does require creatively imagining something God
has promised in order <strong>to</strong> trust in it. Living with faith and hope leads <strong>to</strong> the kind of joyful
discipleship God requires of his people. Again, Moltmann offers helpful insight when he says
that “without the free play of imagination and songs of praise the new obedience deteriorates in<strong>to</strong>
legalism.” 15
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