Last week I began to share with you the Staff Behaviors that our staff here at White Oak has adopted. We did this because we wanted to build a culture among our staff that would intentionally drive us to follow Jesus more closely, love one another more purposefully, and lead our church laser-focused on our mission.
In last week’s article I shared with you the five behaviors that drive our staff.
I take Jesus Seriously.
I am Present for the Fun Things.
I Help Others.
I Multiply Heroes.
I Expect More.
I’d like to share with you more about our Staff Behavior of being present for the fun things. This seems like one of those behaviors that is easy to take it or leave it. Maybe you’re familiar with the TV show, The Office. On the show, these coworkers in this office setting would often gather in the conference room for a party, birthday, or some other reason to celebrate. During one episode they went off-site to spend a day at the lake to play games. Every time they gather, however, everyone seems quite apathetic, unenthused, and even miserable. It makes for great comedy. However, this culture-setting behavior is crucial for us to be the church staff and the body of Christ that I believe Jesus would have us be.
Our tagline for “I am Present for the Fun Things” is this: Building togetherness and community is our priority. This means that working as a team, building community with one another, and having fun while doing it isn’t just an extra, it’s critical. I see this in Jesus’s parables in Luke 15. In this passage, Jesus is being criticized by the Pharisees for eating dinner with sinners. In response, he launches into three parables. The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. But notice what Jesus emphasizes all three times. When these things are found, everyone throws a party! There’s good food, drink, and music. A celebration! Jesus sees himself (his grace, his forgiveness, his mercy) as the life of the party! Jesus brings people together to revel in his goodness.
You see this again in the book of Acts at the time the Church is born.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. -Acts 2:42-47
You see that? They took Jesus seriously. They studied. Worshiped. Prayed. Gave generously. And they shared meals, laughed, welcomed outsiders, and had beautiful parties. They had fun. And their willingness to celebrate with one another wasn’t an afterthought, it was an intentional response to the goodness of Jesus.
Our staff has lunch together many Tuesdays here in the office. One Tuesday each month, just before our staff meeting, we pitch in for lunch (usually themed) and we all eat together. There is a lot of talk about food, laughter, and sharing of stories. We encourage all our Life Groups at White Oak to spend time eating together and having fun. We try to incorporate fun into our worship services with humor in our sermons or videos. This is important.
You might say: It’s easy to have fun. Why is this such an important staff behavior? Fun isn’t hard. The truth is, though, it can be hard. We can get stuck in the drudgery of the day-to-day things that we forget to smile, laugh, and rest. We can begin to view ministry and even Christianity as stodgy and boring and burdensome. We can get so caught up in doing the job of ministry or caught up in accomplishing the checklist in our over-busied lives that we forget the people around us and the reason for our fun in the first place. Jesus found us when we were lost! He has brought us safely to the Father and all of heaven rejoices that we, his sons and daughters, are back home! Our neighbors, family, the barista, the customer service rep on the other end of the phone, our coworkers, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ have been put into our lives for a reason. We should be asking ourselves: How can I bring the fun and joy of Jesus into the life of this person today?
Building togetherness and community is our priority. So, throw a party soon!
Present for the fun things,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor
White Oak Christian Church