Playground Theology

8/25/2021

Written by: Kenny Scott

Let’s be honest. The only real reason to look forward to elementary school as a child was recess. Way back when I was a young grade-schooler, we even had three per day! Shocking, I know. I won’t mention the half day kindergarten with snack time AND nap time! Thank the Lord, all 6-year-olds today are mentally and emotionally advanced enough to focus on their academics for 7 hours straight unlike my generation.

But recess is what my friends and I looked forward to the most. All-metal jungle gyms with monkey bars above gravel or asphalt, teeter-totters, 10-foot slides, football, tag, basketball, tetherball, and red rover. It’s amazing 90% of us survived to see middle school.

But not everything on the playground was peaches and cream. There was the occasional injury accompanied by tears, playground game rule infractions accompanied by scholastic debates, large kid bullies accompanied by panicked running, and the occasional dust-up with one’s lifelong friends.

Now these conflicts rarely moved beyond the progression of the unwritten “dare/double-dare/double-dog dare/triple-dog dare” rules, but on occasion escalated to near physical blows. Now, I can’t speak for the girls in this situation, but if you were a boy, you know that a strange line of trash talking could often be overheard in these tense toe-to-toe, no-flinch moments. It wasn’t “You wanna piece of me?!”, but oddly enough “Yeah, well, my dad can beat-up your dad!”

Now I can honestly say, I never once saw fathers throwing down cage match style to settle a second-grade argument that started at recess on their kid’s behalf. So, in retrospect, this boast seems like an odd thing to say, or be confident in at all, in the face of danger. But in the eyes of a young child, especially in the days of corporal punishment, there was no one bigger, tougher, stronger, more on your side, and willing to do anything to defend the ones they love than a dad. And if you had a physically intimidating looking father, you could walk around the playground with little sense of fear of being challenged.

Sadly, Christians, I’m afraid in our adult lives we’ve lost this confidence-granting childhood theology. In a world spiraling into chaos full of polarized politics, faith in education by misinformation, terrorism at home and abroad, pandemics, racism, rejection of God and His good morality, broken families, hyper sexualization of society, social media overdose and the resultant rise in mental illness, legitimization of substance abuse, etc., etc., etc., we’re becoming passive players in what appears to be a losing battle. But that is not the truth, and not the part we were designed to play in the mission:

“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14b

We have been intentionally, supernaturally, positioned in this very place at this very time in human history for His glory and our good, and you can be sure that the Church of Jesus Christ, His royal priesthood, was created for such a time as this. Because of this, we don’t need to be anxious or afraid but need to step into and embrace the call of God on our lives both corporately, as a community, and individually, as a son or daughter of God Most High. There need not be the fear in us that is in everyone else. Why? Because of our dad!

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (daddy). Rom 8:14-15

As a Christian, you’re likely aware that part of what this passage imparts is an intimate relationship with God the father, “daddy”, but also because we have this intimate relationship with God, “What can you do to me?! You see my dad?! What are you going to do, say mean things about me?!“ So the world claiming, “You’re not this, you’re this, you’re ignorant here, you shouldn’t say that, you shouldn’t do this…” is crushed under God’s eternal: “THIS IS MY SON/DAUGHTER!”.

What is the world going to do to me in light of that? Make me suffer? Well, “to live is Christ” and He’ll be with me no matter what you put me through. Kill me? Well, “to die is gain” and my existence will get infinitely better for me if you try that. The voice of our Father in Heaven will always have the power to drown out the accusations of the enemy and those the enemy uses to try to wound and distract us from accomplishing our mission. So, load your weapon with love, grace, and truth and step into the battle knowing your “Dad” has your back!