Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The Well-Played Life

The Well-Played Life

Last updated on: May 21, 2018 at 11:05 am by Frank Viola

The Well-Played Life 2018-05-21T11:05:00-04:00 Frank Viola

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Leonard Sweet’s new book is a much needed statement that redeems the idea of “play” for the Christian.

Published by Tyndale, the classiest publisher I’ve ever worked with, the book is appealing both outside and inside.

In it, Sweet contrasts work, particularly the addiction to work, with the spiritual value of play.

According to Sweet, the “well-played life” is a life that is marked by joy.

Getting a sense of “pride” for doing work for God is an illusion. And God never intended it. Sweet’s book shows that we can please God by embracing His gift of “play” . . . and experience the fullness of joy that comes from walking with Him in the garden, so to speak.

When many Christians seem obsessed about being “used by God,” Sweet counters that the Christian life is about learning how to “play well.”

How we “play” (in the divine sense) depends in part on our age. According to Sweet, there are 3 age groups:

First-Agers (0-30). The important questions of first-agers is “How do I learn to live in God’s pleasure?” and “How do I learn to play in my relationship with God?”
Second-Agers (30-60). The important question of this group is “How can I retain or regain my sense of play amidst the complexities of my life?” or “How can my relationship with God help me find joy in my relationships with my family, church, community, and creation?”
Third-Agers (60-90): The important questions for this group are “How can I become a master player and world changer?” and “How can I be a coach to others in Godplay?”

The book is broken into three sections corresponding to each of these three life periods.

With respect to writing style, I’d say this is Sweet’s easiest read to date. Each chapter contains stories that illustrate the points and quotes by a varied battery of authors and artists that are pure gold.

Sweet argues that we Christians need to let go of a “work for” ethic of attaining God’s pleasure and live in a “gracional (grace+relational) playground” with a Father who loves us and gives His loving, playful presence to his children.

God doesn’t demand that you work to obtain His acceptance because His unconditional love is a playful, loving, grace-full relationship full of laughter, fun, and patience.

The Well-Played Life is a reminder to laugh, have fun, and play. I personally think that Christians who take themselves too seriously show that they haven’t met this side of God. And it’s a big side of Him.

As we pointed out in Jesus: A Theography, the garden was the playground of angels. And Jesus had a keen sense of humor.

If you think that the harder you work, the more God is pleased with you, then this book is a must read for you. It will help you to unclench your teeth, loosen your grip, and experience God’s sheer pleasure in merely having you as His child.

The subtitle is well deserved, “Why pleasing God doesn’t have to be such hard work.”

When reading a book, the ideas often spark my own thoughts on the subject.

So here are some of mine:

Was Jesus’ life all about work? Not really. He lived by the life of Another . . . His Father’s life. His Father was the One who worked in and through Him.

I grew up in several denominations that were marked by austereness. Humor wasn’t appreciated. And the leaders always looked like they were sucking on lemons.

As I read this book, I couldn’t help but think of this crowd. Regrettably, such people still exist in the Christian fold. And there’s good news. God isn’t sucking on a lemon in heavenly places.

I also thought about my own spiritual heritage . . . the Pentecostals. The Pentecostals are the “blondes” of the Christian faith. They have more fun. And they show all other Christian tribes that we have a God who is bursting with love, joy, fun, and play.

The book reminded me of these things. It also reminded me that God is not a big Soup Nazi in the sky. But He’s the One who invented fun, play, and recreation.

That doesn’t mean that the Lord can’t be grieved and displeased. He can. And there is a counterfeit for God’s idea of fun and play. But God’s highest and best is joy . . . a joy unspeakable and full of glory. This is the gift to all of His children.

While following Jesus does include work at times, it’s not primarily about work or effort. The Lord’s yoke is easy and His burden is light. But this is only experienced fully when the Christian discovers what it practically means to live by the Lord’s indwelling life. A concept that Sweet and I hammered away at in both Jesus Manifesto and Jesus: A Theography.

One final thought I had was that the world has perverted “play” and distorted it into a counterfeit that masquerades as something human beings need. What the world calls “partying” – which often includes Paul’s “works of the flesh” list of drunkenness, sexual immorality, and the like. The New Testament uses the term “carousing” for it.

This is a counterfeit for the fun and play that God wired us to enjoy. Unfortunately, some Christians have tossed out the whole concept of fun and play because of the counterfeit. Others have imbibed the counterfeit and justified it with spiritual language.

That said, I think this is one of Len Sweet’s best “solo” books to date. And so I highly recommend it to you.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 12, 2014

The Missing Ingredient

Next Post

March 19, 2014 An Irresistible Journey Into Transforming Love

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Haggai" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Rock Festive God's Messenger The Lord Saves