Authentic Holy Fun

By Traci Hubbard

There is a kind of fun that leaves us tired, broke, and needing a nap. And then there is holy fun — the kind that somehow fills our soul while we’re doing it. Holy fun is the laughter that sneaks up on us while we’re offering our gifts. It’s the joy that bubbles up when we are being exactly who Divine LOVE made us to be. It’s the lightness that comes when faith is not a burden, but a delight. And if we read the Gospels carefully, we realize something important, Jesus was not boring. 

We have somehow turned following Jesus into a serious, furrow-brow, whisper-in-church, don’t-smile-too-much experience. As if the Kin-dom of LOVE runs on solemn faces and quiet sighs. But Jesus? Jesus went to parties. Jesus told stories that made people laugh. Jesus used ridiculous images, camels going through needles, people trying to get specks out of eyes while planks are sticking out of their own heads. That is not accidental. That is humor. That is holy playfulness.

Jesus understood something we often forget, “Joy is not a distraction from faith. Joy is evidence of faith.”

In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others…” Light shines. It doesn’t glare. It doesn’t scold. It doesn’t groan dramatically in the corner. Light is warm. Inviting. Alive. And nobody shines when they are pretending to be someone they’re not. Which is where authentic holy fun begins.

The Holy created us as humans, which means, we have her blessing in being authentically who we are. Paul chimes in on this beautiful truth when he writes to remind young timid Timothy that it is more than okay, it is his spiritual responsibility to, “Fan into the flame the gift of God that is within him (you)… for God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-discipline,” which means sound mind. Fan INTO the flame. Don’t miss that word, INTO, because it is telling us that the living energy, the Divine light of LOVE, is not just weaved into our souls, but is the very essence of who we are.

Folks, fear shrinks us. Fear makes us vigilantly suspicious. Fear makes us stiff. Love makes us playful. Fear makes us hide our personality. Love lets us be fully ourselves. Holy fun happens when we stop trying to be the version of “Christian” we think we’re supposed to be and begin being the person LOVE actually created. The Spirit ignites the flame of her energy of Life, Love, and Laughter within us intentionally and beautifully, so we be expressions of our connection with Holy Creativity, Holy Fun. Flames, fire, well, they are a little unpredictable. They crackle, dance, draw people in, and reveal the shadows of those trying to control or dim our light. Authentic holiness isn’t about being perfectly behaved, it’s about being fully alive in each moment so we can experience the marriage of our energy entangled and dancing with the Divine. Folks, our Creator does not make boring people. We do that to ourselves.

Peter writes, “Use whatever gift you have received to serve others…” Whatever gift. That means if your gift is hospitality, holy fun happens around your table. If your gift is storytelling, holy fun happens in your stories. If your gift is making people laugh, holy fun happens in your humor. If your gift is fixing things, holy fun happens with a wrench in your hand. This is not accidental. This is divine design.

Jesus hits this teaching out of the park when he shares the story of the parable of the talents. Three servants are given resources. Two of them take a risk. One plays it safe. The safe one is the only one who gets in trouble. The issue here is not the failure of the one who played it safe, who chose not to live an authentic life by embracing every divine resource given to him/her. The issue is the person’s fear. Whatever we fear, whoever we fear, becomes our Master. The Holy is love, perfect love, and perfect love casts out all fear and does NOT involve punishment for being authentically human. The scared servant buries her gifts, her resources, who she is, not because she’s immoral or sinful, but because she’s afraid to be fully seen. When we fully embody who we are and live into our gifts, we become lighter, not heavier. When we live authentically, cynicism, judgement, even rejection will come from some, but remember those who try to convince us to dim our light are living in and out of fear. Sadly, some people live so deeply afraid to be human, they oppress others to join them in their misery. Folks, the Holy doesn’t say to the timid servant, “Well, at least you didn’t mess anything up.” Unconditional LOVE simply and gently asks, “Why didn’t you try?” And do you know why? Fear. The opposite of holy fun is not sin. It is fear.

I can hear my mother’s voice saying, “Traci, adversity is a horrible thing to waste because it holds treasures, teachings, and light.”

A woman in a church I once knew had the most contagious laugh I have ever heard. You could hear it across the building. It sounded like joy had learned how to echo. But she tried very hard to suppress it in church because she thought it was “not appropriate.” So, during worship she would cover her mouth. During fellowship time she would excuse herself. During Bible study she would cough to hide it. One Sunday during coffee hour, someone told a story that caught her off guard and her authentic laugh exploded out of her before she could stop it. The entire room froze. And then, everyone started laughing with her. People recall that moment being the spark., the flame, the light, that brought their congregation to life and birthed a new way of being. People relaxed. Conversations deepened. Strangers connected. Walls dropped. Later she said, “I felt like I had been hiding something God meant to use.” Her laugh became ministry. That is authentic holy fun.

Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Abundant life is not timid, muted, or colorless. Abundant life looks suspiciously like joy. It looks like people being fully alive in the Spirit. It looks like the Aurora Borealis that people are drawn to experience. It looks like gifts being joyfully used. It looks like fear being replaced by freedom.

Some of the most powerful ministry we will ever do will feel like fun to us. And that is not selfish. That is sacred. Because when we are living out of joy, we are operating out of how God wired us. That is why Jesus’ teaching feels so alive. He is constantly freeing people from the heavy, joyless version of religious piety and inviting them into something lighter, truer, inviting, contagious, and more beautiful. Imagine our congregation being a space where children run up to the minister and I hold them while we sing. Imagine a community of people where homes are open, invitations say “come as you are,” tables are set, conversation fuels laughter, meals matter. Imagine a community of faith where reflections and shared stories stick around in our hearts and minds long after Sunday. Imagine a community of faith where people leave lighter than they came.

According to Anne Morrow Lindbergh in Gift from the Sea, being insincere is the most exhausting thing in life. Somewhere along the way, a quiet and sneaky little lie snuck into the church. The lie whispered that love for the Sacred looks and feels like seriousness, solemnity, sincerity. The first moment of laughter initiated by Jesus was not a sermon or a healing, it was keeping a party going. Six stone jars of water turned into wine. Not Jackson Triggs, but a tasty grand cru wine. Jesus clearly did not get the memo that holiness is supposed to be solemn and serious, although he did understand the sincerity part.

Folks, joy is not a distraction from the gospel or our work in accomplishing our vision and mission. More often than not, laughter and fun are the doorways the Spirit uses to draw people inside. Holy fun creates safe spaces for people to relax, listen, and ask questions. Spaces where humans can be fully authentic and laugh whole heartedly.

Authentic holiness isn’t pretending to be someone else. It’s letting the light, the flame of the Holy, live freely and fully in who we are. If you are an ocean, be an ocean. Don’t be a pond just because some people can’t swim. (Oscar Wilde) Authentic holiness is divine fun because it is about enjoying who we are without worrying about being like someone else wants us to be so they can feel comfortable. Authenticity is fanning into flame the gifts we’ve been given. It’s trusting that joy honors the Divine and the intention of the Gospel in becoming LOVE, not reverent statues.

Jesus invites us to come to the Holy with the heart of a child, and I don’t know about you, but I have never witnessed a child enjoying an ice cream cone with stoic reverence. I have witnessed full enflamed messy drippy ice cream joy…the kind the Spirit of LOVE soaks up, takes in, and spreads around. My question for us to take home today isn’t, “Am I being holy enough?” My question is, “Am I dimming the light of who I am?” If we answer “yes,” then we need to ask ourselves why? Because holy fun is often a clue. A clue to our calling. A clue to our gifting. A clue to our light. And when we stop burying our gifts…when we stop hiding our laughter…when we stop fearing our joy…we don’t just have more fun, we shine. May it be so, amen.