It may not be your bag. I understand that. There are different personality types in a church, and not everyone is a ‘party animal’. That’s fine. But around Christmas or New Year church folk often enjoy meeting up and having some innocent fun. And there is a lot to be said for it.
Apart from the food and drink (strictly no alcohol avoids any offence, and please, no soggy bottom quiches!) the staple diet of these celebrations is generally some silly songs, games, sketches and a little bit of friendly leg-pulling concerning church routines or high-profile characters in the fellowship. Why are these get-togethers potentially positive for a church?
Theologically
It sends the signal that our God is the God of all of life – not just the serious side. As Christians we can afford to be human. With the caricature (mostly unfair) of grim-faced Puritanism hanging over us, it glorifies God to show a more well-rounded approach to life. All that is good and true finds its origins in him. There is a place for laughter in our Christian lives which ‘does good like a medicine’ (Prov. 17:22). Though the Lord Jesus was a man of sorrows, nevertheless He used humour against the Pharisees (Matt. 7:3,4) and it is unlikely that children would have felt drawn to Him, as they did, unless He often had a smile on His face. We have a ‘blessed God’ who loves us in all departments of life.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …