… Come and see,
… Come worship the Lord with laughter,
… and bring a teenager
Dear Young Life,
Two of my favorite quotes are:
“Laughter is the Holy Spirit.” (Anne LaMott)
“Laughter is the closest to grace.” (Karl Barth)
I love that! Don’t you? 😊
They both lift up the premise that laughter is serious business in the Young Life mission. I’m so proud that Young Life laughs! Our humor is essential in introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ, and helping them grow in their faith.
In Young Life, our message is Jesus.
Our method is friendship.
One of our many strategies is this simple and beautiful endeavor, and calling; humor.
In the month of April… There is a day we all set aside to take part in a “fool’s day.” We get to focus on the silly, the court jester part of all of us, and the creative ways we might “prank,” or “get” someone.
I don’t think “April Fools Day” is the kind of humor that Young Life is striving for. We should never use humor to “get” anyone. Rather, it is to capture or captivate a teenager to consider the One who created them.
So, it is imperative we take the 364 other days to be “Fools for Christ.”
“We are fools for the sake of Christ.” (Paul)
With our humor and laughter, we take kids from…
Boredom to abundance,
From darkness to light,
From fearful hiding to an appropriate Spot Light.
From resistance to curiosity,
From a life spent in and around turmoil and trauma, to the best week of their life.
The beat down get lifted up… the invisible become seen.
We take kids from death to life with humor, so we must always be careful with it and cherish and nurture it. Laughter in Young Life should never humiliate, degrade, embarrass, or victimize. It should always lead to safety.
We should stand on the “why” of laughter. We should pray over our delivery of humor before we ever take the stage. Our program directors should pray over every skit, every sketch, camp and club… Everything.
The “why” of humor in Young Life is grounded in the idea that we are taking, leading, presenting, and placing kids at the feet of Jesus. Many in the world believe that the “why” or reason is just to be funny. May it never be in Young Life. May we lift up the principle that our programs should be… Godly first; fun second and funny third. (In that order and priority.)
I have seen many funny things that were not godly. I have seen many godly things that weren’t that funny… godly is the goal.
If you can imagine a diamond ring analogy, the diamond is the Gospel message. It is “just Jesus.” Humor and program are the four prongs that lift up, and hold it in place, the beautiful diamond. We lift it to the light so kids can examine its brilliance and experience the amazing love story of Jesus.
On a practical level, may I lift up what I see as the “3 M’s” of humor in Young Life; Movement, Momentum and Message.
Movement
Movement is giving lots of extravagant things to see. It’s “eye candy” that involves them. It’s crazy adventure. It’s using the entire stage and exaggerating our physical movements. It’s over the top uniforms and costumes.
Momentum
Momentum is constantly keeping in mind that we are taking and leading kids somewhere with our laughter. It’s pointing kids to where we want them to go: the feet of Jesus. We need to keep things moving quickly. Lights and sound; being unprepared can be momentum killers.
Message
Message is grasping and praying up the idea that everything a kid sees says something about Christ.
If someone was to receive a pie in the face at club, how would Jesus do that?
Shaving cream, not whip cream.
Towels available on impact.
The person would know in advance they were gonna be part of something fun.
There would be cheer for “Let’s hear it for ____!”
In closing, I lift up to you excerpts from 1 Corinthians 15…
“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye… the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.”
“The perishable puts on imperishable.”
“The mortal puts on immortality.”
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“Thanks be to God, who give us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
I have seen this mystery first hand thousands of times in Young Life, especially at camp. You see a kid get off the bus skeptical and resistant. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, you see something different. Perhaps in the middle of a volleyball tournament, square dance, hoe down, ropes course, etc. a kid gets lost in the fun and takes a step towards Jesus.
“The perishable took on imperishable.”
“The mortal took on immortality.”
We are court jesters for Jesus my fellow “fools for Christ.” Everyday!
Hi Ho Away We Go!
Warmly in Him, Ash
Written by Mike “Ash” Ashburn