I’m going to a camp next week where the theme is “The Game of Life.” I’ve been getting ready by thinking of games. Today I thought of frustrating game breakdowns and how they might relate to church life.

Not dealing with a full deck. You play several hands but something seems odd. It just doesn’t work right. It’s like sitting in church, doing the stuff, but knowing something is missing.

Follow the Paralyzed Leader. Everyone just stands around with nowhere to go. In churches it’s the preacher who is always telling you what to do but not doing it himself.

Loaded Dice. So predictable. No surprise there.

Dead Batteries. No sign of energy anywhere. It used to be there but now, zzzzzz.

Modern Warfare (video game) sniper camper. No one is sure where he’s at but he patiently fires deadly shots at anyone who moves. We have them in our churches too. Quiet, camouflaged and deadly, they pick off people with their criticisms couched as concern.

Farmville – help me build up my farm. Their Facebook requests flood us continuously until we finally hide them. In the church, these are the people who always need something. The community exists to serve them, in their view. We learn to ignore them.

Trivial Pursuit whizzes. Have you been amazed by the people who know thousands of useless pieces of trivia but can’t zip up their own pants. Me too. In church they can tell you how big the ark was, quote Scripture and tell you the guy’s name who got his ear chopped at Gethsemane but they have no idea why the bible says they shouldn’t shack up with their girlfriends.

Games only work when you play them the way they are meant to be played. The same is true of life and life in the church, the Bible tells us how to approach them and live the way we were meant to live.

It makes sense.