Fun versus Depth

The question has been raised about games, technology, and fun versus depth in catechetical and youth ministry settings. How do we lead children, students, even teens and adults to that deeper relationship with Jesus as his disciple? There may be no best answer, but here goes!

We Reflect What We Do

I am a firm believer that we cannot give away what we do not have! This applies to just about everything in life. Where the Holy Spirit is present, however, our efforts are multiplied but we need to have a clear idea of what we are seeking for those to whom we minister.

We are most able to offer those in our care fun if we are fun. We offer doctrinal knowledge if we understand and live the doctrinal truths of the church. We offer spirituality if we, ourselves, practice some form of spirituality. And, we lead them to spiritual depth if we, in fact, have visited there ourselves!

Balance

I would hope we would not see fun or depth as an either-or. If we pit the two against each other we will surely lose! My suggestion would be to offer a balance of the two. The more fun we have, the more depth we will need to strive for. This type of balance in our sessions, retreats, and conversations, allows us to be fully human and spiritual at the same time.

Vine and Branches

Lastly, we must remember Jesus’ message to his disciples just after the Last Supper (John 15:1-17). Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We’ve heard it before. We must remain in Jesus to produce fruit or we will not produce and be cut off the vine. I do not believe this is intended as a threat. It is a clear message to remain in Him. In fact, the word remain appears 12 times in this short allegory. That’s an interesting number considering the number of disciples at the Last Supper! He completes his message with “This I command you: love one another.”

When we think of fun and depth, let’s keep the perspective that Jesus commands his disciples to love one another as fruits of discipleship. Maybe, instead of fun versus depth, our focus should be on how we can help others remain in Him so that they will be loving examples of Christ’s love in the world!

PS – If you like what you see here please share with your friends and subscribe now to receive weekly posts from Transforming Catechesis!