True Competitor: A 10-Day Devotional for Athletes, Coaches & ParentsSample

Fun Factor

WisdomWalks Principle
If it’s fun, it gets done.

When I coach lacrosse for my boys, I love making practice fun. But the “funnest” thing we ever did was to play pick-up football at the end as a reward! Instead of running sprints, I took a football out of my lacrosse bag and split up the teams. They made up their own plays, and I saw some pretty creative stuff. They ran harder than they ever did at the end of practice. But the overwhelming emotion was pure joy!

According to every youth sports survey, the number one reason kids quit sports is “it’s not fun anymore." Imagine what the game would look like if we all played and coached with a spirit of fun instead of pressure. Imagine if fun was one of our core values! We might just win more. Baseball all-star Ken Griffey Jr. once said, “When you have fun, it changes all the pressure to pleasure.”

Did you know that the word “fun” is never mentioned in the Bible? God’s version of fun is wrapped up in the superior word – joy! Joy is the deep feeling of great pleasure, satisfaction, and happiness regardless of the circumstances. Joy is something we experience on the inside that overflows on the outside. We shouldn’t be able to contain it. That’s what we all want.

Sometimes the Christian life feels a lot like competitive sports. It feels like we have sucked the fun out of it. Many want to quit. If we’re going to make it for the long haul, we better make it fun. If you hate it, you may not make it. Devotions shouldn’t be drudgery. And sports aren’t a matter of life and death. They’re meant to be enjoyed, not only by the fans and spectators, but by those who coach and play the game! We can create a culture of intensity and still have fun.

The Fun Factor is this – If it’s fun, it gets done! I’m way more likely to stick with it if it’s fun. It can be hard work, but it better be fun too! And, others are far more likely to join in if they perceive that it’s fun! So let’s make our faith fun again.

In Germany they proved that the Fun Factor is true! They converted a set of stairs leading to a subway into an actual working piano keyboard. Each step played a note! Within two days, 67% of the people took the stairs (the hard way) instead of the escalator (the easy way) right next to it! Almost no one chose the stairs when they were just plain old stairs! But when they were transformed into something fun, people literally jumped for joy all the way up the steps!

Our joy should overflow into everything we do – on the field, in the locker room, on the bus, in the classroom, and even at home. Let God fill you with joy overflowing! Because if it’s fun, it gets done.

WisdomWalks SPORTS, Ellie Claire (Nashville, TN), pages 59-62.