After the success of the past week—celebrating the launch of JesusHacks and accomplishing several personal goals—I’ve come to a conclusion about faith that is drastically different than how I viewed it in my teens.
I finally see that Christianity isn’t boring—that is, if you’re doing it right.
In my teens, I was a snotty, know-it-all with the perception that religion was nothing more than a bunch of old, stuffy people pushing their moral views on a younger, more enlightened generation. I thought faith was a matter of tradition, not personal change, and because of this, I saw everything in the Christian bubble as boring.
Sometimes, regardless of our age, I think we can all feel like this. We can feel as though faith is an ancient system no longer relevant to our lives. We could lose ourselves in thinking it’s only tradition, and there isn’t much fun to be had within the worldview.
But now, I highly reject that.
Much of the fun and success I’ve had in my previous years have been attributed to the growth of my faith. This very website is the result of me taking my faith seriously, and having fun in the process.
If you feel that Christianity doesn’t bring much fun into your life, I’ve crafted a list of all the ways it has helped me enjoy life more, and do things I would’ve never dreamed of doing. Here are just a few of the ways you can have fun with your beliefs also:
1. Let your faith allow you to dream
People treat dreams in a very negative light these days. They’re very realistic about it—for good reasons of course—but as a result, people can actually be discouraged to dream too boldly.
This was me for a good portion of my life. I was scared of all the risks in dreaming.
But as I grew in my faith, I slowly learned how to dream. It’s a matter of belief and action combined together, and I believe faith helped me to dream by exercising the muscles of my belief.
Now, I’m not scared of failing with my dreams; I’m scared of never starting with them. I know my ambitions were placed inside me for a purpose—that they are God-given—and because of that belief, I’m letting my faith inform how I make a difference with my goals.
2. Touch subjects others are afraid to touch
We like to keep our beliefs clean and safe, building a wall around them so no one can question them. We sometimes don’t like to talk about spiritual matters for fear of making others angry or sparking a debate. But then, when we keep our beliefs safe and hidden away, we’re not really using them. We instead separate them from the rest of our lives.
So what’s my advice? Go where others are afraid to go. Talk about the things others would like to keep hidden away. Have intellectual conversations, and don’t let it go too far.
I’m not saying to spark unnecessary debates. I’m saying, don’t be afraid to say something about Jesus or your beliefs. You’ll find that the more you bring it up, the more it’s at the top of your mind.
3. Allow faith to inform your life in practical ways
One of the goals of JesusHacks is to bring faith into the practical matters of daily life. People say faith already does this, but then they wonder why they get spiritually dry when work gets too much and life gets faster.
Truth is, faith informs our daily life more than we believe it does. I built a whole productivity and simple living website based on this idea! This is one of the joys with JesusHacks—it helps me see all the ways Jesus helps improve my daily productivity and living.
We just have to mine for all the ways faith informs our daily life without resorting to oversimplified answers, such as God provides everything and everything will be o.k. Look for the details of how faith intertwines with everything you do.
4. Read the Bible as a story you’re a part of
One way that has recently helped me connect to Scripture is by reading it as a story I’m a part of. I see parallels with how the characters act like I would normally act, and relate to their faults.
I mean, isn’t that why we fall in love with characters in stories? Don’t we love that they’re just like us?
When you read the Bible as a story you’re a part of, you’ll notice all the similarities between you and the characters. You’ll learn when they learn and you’ll grow as they grow.
This is what Scripture wants us to do, I believe—it wants us to live as if we’re in the story.
5. Celebrate everything you deem as a blessing
Finally, I used to not notice blessings because I was too stuck on how I wanted things to be. If I didn’t get the job I wanted, but got another job, I would sulk instead of celebrating the job I did get. If things didn’t go the way I planned, I threw a fit.
I’ve come a long way since then. Now, I celebrate everything that’s a blessing.
If my wife and I achieved a goal in our personal finances, we celebrate. If I get money doing writing somewhere, we celebrate. If we hang out with friends whom we love, we celebrate.
Celebrating blessings helps you see just how giving and good God is, instead of keeping you stuck on how you want things to be.
Having my beliefs inform everything about my life is fun. The more I try to segregate it from my life, the less fun I have in my life. It’s odd how we can sometimes get into this habit. But if this is you, I encourage you to do the five things listed above to help bring faith back into the picture.
Before faith was boring to me. But now I know that the best way to have a blast with my faith is to bring it into the fold every chance I get. I hope you do the same.
Photography Credit: Real Life Photography