What would it look like if...

I was watching my two youngest boys play last night. I watched as they played something sort of like football. What the rules were I couldn't really tell, but they seemed to be having a blast making up the game as they went. At some point when I stepped out of the room and came back, it had switched to a variation of baseball. Again the rules were a little fuzzy to me, but it sure looked like an exciting game. One of those games where they were cracking up frequently for no apparent reason. I love when the laugh so hard and can't seem to quit. It is a pleasant sound even though it is definitely a noisy experience.

Wonder why people don't more frequently see the church that way? A place that is fun and full of laughter even when they don't totally get all of the "rules". What would it look like if we weren't known so much for the rules... the "you can't", "you don't", etc... but known for our creativity. Or known for the laughter involved in pursuing Jesus. Or the love involved. What stops us from making it look a whole lot different than what it is? Stop and imagine what it could look like, not what it is, but what it could be. I wonder what it would look like if we...