My little sister just returned home from her last children’s church camp. Next year, she’ll attend the Jr. High camps that I first attended and then worked as a councilor at while I was in high school and college. On her way home from camp, she called me, as she has every time she’s come home from camp, to tell me about the week and to share with me the stories still imprinted in her mind.
I asked her, as I always do, what her favorite part of the week was. Her answer threw me. I was expecting her to say something like “the worship” or “small groups” or “making this new friend who I can’t wait to see again soon.” Instead, she said that her favorite was the first day when they placed the icebreaker games and she got to know her fellow campers. This wasn’t at all what I was ready for. I mean, sure those games can be fun, but you go to church camp for the God experience, that moment during a specific song or conversation or walk through the woods where the presence of God is overwhelming and God speaks to you in a way He never has before. Icebreakers? I hated those games when I was her age. I thought they were a waste of time. Let’s get to the worship, the small groups, even the rec time when we can play ultimate Frisbee! I don’t want to play get-to-know-you games; I want to do camp!
You know the games that I’m talking about, right? The icebreakers, the openers, the tension-releasers. The kinds of games or activities you play with a group when either you don’t know them or they don’t know each other. You know what? Let’s play a couple now…
We won’t do any of the high-impact ones today. We might save that for another time. Let’s start out with one that one of my old youth groups used to love. It’s called would you rather. It’s pretty simple. I ask you to choose between two choices, and you tell me which one you would rather have.
-Would you rather have a million dollars or your own plane?
-Would you rather swim in the ocean or in a lake?
-Would you rather the toilet paper roll up or roll down?
The next one is a little more complicated. It is called hello my name is. You must introduce yourself and then say something you like doing that starts with the same letter as your name. I always hated this one, because there aren’t a lot of activities that start with “w.” So I would always slightly cheat and say “Hello my name is Wes and I like to toss washers.” Would anyone like to give it a go? Any volunteers?
Ok finally, we have a game called two truths and a lie. In this, the person says three statements: two are factual and one is made up. Then the other members of the group have to guess which two are true and which two are made up. Now, the statements can be outlandish and crazy, like “I parachuted onto the Whitehouse” or something like that, or they can be everyday things, like “my favorite food is mac and cheese.” So here we go. I’ll say three statements, you tell me which ones are true and which one is a lie.
-I changed my major in college from theatre to theology. (Truth)
-My first date with Jessica was to a carnival. (Lie)
-I absolutely hate wearing close-toed shoes. (Truth)
These games can be fun, right? When I was growing up, though, I couldn’t stand them! But after talking with Katherine on the phone this week, I started thinking about just how many times I had played these kinds of icebreaker games with so many different groups of people. I realized that many of the people I played these games with at camp, at college, in church, and in a number of other places are still some of my closest friends today. Now, I’m sure that this is not solely due to our having broken the ice together, but it couldn’t have hurt.
When I first meet people, I have a tendency to be silent and reserved. I feel like I’m being judged, and it makes me defensive. When you play an icebreaker game, though, you have no choice but to open up. The mood of the activity takes over. We are not just playing a game anymore. We are sharing our stories, our histories, with each other. This might be, as Katherine pointed out, the most important thing that we can do with each other.
In John’s Gospel, we are invited to join the author in witnessing glimpses of Jesus’ story. It is not whole; it is not complete. It is not meant to be, either. And yet, in this story, we see and hear the testimony of what Christ has done and said. From here, we have a chance to dive into the real and living story of God, to continue to develop our knowledge and relationship with Christ, to take part in the narrative that, if ever penned in whole, could not be contained by all of the books in all of the world. The writer of John’s Gospel is very clear that Jesus did many more things than were written down, He said and taught and healed and ministered in such a way that we might never completely know or understand. But because of the icebreaker that is the Gospels, that is the Bible, we are given the chance to get-to-know God and to start building on a relationship that will literally change our lives. We just have to choose to allow the ice to be broken, to take that first step in faith, to allow this glimpse of God’s glory and love to turn into a life saturated in it.
Next week, we start our journey through The Story. We will catch glimpse after glimpse of God as we work our way through the biblical narrative together. Consider this the icebreaker to the relationship to come. Open up your heart. Prepare yourself for what is coming. Be ready for something amazing to happen, and be ready for God to integrate Himself into your story, just as you find yourself being integrated into God’s.
Let’s pray.
i'm with you. i hate icebreakers..mostly because they have a tendency to be awkward. and i'm not really good at meeting new people. but i really liked this perspective on ice breakers! and i totally agree! that we can't just stop at what we read in the gospels or what we're told. unless we invest in that relationship, move past the introduction and have unstructured conversations and experiences with and about God, we'll never move past "acquaintance". i do, however, love looking back after i've formed a strong relationship and seeing how far we've come, remembering where we began. and at that time, those ice breakers become dear memories and reminders of the goodness of God and how he puts people in our lives for a reason.
ReplyDeleteour youth group ice breakers usually consist of going around saying name, grade/school, and answering a random questions such as what shampoo you use or your fav snow cone flavor...guess we're not as creative as those alphabet games ;)