I’m no fun. This epiphany hit me in the middle of kids camp this past summer. It was the moment in the service that “Children’s Minister of the Day” was announced. I was nauseous at the mere thought of being chased by ninjas (part of the “hype”) up on to the stage and dancing around like a…yeah. Would I do it, for my kids? Heck yeah! Do I want to do it even a tiny little bit? Heck. no.
There is a huge difference between being a fun person and being good at making things fun for people. Please, please, put me in the back of the room…in charge. I’m great at picking people who will be hilarious for the improv part of the service. I’m good at setting people up to be funny. I can hear myself saying “We should have a Children’s Minister of the Day each day! Make them dress up and dance around really embarrassingly!” I’m a good hype man. For those of you who don’t know what a hype man is, google it…right now (and go with Wikipedia…the other one uses less than classy language).
I’d do it for the kids though. I have my moments when I know I must break out of my introverted comfortable place….and be fun. But, it does not come natural. I have had to learn this. I’m finally good at it in conversation. I had the office ladies rolling this afternoon talking about my experiences with hot yoga (don’t ask). I’m working on it when it comes to large groups. I would be comfortable being the hype man forever, but inevitably, my job requires me to step up and lead a committee or…even worse…a congregation. And, call me crazy, but I believe that sharing your life with other Christians (aka “church”) should be enjoyable.
Know your role and your goal. I’m a hype man. I love setting people up to be awesome. I do it every chance I get. However, most of my energy goes to pushing myself by getting out of my comfort zone. Last week I led the guided prayer for our traditional service (!!!), but in my prayer I said, “crosses path” instead of “paths cross.” I seriously hated every minute of it (all 1.5 minutes of it), but I’m forcing myself to have a “next time.” Until then, I’m gonna run up and drop the beat before our Prayer and Care Pastor announces those on the hospital list!
amber sugg 