The Well-Played Life: Why Pleasing God Doesn't Have to Be Such Hard Work

by Leonard Sweet

Do you secretly think that the harder you work, the more God is pleased with you? You can live like that―for a while. But imagine what it might mean instead to unclench your teeth, loosen your grip, and actually experience God’s pleasure in you ―not just in everything you are doing for Him? The Well-Played Life is a journey of a life filled with richness, fruitfulness, and creativity of living in God’s pleasure. Renowned author Leonard Sweet explores what it means to please God in the nitty-gritty of life; how that changes from the time we are 5 to the time we are 50; and how in every age of our lives, in everything we do, we can experience God’s gift of play. The Well-Played Life offers a new spiritual direction of enjoying (and being enjoyed by) God. Discover how a Sabbath way of Christian joy is not only possible, but also how we were designed . . . and a core part of God’s plan for our lives.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 21, 2014

About the author

Leonard I. Sweet is an author, preacher, scholar, and ordained United Methodist clergyman currently serving as the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew Theological School, in Madison, New Jersey; and a Visiting Distinguished Professor at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Claxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The theology & argumentation seemed a bit sketchy, but there were some fascinating ideas in this!

[Christy Bower · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rocked my world, not because it was a new “song” but because I finally found someone with the same “song” stuck in their head as mine. For years, I have been forming some ideas. Hints of the theme appear in every one of my books. But here was a book that laid out the entire song—a song giving us permission, no admonishing us, to dance with Jesus from now until heaven.

Leonard Sweet’s book establishes a “play ethic” for Christians, who have earned a reputation for being negative, critical, condemning, and worse. It’s time to lighten up, folks!

I don’t usually mark up a book (so I can pass it on) but I underlined something on nearly every page and made a few notes in the margins. This is one book I will not be passing on (so get your own copy!.

Sweet spends time explaining why playing is not just for children and he loads the text with fun references to children’s games. We became immediate kin when I noticed how often he uses wordplay in his text. Although his style of wordplay is different from mine, I appreciated it all the same (although in a couple places it obscured the meaning and caused me to re-read).

The author breaks the Christian life into three ages and describes how our playing with God will look in each of those phases of life. To me, this seemed like an unnecessary convention to superimpose over the theme and the talk about First Agers, Second Agers, and Third Agers was distracting. I was so engrossed in the idea of playing with God that I wanted to stay on that focus.

Still, The Well-Played Life is the best book I’ve read in a decade. This certainly won’t be the last you hear me speak of it. I’ll be sharing quotes and ideas from the book here and on Twitter. Oh, and you can follow Leonard Sweet on Twitter or check out his website.

[Ben Carter-Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m using this book for a Church class I teach. I have enjoyed it.
So far there has been ONE dud chapter. Cave Dwellers seemed to be missing some stories and not as fleshed out as it could have been. The study questions were not much help for that chapter either.
A fine addition to the library and a solid entry point for a Church class interested in looking beyond what we have always done.

[Michael Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet’s ideas seem fresh, too many people might be afraid to write this in regard to the implications of possible freedom. I wish Sweet would have pushed further, but he’s writing to an audience that’s either relieved because they know, or people that carry torches and pitchforks because they will never know, so I’m that regard, what he wrote is enough and it’s good.

[Jennifer Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book says what I’ve been thinking for many years. You don’t get to Heaven by your deeds.

[Kyle Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book about how generations can impact the Kingdom of God.

[Louise Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book on how to make the most of your Christian life so your children will want not only to be Christians, but also make Christianity their identity. By doing so they’ll be happier and have a strong Christian identity. Although Jews are only 2% of the world’s population, they receive 25% of the Nobel Prizes. In the home they’re reminded of their Jewish inheritance and told constantly the stories of famous Jewish leaders. But in Christian homes children aren’t reminded constantly of their heritage or given images of great Christians to help them see what great Christians have done. They have to forge their own identity. Evil is radical alienation from God, but Jesus overcame that. We need stories of Jesus as well as great Christians so we can stay close to God. We also need to play. We’ve forgotten the power of playing and how it results in both mental and physical power. Instead, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, less parental involvement, cigarette and alcohol abuse, obesity, and especially less playing in the dirt has made it difficult to for us to see life as an adventure with God. Music, coloring, playing in the dirt, praying, confessing to God when we fail and ask for forgiveness, hearing stories about when we were born, having fun and adventures with family, experiencing love and feeling God’s pleasure, eating healthy food, and avoiding bad images, movies, and things that don’t lead to God are all ways we can enjoy the love of Jesus, the fun of walking with Jesus, and the adventure of playing as we discover God’s purpose and mission for us. All this and so much more you will discover in this book that you should read on walking and partying with Jesus. Celebrating life and partying are encouraged in God’s adventure story.

[Christina Claypool · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo, Dr. Leonard Sweet, you've done it again! As an acclaimed church futurist, in his new book, The Well-Played Life, Sweet explores a spiritual truth which has been until now largely undiscovered. That is, God wants His children to enjoy their time on this Earth, and to be joyously engaged with life at every moment and in every season.
At first glance, Sweet's stories seem as heartwarming as a country boy at play. Yet his narrative and research prove to be as thought-provokingly complex as the brilliant academic and semiotician that he truly is. This is a good, challenging read for anyone in ministry as it will enable you to better understand and motivate those you lead at whatever chronological stage they are in. It might also assist you in avoiding the dangerous pitfalls of ministry burn-out yourself.
In addition, it is a must read for all spiritually thirsty believers. Although this book might make you realize that you don't know as much about God as you thought. Without employing sloppy grace, Sweet rips away at the terrifying image of a Creator who is all legalistic rules and regulations, replacing that image with a loving Savior who wants to set His children free to reach for the stars, or at least to dance with them.
An excerpt from The Well-Played Life explains it best, "...for those in love with Jesus, those engaged in Godplay, life is more like swimming in a sea of living water. Fresh and clean, you can drink as you ride the waves. And when you are surfing the waves of the Spirit, all of life is a party. In the same way that Jesus can make all of life a mission trip—not just one outing—he can make a vocation and vacation one and the same. Jesus can make all of life a grand adventure."
Caution: If you do choose to read it, you will be changed!

[Hank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author, asking only that I write a review in exchange. What follows is the same review I would have written, had I not received a complimentary copy. That said, I have to say that I did appreciate this book very much. Dr. Sweet has a gift for framing his thoughts into relatable metaphors, or "narraphors" (narratives+metaphors), as he prefers to call them.
Many of the chapters deal with the result of the "Protestant work ethic," and how it has left behind a great deal of unfulfilled believers. I believe that this is a result of the fact that "work" as we have come to understand it, is really a part of the curse. This means that what we were truly meant to do is to "enjoy" God's presence, not dread it, or consider it a drudgery to serve Him. Dr. Sweet makes this point by using children's games (such as cat's cradle, hide and seek and rock, paper scissors) as illustrations for our fallen nature and the gospel message. In addition, he also points out that we were made to live in a relationship with God that resembles the best relationship between a parent and child, and that by living outside of this playful attitude is actually a sign that we have lost our true identity as humans.

The introductory chapters, where Dr. Sweet lays out his case and theme of the book, are perhaps the most difficult to get through. This brings down my overall score somewhat, but in the end, perseverance pays off and makes this a fascinating read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book the Well-Played Life because its message is so relevant to not only my life, but that of many Christians. Many Christians do not live a life of joy because our culture pushes us to succeed and to follow all these rules in order to get everything that is considered important accomplished. All this busyness, however, makes a huge negative impact on a person’s life and causes them to forget how to live and to take time just to rest and enjoy the life that God has given. The author uses a lot of Bible verses to show readers why our culture’s push for success is so wrong from God’s eyes and what we need to do in order to live the life a Christian was meant to live. The author teaches that most Christians make living by faith to be hard work so that they do not become poor, lazy disciples. Instead, the author explains that instead of making following Christ hard work, we should focus on worshiping Him both inside and out and that is the key to finding joy in life. I thought that this book had a powerful message and I have seen the effects of trying to work out faith not only in my life, but also those I care about too. This is a must read for every Christian especially those who are spiritually tired.

[Dwayne Shugert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome book from Leonard Sweet. The idea of life is play and not work is one that resonates with my soul. Not an excuse from the work of life, but rather a challenge to rise to the occasion the meet responsibility with laughter, work with play. To see in the play the deep transformation of work into Godplay, into living life with God in the midst of joy and laughter, and sorrow and grief. That in each and every moment of our lives is the presence of the risen Jesus who loves us beyond our wildest imaginations. And it is by this love that we have the space and freedom to truly live, to take risk, to play with and for the fire of the Holy Spirit to catch the rest of the world on fire with God's love and spirit.

This book reminds us that God takes great pleasure in us, that God actually rejoices over us, plays with us. Or as Zephaniah (3:17) tells the story:

"The Lord your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Well-Played Life by Leonard Sweet was a huge disappointment. After reading 40 pages of the 262 page book, I was finally through the introduction. Sweet’s book is overly-complicated and confusing. The quotes by famous people that are put in sidebars don’t flow well with kindle format, sometimes going over 3 pages with ordinary text alongside it. The author throws around Latin (I think) & coined words from another book he wrote. I got this book because I was excited about its premise, but I returned it because it was a difficult & slow read.

[Erin Goettsch · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is okay but not great -- creative and theologically sensitive in a few lovely parts, but it didn't blow my mind or anything. His ideas (although too many, and too cluttered in their layering) are better than his writing itself, which is very full of cutesy metaphors that lean a little too close to "bumper sticker Christianity" for my taste. And his (mis)use of data to "prove" or present some of his arguments is troubling at best.

[T.L. Clees · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think perhaps the highest praise I can give a book is to say: "read it! It will do your soul well". Read this book and find joy (again) in playing with God.

[Sara]

Great book!

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome, paradigm shifting presentation of what it means to truly LIVE your life adundantly.
I am going to read it again and take careful notes this time.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet's best, IMHO. if you don't have time to read the whole book, turn to the last page. I must've read the words there a dozen times or more. "Never leave the playground."