Early in the summer of this strange year called 2020, we installed a badminton net in our backyard. Badminton is an enjoyable game and one that can be played either leisurely or with a killer instinct, so it's a good fit for a family like ours. In other words, it works well with different ages and ranges of skill.
Notice that I said we installed a badminton net, NOT a badminton court. Initially I intended to define the edges of the space and make it a proper court, but after playing with undefined edges for awhile I decided to leave it as it was.
What changed my mind was realizing that playing with undefined edges is a fascinating study in the spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law. It also helps to reinforce the ever-important principal of objectivity. You see, with the edges undefined, the participants are forced to play with the mutual understanding that to make the game work, both sides need to be honest and fair about wether the shuttlecock landed "in" or "out". We understand that the intent of the game is to hit the shuttlecock back and forth over the net in an attempt to land it on the ground on the other side in a place that's generally within reach. When a player manages to somehow accomplish that, they get a point. We understand where the boundaries basically are, but more importantly we keep in mind what the intent of the game is.
Here's how it works: when the shuttlecock lands on the ground we decide who gets the point, and if we can't agree, we redo the play. It's pretty simple really, and I'm happy to say that I've been pleasantly surprised by how rarely we end up redoing things. Really though, if both parties have the intent of the game in mind, as well as the goal of fair play, it's not all that difficult to determine if the shuttlecock landed at a reasonable place or not.
If you're paying attention you'll probably notice that there's more than one bird being killed with this proverbial stone. The biggest of these additional birds is the "win-at-all-costs" mentality. If someone is determined to just win no matter what, this boundary-less arrangement isn't going to work because they will bring no objectivity into making the calls and they'll have a tendency to argue everything since there are no clear cut boundaries. To me, that's a thought process issue that really ought to be dealt with, and if playing badminton with no boundaries assists in bringing that to the surface, wonderful! I believe one of the values of playing games is to learn to play according to the intent of the rules, NOT to figure out how to bend and manipulate them.
I realize how unpopular that sentiment may be in our current culture, but...have you read the book of Matthew lately?
In the 5th chapter of Matthew, Jesus lays out a fairly radical, NOT winning-at-all-costs way of living, which seems to largely consist of Him trying to get His listeners to grasp the intent of the Old Testament rules rather than just the rigid lines in the sand (spirit vs. letter). There's nothing wrong with rules, but have you ever noticed how they tend to insulate us from relationship? I believe that all human/human problems (and human/God problems) are really just relationship problems, so I place a lot of emphasis on relationships, and more specifically, on how to cultivate healthy ones.
When we're relationally connected to whoever is in charge, and we begin to understand the intent of their rules, those rules start to become less mechanical and, as a result, less burdensome. At our house we play badminton without boundaries to remind us of this.
