On Games...

Why do you suppose the Bible speaks so little about games?

Now, if by games you mean the things we see kids do nowadays, I would offer up the fact that childhood as we know it is a relatively modern concept. Now, it is true that, in Jewish culture, a young boy is not considered a man until his bar mitzvah (or girl and bat mitzvah). However, even still, since the society of the Bible is a pre-industrial, group-oriented society, their views of what childhood is woudl differ much from our modern, western, post-industrial concept. So, they would have not have focused on childhood games as much as maybe we would think they should.

If you see games as non-career activities that are for pleasure, again I would point you to the fact that their society was group-oriented, not individual-oriented like ours today. Narrative accounts would not include much about games because: 1) people were not as focused on self-fulfillment as we are today and 2) Narrative accounts coming out of that society would not focus on internal causes of external actions. Thus, games would not be mentioned as such, for they would be discussed as caused by external things, not by a desire for personal enjoyment.

However, I must mention how many activities that we would consider recreational are in fact included. For instance, boxing, running, archery, etc. However, these can also be seen, and indeed are often taken, as skills for a particular type of person, such as a boxer, runner, etc.

OK, enough cultural, intellectual stuff. Personally, I think that they don't mention games just because such things are not particularly important for the message they are trying to get across.

Well then... what is the proper role of recreational activities, then?

All things are made for the glory and pleasure of God, and that includes people. Methods for fulfilling our purpose as creations of God are revealed to us through both natural (conscience, nature) and special revelation (the Bible). Jesus says that the core of the message of the law and the prophets is to Love God and to love others. Thus, the purpose of our actions must lie in this, and thus the proper role of recreational activities must also lie in this.
I would say this in this way: Recreational activities must either be activites which express Love for God and love for others, or which better enable one to love God and others.

Let me give an example: AACF's football on fridays. I would say that such an event is done for the primary goal of fostering fellowship and love and unity within the Body of Christ.

Now, take an activity like, oh, i dunno, exercise in the RSF. Often, people will do it alone, so it won't really do anything to develop felowship, love, etc for others. However, it may be the case that they are doing their workouts as a way of Loviing God with their bodies. Also, exercising is an activity that develops one's body, such that it may be used to better serve God and others.

So, the proper role of recreational activities is to show love to others and God, and to develop one's self in order to be better equipped to show love to God and others.