"Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity."
- (Lk 8:14)
"He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich."
- (Pr 21:17)
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BIBLICAL LIVING 101 - Fun (Concept of)
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You may be forgiven for thinking that we are continuing with our topic on wealth this week - no we are done with that topic - , we would like to turn our attention to talking about having FUN! (Ha, now you need to read the texts again!) We would like to (as we do) go into it in a little more detail....
"A Christian is no fun to hang around with..."... is that true? Well, it seems that way from the texts we quoted doesn't it... pleasure certainly doesn't seem to be highly commended from those two alone.... but lets make sure we are defining things correctly.
Pleasure (Worldly Amusements) is NOT equal to Joy, Happiness, or Peace. When the Word refers to pleasure in a derogatory form, it is usually associated with drunkenness, revelry, mirth, sexual immorality, and gluttony. This is giving in to the desires of the body to do what feels good to it. These are "works of the flesh" - though not all works of the flesh are related to pleasure -
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; -Adultery-, -fornication-, uncleanness, -lasciviousness-,Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, -drunkenness-, -revellings-, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." - Gal 5:20,21 Please note the items we have marked with dashes. Those are the ones we think of when we think of worldly pleasures.... a.k.a. Spring Break..or Mardi Gras.. (to pick a few).
Does God not like partying? On the contrary - He threw 3 feasts every year for the people of Israel, has invited the whole world to an amazing end-of-time Wedding Reception, Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding party...King David sang, danced, and played music, and we are all called to rejoice in the Lord always! We have just confused joy and happiness with partying...
The Christian religion (as practiced by innumerable denominations globally) shows an incredible amount of diversity when it comes to the topic of fun/pleasure.
At one end of the spectrum, we have the mendicant and the hermit, the monks who have taken vows of poverty, chastity, service, silence - even self flagellation - to utterly mortify and triumph over all physical desires and passions.
Moving across the spectrum, we have priests, nuns, and those who have taken formal holy orders - take similar vows ... but they certainly do indulge in "worldly" pleasures/conveniences, and even those at the very top of the religious hierarchy ( formally recognized by their peers.. e.g. the Pope) can be seen to be enjoying themselves. There are pleasures that are permitted... and some that are not - rules vary by denomination, as does individual compliance to those rules.
Now we come to ordinary people. There are those that are utterly consumed with worldy pleasures, and those that are not (different priorities - work, research, kids, career, etc.). Even among christians here, there are various opinions on what is permissible as "clean" fun.
How can we have such a wide spectrum of behaviour from one set of guidelines? Who is right? The monks and the hermits or the ones who party-hearty "for tomorrow we die"? Is it OK to play sports ? What about coffee, smoking, the occasional glass of wine or stronger, comedy clubs, rock concerts, vacations, adrenaline junkies, skiing, skydiving?
The way to correctly process a TON of information on this topic is to ground ourselves in a few basic truths - some we have stated already, but will recap here:
1. Worldly Pleasure = Physical/Emotional highs experienced by our bodies and minds, that we seek out.
Drugs and Alcohol are pretty straightforward, and the dangers of addiction are well known. Excessive partying/frivolity falls into this category, as does pure sensual enjoyment. Our senses are a gift for us to enjoy responsibly, but when we give our life up to hedonism, we misuse the gift, and cheapen the even greater gift of life itself.
2. Pleasure = Something our "Flesh" (technical term for soul) craves. We can simplify the Apostles List if we just understand that a lot of the sins are related to the SELF - envy, strife, hatred, murders were some other lovely "works" of this flesh that were listed. You will agree that these are not good. Ultimately pleasure is rooted in what medicates you and makes your flesh happy.
3. Its not about what goes in, but what comes out.
"Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." - Matt 15:17-20
You can put lot of things in your body (drugs,alcohol, mexican/indian food), and you will have to deal with the consequences(!) of doing so, in this life, in that body. Its a car you've been given, and its yours to take care of and use to go about your business. If you don't take care of it, it will break down. If you give it good gas, it will run smoothly. Where you GO with your car is what our Lord is talking about.
That's what comes OUT of your mouth...and God is very interested that those be the right things. So don't major in the minors in terms of what you eat, or what bad habits you are trying to kick. They do impact your witness, but do not impact your ability to grow and change them, or diminish His Love for you one iota!
4. A focus on pleasure makes you short-sighted.
You trade the future for immediate gratification - but by wasting your today's, you are creating a terrible past, and piling up an ominous future for yourself. Having a sense of perspective is CRITICAL to making sense of the planet we live on. We are here having a TEMPORARY experience.
"By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward." - Heb 11:24–26
The Hebrews Chapter 11 Faith Hall of Fame is filled, without exception, with long term thinkers.
You can only indulge in long term thinking if you have FAITH! If you don't believe God's Word, you are not going to trade pain for pleasure are you? Does this mean Christians are to only experience pain in this life? No, absolutely not! Christ came so we could have life more abundantly!
Faith is absolutely essential to looking beyond our present tribulation (which Christ said we would have to endure) of living in a fallen world, that offends our senses and sensibilities. God does not want to deny us pleasure or fun, on the contrary, He provides the capabilities and means to do so - but, like money - pleasure is not to replace Him as the center of our focus.
5. There is no value in it.
In his quest for wisdom, Solomon gave himself every pleasure as well - to see if there was a secret there - but apart from temporary enjoyment - it did not have a lasting value. It was "vanity", empty - did not satisfy. Yes it feels good, but ultimately doesn't make you a better person, teach you life lessons, or grow you spiritually. It is candy/soda.
Pain and suffering are sometimes necessary for growth, even though our bodies and souls would rather not go through it. Just ask any professional athlete. Winning involves pain!
This is why Solomon can say,
" A good name is better than precious ointment,and the day of death than the day of birth.
It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind,and the living will lay it to heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. " Eccl 7:1-4
We will take a closer look at fun in the coming weeks, but we hope this has gotten you thinking! :-)
Hallelujah!