This is part of Scheduling For Focused Christian Living, a Blog Series.
There are a lot of things that put pressure on the time that we have in any given day, but you may be looking at all this and wonder if there is any time for fun in all of this! As Christians we take things very seriously because we realize that we only have so much time in this life to serve God and receive rewards in Heaven for what we do, but does this mean that we can’t ever have a good time while we’re at it?
Before I get to the answer, I want to say something, which is that our number one priority is not fun and we are not promised fun. In fact in Philippians 3:10 Paul writes about wanting to know “the fellowship of His sufferings” (NKJV for the rest of this post) of all things! This is because knowing Christ is more important than having a good time on earth.
However, if you want to have fun, I would ask that you consider these five questions and how you might answer them when considering the type of activities that you enjoy:
1. Does this activity glorify God?
For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
- 1st Corinthians 6:20
The context of that verse has to do specifically with fleeing sexual immorality, but it holds true with any time in your life, so if we apply it to anything that we consider to be our “fun time”, we should consider if it glorifies God or not and act accordingly.
2. Does this activity fit in with your priorities?
You’ve written out your priorities, the things that matter to you the most, so you have got to ask yourself if the thing that you’re wanting to do is taking away from those other things or not. If it is taking away from something more important, is it worth it? Can you find a way for it to add to them instead?
One example of this for me is that I enjoy video games quite a bit, but I’ve found myself playing them for hours on end while completely ignoring my wife who was in the same room. My solution is that most of the games I own now are ones that I can play with her two player.
The game is still a pointless, fun endeavor with few other benefits, but I get to spend that time with my wife and it even teaches us a little bit about how we can communicate with each other, especially when we’re frustrated because the other one isn’t jumping onto that one thing the right way.
3. Does this activity edify yourself and others?
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
- 1st Corinthians 10:23
As always, the Word of God makes a better point than I ever could. As Christians, we are free from the law, but grace still tells us that we are free from things of this world and we’ve got to ask ourselves if what we want to do is something that is going to build people up or is it something selfish or tearing someone down?
4. How does this activity fit in with your schedule?
I think it is safe to say that if something is your priority, it should be reflected in how you set up your daily, weekly and monthly schedules. If you have taken care of your priorities and see a time where you can fit in a fun activity that aligns with glorifying God and edifying others then that sounds good to me!
5. Is there a way to do this activity in a way that promotes fellowship and/or evangelism?
Some of the best times in my life have been when I have been having fun with other Christians doing really stupid stuff that still glorifies God. This can be anything from a birthday party where we’re just being weird (but loving each other in Christ) to times when we are serving the Lord through some kind of evangelism with church on the beach or even at a NASCAR race.
There are ways to have a great time doing the things that you enjoy while still serving the One whom you love the most, God.
So, yes, I believe there is time for “fun” for the Christian, but we shouldn’t take anything so lightly that we don’t consider God in everything that we do.
What kind of fun do you have that glorifies God?
