Can Christians Have Fun?
The righteous shout for joy and are glad.
Proverbs 29:6
Fun is uninhibited spontaneity. Life is fun when we feel free and allow ourselves to be spontaneous. Worldly people plan their calendar around “fun” events. Have you ever planned a major “fun” event and asked yourself halfway through, Are we having fun yet? Many have made fun their chief ambition in life. They throw off their inhibitions by going to places where nobody cares how they act. Some believe they need to drink or take drugs to get rid of their inhibitions or escape from the dismal realities of their natural life. They think that Christians can’t have any fun, because their “rules” keep them from being spontaneous and their “religion” makes them feel inhibited. That is a false understanding of a Christian’s relationship with God, as David demonstrated.
David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, and his joy was so great that he was “leaping and dancing before the Lord” (2 Samuel 6:16). This uninhibited spontaneity caused Michal, David’s first wife and the daughter of Saul, to despise him in her heart. She said to David, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today” (verse 20). David had not been acting properly according to protocol, because he didn’t have the typical inhibitions that plague those who are more concerned about what others think than what God thinks. However, God judged Michal, not David (see verse 23).
As David danced before the Lord, it didn’t bother him that he was undignified in Michal’s eyes. He didn’t even care if he was humiliated in his own eyes (see verse 22). He was having fun in the presence of the Lord. Likewise, our lives will be a lot more fun if we rid ourselves of unscriptural inhibitors. Chief among the inhibitors of Christian fun is our carnal tendency to keep up appearances. We don’t want to look out of place or be thought of less by others, so we stifle our inhibitions and spontaneity with a form of false decorum. That is people pleasing, and Paul said that anybody who lives to please people is not a bondservant of Christ (see Galatians 1:10). As Christians, we don’t play for the grandstand. We play for the coach.
Too many Christians are sound in the faith but sour in the face. They claim to have the joy of the Lord, but you would never guess it by their countenance. Having fun in the presence of God is living with enthusiasm. “Enthusiasm” is derived from the words en (in) and theos (God), and literally means to be “in God.” So it is not inconsistent for Christians to have fun and be enthusiastic about life. We are not chained to contemporary cultural taboos; we are liberated children of God. There is no need for us to keep up with the Joneses, because they probably don’t have a clue where they are going. They may be without God and headed down the wrong path, but we’re not. The world may be getting worse, but we’re not.
So, how are we supposed to act? Christianity is not an act. It is a real experience. A liberated life in Christ. We restrict our freedom for our weaker brothers and sisters, but we don’t act like the weaker brothers and sisters who can’t be themselves. Frankly, it is fun being saved!
questions to consider:
What would be more fun—standing in line at Disney Land or having a pillow fight with your children or grandchildren? Why is that? Which one costs the most? Which one feels better at the end of the day?
What is fun about being a liberated child of the God who judged Michal and not David when he danced before Him?
What are some of the unscriptural inhibitors that plague the church?
Do you feel free to spontaneously be yourself in Christian circles? Why or why not?
How can you increase your enthusiasm?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.