When did Christianity become fun

Here are just a couple of tweets by well known people in Charismatic circles:

1. If what you’re doing isn’t fun enough, maybe you’re out of the will of God!…

2. “Giving is not just about money or ministry. It is also about bestowing life, love and laughter into the lifestyle of others.”

We live in an increasingly hedonist and selfish society, is this really the message we want to get across ?

The Apostle Paul’s message to a hedonistic culture didn’t mention them having fun, or that he was there to bestow laughter into their life. Maybe Paul laughed though his shipwrecks, beatings, stonings, or maybe he wasn’t in the will of God. He had to deal with a Church at Corinth that had serious problems, bestowing laughter wasn’t one of his concerns.

Whilst I welcome the desire to move away from a Church that has a constant diet of sin and misery in their sermons (did I mention Southern Baptists), let’s not over react and move too far to the other side.

I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless

Not many people dare to preach on this verse. It’s a life changing verse, and to obey is to have your life changed, how could it be otherwise. For the Western Christian, brought up on a menu of Hollywood movies, TV, video games, you tube and internet sites, this verse offers nothing but frustration. There’s a huge difference between saying ‘there’s nothing wrong in watching movies’ and ‘I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless’. It’s a daily challenge to be pure in heart, and one of the most helpful things we can do is keep a careful eye on what we view with our eyes. If you choose to do this, your friends will challenge you, they’ll tell you you re shutting yourself off from the world, they’ll accuse you of being a fundamentalist. Oh, believe me, they won’t be happy with you, not happy at all.

 

One thing I can guarantee you, if you take up this challenge then before your very eyes, your life will change.