"I Had Fun"

Stephanie and I have noticed in recent days how much our culture--including us--throws around this phrase "I had fun." It's almost as if all anyone ultimately cares about in any given situation is if they "had fun." I hear this from sports figures all the time. When asked about a difficult loss or even a win or how they pulled together to accomplish something, you'll hear them say something about "having fun" out there and how that is all that matters. When we have our kids play in little league games or participate in other activities, we typically will ask them if they "had fun" rather than focusing on anything else. Even blatantly wrong behavior can be written off as just "having a little fun."...I've even noticed this at church. When I'm talking to kids, I'll ask them if they "had fun" more than I'll ask them if they learned something or how they were challenged.

Seriously, try to pay attention to how much we throw this phrase around all the time. It might seem innocent at first, but I think that it reveals something a bit deeper about us as Americans. We are a people--myself included--who are now sucked into this idea that everything needs to be "fun." Life is about entertainment and pleasure more than about doing what is right.

I think that as Christians, we need to be particularly careful about making things in our church, homes, and personal lives too much about "fun" and not enough about being obedient to Christ....Does God want us to "have fun?" In some sense, yes. Christ's death and resurrection in our place makes it possible for us to have life--and life to the fullest. He wants us to have joy in our hearts no matter what happens. But His ultimate goal is for us to be conformed to His image. Being obedient will be difficult at times; putting sin to death is not always pleasurable at first. Suffering might be part of obedience.

So let's just be careful about elevating "fun" above godliness.