There’s a conception of people who are Christians, that they’re angry, that they’re frustrated, that they don’t smile, that they’re killjoys and that they look down upon everybody. And because some people have that belief that Christians are like that, there’s almost this idea that Christians can’t have any fun. And I remember for me when I was on my journey, beginning my journey with Jesus, I was really freaked out when I started to believe in Jesus ’cause I’m like, “Oh man, like am I gonna just be one of those “like frustrated, angry people,” ’cause I had that preconceived idea about what are Christians.
Now, here’s what I wanna tell you. Christians actually get to have the most fun. Now, let me explain this to you because really there’s two sides of the coin as we talk about this. Within Christianity and in the teachings of the scripture there is a sober-mindedness. And so because of that, because of who God is, our understanding of a holy, perfect God who created and sustains us, who has purposes and plans not only for us but for everybody in the world in which He creates and that He works through. So the reality is: Christians have fun differently than everybody else. So when before I was following Jesus, being on drugs or partying or doing this, that was the stuff that I thought was fun. But when I became a follower of Jesus, I realized that I didn’t actually need any aids to have fun. I just needed to be sober-minded but then I get to be full of joy.
So there’s a holy fun or a pure fun that a believer gets to have that is different from the way people look at fun. Like I remember growing up, especially being from New Jersey where sarcasm is a love language, we used to think it was fun to rip on one another. And especially if someone got really upset, that was even more fun. Now, obviously as a follower of Jesus I realize actually no, that was actually hurtful and I shouldn’t have been having fun hurting somebody else.
Now, you might say, “Well listen, you were raised wrong “or something like that.” But really what goes on is that sober-mindedness leads us to really care for other people and we get to have so much fun. A lot of the things that our culture says is fun, God says, “Actually, the culture says it’s fun “but it actually hurts you in the long run “and hurting yourself or other people is not fun.” And so I believe that the joy of the Lord is our strength. God is the most joyful person that we could ever meet. And when we follow the most joyful person who’s ever lived, we will have a ton of fun but it will look much different from maybe conceptions of fun that any culture might have.