Worshipping For The Fun Of It (April 18, 2004)

I'm feeling guilty over having recommended a couple weeks ago to sing louder because it was "more fun" - as though the goal of fun should motivate praise. Should it?

Probably not. Not that there is anything wrong with fun. Like sex, fun is a gift of God, but also like sex it is a dangerous thing when pursued for its own sake and in the wrong way. Just as we must channel sexual appetite into the confines of marriage, so also we must channel the yearning for fun into those areas best designed for it. A person who indulges sexual impulses indiscriminately becomes a rapist, a pervert, an adulterer. A person who seeks fun without regard for appropriate channels or restraint becomes a rude buffoon at best, a psychopath at worst.

The rush to locate "fun" at the heart of worship is a disease plaguing our churches, and I never fail to be alarmed by efforts to attract people to our houses of worship on the basis of how much fun they'll have. I have before me three letters mass-mailed to me by local churches, and all three feature the word "fun" either in boldface or all caps. Example: "At Westbrook Church you'll find friendly, accepting people and a comfortable place to ask questions - and you might just discover that church can be a lot of fun!"

So I'll have fun if I attend, but is there any chance that I, an unchurched visitor, will be convicted of sin and discover my soul's peril apart from God? When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he instructed them to conduct their worship with such powerful and reverent prophetic utterance that a first-time visitor would be "convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'" (1 Corinthians 14:24-25). It is hard to imagine such conviction of sin occurring in a church that has labored to show its visitors that "church can be a lot of fun!" As C. S. Lewis said, "Repentance is no fun at all."

More than 100 years ago, in a message titled "Finding Sheep or Amusing Goats?", Charles Spurgeon wrote the following:

[P]roviding amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." That is clear enough. So it would have been if He has added, "and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel." No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him...I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive and with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them.

Offering up our hearts in worship and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus are not occasions in which we should seek to amuse ourselves or others. If singing to the Lord is fun - as it was for King David (2 Samuel 6:14-15)- then wonderful! Praise God. But to proceed from that truth to the thought, "We could make this a lot more fun if we do such-and-such" is to take the first step away from the goal of glorifying God and toward the goal of indulging our desire for a good time. That selfish path leads to corruption and sin.