Day Five: Beliefs that Get in the Way of Serving Part Two: Obsessive Recreation

This is another good Christian principal that has become a bloated, unsightly blob, blocking out the sun of Christian service. Enjoyment and relaxation are not just good, but God-given. I believe God laughs at his children’s jokes, especially the dumb ones and the ones He’s heard a thousand times before. He smiles when he sees us run, jump, and play. He cries with us during those tear jerky movies. He listens in during coffee with friends. He treasures the glad squeals on from roller coasters. The Bible (somewhat metaphorically) tells us that he counts and hides our tears in jars. I think he keeps our joys out on display.

C.S. Lewis says that the higher something’s capacity for good, that much greater is its capacity for evil. Relaxation and recreation are this way. It doesn’t take much to push them from great gifts to great burdens. Many Christians are burdened down by trying to keep up with their own recreation.

In our fear of working too hard, we often don’t work hard enough. We don’t mentor that young Christian because our emotional energy is run dry from everything else we do. We don’t go to the Bible study because we are worn out. We don’t committee to missions because we barely have enough money for our own expenses.

Looking at the statistics, much of an American’s time, resources, and energy primary go to themselves. In 2007, the average American spent four hours a day watching TV (not counting movies and theater time). That’s twenty-eight hours a week. They spent over 160 dollars on average on coffee alone annually. And they spend a little over three hours a day worry about debt (but less than five minutes a day budgeting). I don’t doubt many Christians are in reality emotionally drained, physically weary, and financially stretched; Self gratification is an exhausting practice.

The Cross and the Switchblade is the story of David Wilkerson’s work with gang members in New York City that would lead to the development of Teen Challenge, an international, Christian drug rehabilitation network. But the most important aspect of the story happens before David even starts thinking about New York. As a young, small town pastor, he made the decision to give up one hour of time that he had previously spent watching television each night and spend it in prayer. It was in one of those prayer sessions that God began to give him a heart for gang members and New York City. Literally, tens of thousands of lives around the world have been changed because one young man watched one hour less of television a night.

What would happen if Christians across American would give up one hour a day for God’s service? To spend in prayer or volunteering or mentoring? Could the millions of lives around the world be changed?