Saturday, September 22, 2007
musement?
I just met with an area pastor who talked a bit about studying the bible for recreation. I must confess, i never really thought of it happening that way. I realize that sometimes we fall in love with the intricacies of doctrine and fail to have it change us. Is it a habit many of us are making to study God's Word just to have ammunition for arguments rather than for edification and sanctification? Are we not given the gift of scripture to the end of the Holy Spirit revealing truths about God and what He requires of us and our relationship with Him with respect to His Son? Do we study scripture for the purpose of recreation, and if we do, is that OK?
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14 comments:
Recreation implies delight, and a savoring and enjoying of something. Is not the chief end of man to glorify God by enjoying Him? And His inherent word is one of many wonderful ways we are able to taste and see that the Lord is good.
I would say it is good to read the Bible for recreation, but that cannot be the only time of course...for there is always a place for discipline when our wayward wills rear their ugly heads.
Discipline and Recreation are both key aspects and and come together in relationship very nicely when reading His word. :)
Just a few thoughts, hope they made sense! :)
Kate Wenzel
Good thought Lickel. I'm probably going to take a very unpopular stance on this one and say, no, we shouldn't read for recreation.
Recreating is curing oneself by amusement (I did take a year of Rec Mgmt Classes :-) ). Recreation has become such an Americanized word and we have taught that all people must recreate during the week because it's psychologically healthy. But I guess I don't see that. I don't even know what it would mean to read the Bible for the sake of recreation, mostly because I don't find the Bible amusing; I find it convicting, threatening, hopeful, glorious, and fit for every occasion. When we read it we shouldn't go to it with the mindset to recreate, WHENEVER we read it we should go with a reverend and pure heart bent on worshiping God through the study of His Word.
But perhaps that's a bit of the Puritans flaming up in me.
I'm going to have to agree with Kyle (BTW, sorry I haven't posted for so long, been a little busy :).
My first thought was that if he is reading it for recreation then he's a bored chap that needs to find some good hobbies. If I was going to do something for recreation, I would sit down and watch the Packers destroy their opponents instead of subject my heart and mind to a holy God who is jealous for His own glory and will not allow me to rob Him of it or to delight in anything but Him without being painfully convicted.
If that is recreation then I want no part of it!
I think I am defining recreation as something different than you guys... I don't ever think God or His Holy Word can be taken light-heartedly... but there is a joy that can only come from knowing God...I think about how Piper writes of the relationship between duty and delight. That is where i was coming from...does the make sense?
Interesting discussion, yet very interesting views of recreation. I get a feeling that the disagreements in here are based on different views of recreation. For example, Mr. Borg calls recreation an "Americanized" word, then uses that American definition to make recreation to seem like a waste of time, or something that is so negative and slothful. This is a very close, yet inaccurate definition of recreation, regardless of your old major. Josh did the same thing. Now, before writing this I looked up recreation in the dictionary: “a refreshment by means of pastime, agreeable exercise, or the like" and "a pastime or resource affording relaxation and enjoyment." How dare Christians every try to be refreshed by God or even relax and simply enjoy who He is by reading His word? Clearly we should not read the Bible without a care, or ignore the hard passages that are scary and threatening. I mean, we need to fear God and Guard our steps when going to the house of God (Ecclesiastes 5:1-- rough translation). God is great, and glorious, and is to be feared. At the same time, He did send His Son to come and suffer and die in order to glorify himself, and save sinners. At the same time, He is good and deals only mercifully with his sheep. A few pieces of scripture that make it sound like maybe, we can recreate with God. Maybe you have heard these words before. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness, for his name's sake." Maybe I am just foolish to think that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Maybe somebody should warn the Holy Spirit that he is getting frightfully close to recreating with David, before the Holy Spirit falls into sin by being too light with his relationship with mortal man. What if the Holy Spirit dared to use recreation in His word to refresh David -- and me. How dare he?!?! Maybe the problem is not that we see recreation as watching a football game, but that we do not find recreation in our good and gracious LORD. Just a few thoughts.
Jeremy
I would have my picture, but I dont have a clue how this stuff works. Sorry:)
Wow my husband, that is excellent...and i agree whole heartedly!
Can't wait for you to come home so I can tell you! :)
Kate
What does reading the Bible for recreation even mean?
Jeremy,
Your sarcasm was less than appropriate.
As much as you disagree with the definition I used I ask that you consider the etymology of the word. The word “recreate” comes from Middle English. recreacion and means the refreshment or curing of a person by eating, to refresh or restore (re+create: create meaning producing from nothing), or it means to refresh oneself by some amusement. The third tends to be the most obvious definition. You stated that recreation is refreshment by means of a pastime yet even pastime is indicative of amusement. Hence to read the Bible in the manner of recreation would be to read the Bible for the purpose of refreshing oneself by means of amusement. The Bible becomes the subject of an action rather then the object of the action, it becomes the means of amusement. Even if we were to deviate from the acrolect (as you would have it defined) the basilect seems to imply a form of amusement. Since much of our understanding of language is based upon the basilect we might properly say that to read the Bible for the purpose of amusement is wrong. We might then say that a pastor who relays this message to someone that we should read the Bible for recreation is guilty of not giving a clear and understandable declaration of the truth (2 Corinthians 4:2). The statement should have been qualified. That is if you want argue semantics.
You also seem to equate delighting and enjoying the Lord with recreating in the Lord. When the Westminster Divines penned the shorter catechism their intention in saying our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever has nothing to do with amusing oneself with God. Enjoyment meant, “to acquiesce or rest in God as the chief good, with complacency and delight.” This achieved “when people settle themselves upon and cleave to the Lord by faith and when they taste the Lord’s goodness, and delight themselves in the gracious presence and sensible manifestations of God’s special love unto them,” (WSC Explained, Thomas Vincent, pg 15).
You are right in saying we should delight ourselves in God and enjoy Him but this hardly means we should recreate in God (given the etymological definition of recreate). But I just don’t see that recreation and delighting or enjoying is the same thing. I delight in my wife, I enjoy my wife but I don’t use my wife for recreation (what does that even mean?)
You also said, “Maybe somebody should warn the Holy Spirit that he is getting frightfully close to recreating with David, before the Holy Spirit falls into sin by being too light with his relationship with mortal man.” Perhaps, and this is not meant too harshly, you should watch your words a little more closely so that you are not guilty of profaning and blaspheming God’s Holy name. A comment like that is drastically uncalled for and highly unnecessary—and dare I say offensive to the truth of God. The simple fact remains that Scripture does not say the Holy Spirit used “recreation” to refresh David and so you are out of Biblical boundaries to posit that statement.
Perhaps this is but a moot point but I see no reason or Scriptural basis to say we can read the Bible for recreation (do we even see the Bible supporting the American idea of recreation?) All of our time is to be spent in the service of Christ, propagating His truth and laboring as slaves of righteousness to the glorious end of His glory.
Mr. Borg-
Hmm.... It is clear our disagreements are semantic more than doctrinal (something that I assumed from the beginning) and I sincerely apologize if my sarcasm was offensive. It was inappropriate, and should have been left out from my previous post. I did not mean to offend anyone, just getting some of my thoughts on paper about this. After reading your previous post, and reading your reasoning for your definition of recreation, I understand your stance more. I noticed that the word amusement was used often in your post. I purposefully did not use the word amusement, in order to avoid the link between recreation and amusement (a link that I think was the basis of your anti-recreation argument). Amusement means, to not think. Clearly not thinking when reading the Bible is not a positive thing, and should be avoided at all costs. To read scripture as amusement, or to not be changed by scripture is bad. However, with my definition of recreation (which I can submit to being incorrect, but I live in a postmodern world where my definition can reign true for me-- haha), I do not think the only purpose of scripture is to study it. That is what my post was meant to argue against, and I will stand by that. This is possibly where we disagree. To use scripture only as a basis for winning arguments (something reformed thinkers are constantly criticized for—and often rightfully so) and not something we can enjoy, or rest in, or delight in, is wrong. If the God of the scripture is true, our rest and enjoyment must be in Christ; our recreation would be better spent if it were to be with God in his scripture, then watching games or movies, etc.
Since it is getting late and I have to get up before 5 tomorrow morning, I must end on that. Again, no mean for offense for my sarcastic comments, just trying to make a point.
Jeremy
It would be nice for Mr. Lickel to chime in now and again, wouldn’t you agree.
And Mr. Borg, as always, please respond as I love having these discussions with you.
Mr. Jeremy,
I wonder if we misunderstand the study of Scripture. If all (dare I say if ever?) someone reads the Bible for the simple purpose of winning an argument he deserves to be ridiculed, for he is just as bad as anyone who reads the Bible out of amusement. I think that both show an irreverence for the Scripture as it denies the nature of the Living Word. Some read it too flippantly and others read it too academically; neither of which I support. Rather I see that both neglect the fact that God's Word is living--the one by turning it into an academic reference book no better than a school book and the other by turning it into a mere amusement to prick their fancy at a given time.
Whenever we go to the Word we should do so in order to savour the Words of our Lord, after all, the Bible is God's divine communication to His creation guiding them in righteousness and godliness. But I think the Christian culture has lost the reverence of the Word. It's interesting to read the Puritans on it. Prior to reading the Word they would spend hours in prayer preparing their hearts and George Whitefield in his journals records that when reading his Bible daily he would stop and pray over every word written (!!!). We should delight in God but we should do so in duty--for our duty to the Lord is our delight. Every time we open the Word it should be planted in our heart and bring forth a harvest of righteousness.
Well Mr. Jeremy, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite. I will even sing you a song now to lull you to sleep:
"Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree; merry merry king of the bush is he; laugh, kookaburra laugh, kookaburra gay your life must be."
*kisses*
Well, i think i may have not clarified myself well in the original post. Speaking of etymology, i titled the post "musement" because i think the person i was talking to did not mean that people read the Bible without thinking. To muse is to think, and the argument was against people actually studying the Bible, but for the purpose of amusing themselves with theological arguments and debates. That being the purposed end of their study of the scripture, the words they read seldom seem to affect their lives. I believe the thought was more about the debates and arguments are their recreation, not necessarily their study of scripture. Maybe that helps clear things up a bit.
Hey all,
Our patient schedule is pretty light today so I am killing time reading blogs!
When I think of the word "recreation", I feel it follows very closely as a synonym to the word "refreshment." When I think of the word "refreshment", I honestly think of images associated with resting, eating, etc. These actions are necessary actions, but I believe that they should be done in a spirit of thanksgiving and giving all glory to God.
I am reminded of the passage where Paul is responding to the false teachers who said things to the effect of one should "not marry and should eat only enough to sustain life" (big paraphrase). Paul, as it would seem from the passage, disagrees with them and states that as long as one marries and eats in a spirit of "thanksgiving", giving glory to God, marrage and eating are good things.
That being said, I would feel that reading Scripture recreationally would be OK as long as it is done in a spirit of thanksgiving, and giving glory to God through the reading.
Joe Arant
PS Sorry for no references, I don't have a Bible with me at my desk
How can you not be amused by Rachel and Leah cat-fighting over who gets to sleep with poor overused Jacob? Or fat old Eli running into Samuel's room in the middle of the night? Or Jesus with a great big grin on his face telling his disciples "I have bread to eat that you don't know about?" and watching them try to figure out his riddle. Why are those stories out there for us? That's the point to ponder, to muse over, to redefine, to enjoy, to refresh our faith when we get so caught up in the hows and the disciplines of belief.
No one may read this but I figured I would post it nonetheless.
"First; recreation may not be in the use of holy things, that is, in the use of the Word, sacraments, prayer, or in any act of religion." William Perkins
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