Fun!

What is fun? Fun is pleasure. Everyone likes pleasure, unless one is a masochist, then pain is fun for them.

The entire concept of sin is based on fun. Pleasure is of many things, but fun is the most tangible. Everyone just likes to have fun!

Sin is the absence of righteousness. It doesn't stand alone. Without the law of God, there is no such thing as sin because sin is disobedience to God's law. It's what is contrary to God's will.

Sin consists of accidental, incidental, and purposeful violations of God's Law. Accidental are those abuses which result from not paying attention to God's will. Incidental sins are not doing those things for God which we know that we should do. Purposeful sins are intentional violations. Hence, there are no excuses for sin. Always, what God wills is to be on our minds.

Fun is when the mind is on oneself. Others may be involved, but the elation of fun is self-inflicted. We may like other people, but they are for our benefit. They are for our pleasure, and the more pleasure they provide, the more fun that we have.

In this bizarre world of pleasure, we are the tree which stands at it's center, and all those trees around us are there merely for our pleasure. In essence, as the winds of life blow, the trees in the garden are expected to blow our way. A tornado results as one tree expects the others to bow to it. Chaos results because each of the trees in the garden compete for the same wind.

Their compromise is that they all agree to bow to each other. As such, together they sway to and fro as they frolic in the winds of confusion, as all pretend to have fun. In their hearts they know it's not, but in their minds the fun is all about themselves. Fun then, is a fantasy, where each person imagines that they are the life of the party. However, when one partyer gets more attention than the next, the neglected one sulks. Those dried up trees in the garden are the ones where the party is over!

Let's look more closely at one of those trees. It stands in the middle of the garden:

Genesis 3:3 "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

The purpose of the tree was to make them be as gods (v. 5). No - they weren't truly gods, but they were remolded to believe they were! In other words, by deception, the serpent brainwashed them. That is done by flattery. Since they knew God's majesty, they wanted majestic treatment for themselves.

Then look at what they were promised: good food (v. 5), pleasure  (v. 6), and wisdom (v. 6). God already supplied their food. They could eat of any tree in the garden for free! The desire for the food of this particular tree was for delicious food, and probably very fattening as well, since gluttony is such a major sin.

The tree was pleasant to look upon. They already had beauty in the garden, so this must have been spectacular beauty, or perhaps something provocative. Mankind is drawn toward beauty, and this tree drew them to disobedience.

This tree was also good for wisdom. Of course it is earthly wisdom, and was likely the faculty of reason. This is the fruit that made mankind rationalize wrong-doing.

All three of these characteristics of the forbidden fruit are for pleasure. We don't think of wisdom being fun, but just ask the teachers, writers, and philosophers of the joy they get when people call them wise!

Eating is fun. Just look at the obese people, and it's easy to see that people eat for enjoyment. Epicureans are mention in Acts 2. They were philosophers who lived entirely for pleasure. Epicureans, of course, delight in food, but also any other activity which pleasures the senses. Paul ridiculed them for living for the fun of it. Fun was their unknown god.

Beauty is used to encourage fun. Even with food, its beauty draws attention to it. Vacation spots are beautiful, and that's where people go for the fun of it. Women are beautiful. Their beauty attracts men to look at them, and oftentimes partake. Fornication is fun. Of course fun is enjoyment. Whatever we put before God is to our detriment. Adam and Eve pleasured in spite of it being forbidden. Why? Because their focus was on enjoying themselves, and not on God.

They learned to have fun. By desiring fun over God, they elevated their own self to the level of God, and had other gods before Him. The problem with pleasure is that it takes precedence over asceticism. We are to minimize fun and maximize reverence. Unfortunately, fun is more pleasurable than asceticism. That's why dancing is more entertaining than being preached to. That is why drinking alcohol is more enticing than serving others!

There was a commercial one time on Nickelodeon of all places: It flashed between a hell-fire preacher and a provocative well-endowed dancing woman. Back and forth. Back and forth; then asked the question of the young malleable kids: Where would you rather be? The obvious answer for a young person was assuredly having fun with the young people. That's because sin is fun.

No preacher in his right mind would deny that people sin mostly for the fun of it. Truthfully, hedonistic behavior is more fun than worship. However, fun is temporal, but worship is on things eternal. With fun, the gratification is immediate and then done. With worship, the gratification comes later, but is eternal. However, once people are changed by the Holy Spirit, what is pleasurable changes. When I was young I skipped church on Sunday evening to watch Cher prounce around and sing. She was provocative. Now I despise her behavior, and that of Miley Cyrus and that bunch as well.  God changed my desires. Once I loved the flesh, now I want to please God. Of course, the flesh still tempts, and at times I'm weak, but I've changed.

I still want to have fun, but my type of fun is mostly different - bicycling is fun, running is fun, and kayaking is fun,; but more importantly is that learning God's word is fun. I get pleasure in understanding scripture. What is also important is attending church. That is a place of sanctuary. It is fun to be loved and to love others!